by Peter Carlson | Apr 3, 2025 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this talk, Peter, a retired psychotherapist, describes the intersection between core Buddhist concepts and a well-researched contemporary psychotherapy approach called Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. He reviews the schema concept that categorizes various cognitive distortions and describes how Mindfulness of Feelings and Mindfulness of Mental Phenomena can be effectively applied to counter these distortions through the cultivation of Mindfulness, Investigation of Mental Phenomena and Right Effort. He suggests that the “selfing story” represents various aspects of the Five Hindrances, and that countering the dysfunctional schemas creates a process that clarifies the mind for further spiritual development, towards Awakening.
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by Peter Carlson | May 24, 2018 | Listen to Dharma Talks
The Third Foundation Of Mindfuilness is Cittanupassana, Mindfulness Of The Mind. During this talk, Peter explained how the traditional understandings of cittanupassana foster the process of Awakening. The mind is the receptive characteristic of human experience, and the “tone” of the mind can be affected by various conditions such as desire or aversion. The cultivation of mindfulness clarifies the reflective quality of awareness in ways that provide greater stress resilience and sets the conditions for the practice of vipassana, the function of which is to reveal directly the three characteristics of human reality: impermanence, the absence of an enduring and autonomous self and the distress and confusion that comes about due to craving and clinging. The participants in the meeting then discussed how they understand the nature and function of cittanupassana.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: THE NATURE OF THE MIND
Next week’s talk will begin the exploration of the Fourth Foundation Of Mindfulness, Dhammanupassana.
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by Peter Carlson | Oct 15, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This training meditation is intended to suggest ways to cultivate awareness of what are called the “Six Beautiful Pairs” of cetasikas, categories of mind that promote self-states that are free from dukkha, distress and confusion. These qualities are manifested through thorough and persistent investigation of the cycles of breathing in and breathing out mindfully. The pairs represent beneficial pairings of sankhara, mind conditioning factors and the mind that reflects them in awareness. The pairs are: tranquility, lightness, pliancy, wieldiness, proficiency and uprightness. There is an accompanying posted recording entitled “The Six Beautiful Pairs of Cetasikas–October 14, 2020” that reviews and clarifies these cetasikas, which can be found in the archive.
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by Peter Carlson | Aug 5, 2017 | Listen to Dharma Talks
As is our custom, one of the sangha members, Brian Tamm, talked about two recent retreat experiences: a 10 day retreat in the manner taught be S. N. Goenka, followed by a weekend retreat in the Korean Zen tradition. He described the daily practice schedules followed during the first retreat, emphasizing the technical teachings of what Goenka called “vedanupassana”, mindfulness of feelings, the second of the four foundations of mindfulness. The retreat provided several days of intensive focus of attention on the sensation of breathing at the rim of the nostrils or the upper lip to cultivate a stability of concentration, followed by several days of repeatedly, systematically moving investigative attention from one small area of focus to another over the entire surface of the body. The goal of the practice is to develop the ability to focus on subtle vibrations that occur naturally throughout the body, eventually with the ability to notice the vibrations wholly throughout the body. This practice cultivates one of the seven awakening factors, investigation of mental phenomena. The intention of the practice is to notice the impermanence of experience along with the changing nature of self-state organizations that occur within the context of bodily experience; this practice is called vipassana, or insight into the impermanent nature of reality, dissolving the illusion of a separate, enduring self. The Zen retreat was more formal and ritualized in practice, with emphasis placed on the shared experience of the participants, combined with in-depth contemplation of kong-ons (koans) to further insight into the impersonal nature of reality.
Next week’s discussion will involve a presentation on lovingkindness as a Parami, that is, a quality of intention that is perfected during the process of awakening. The talk will be presented by Mike Maldonado.
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by Peter Carlson | May 7, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This meditation focuses on practicing satisampajjana (sah-tee-sahm-puh-jahn-yah), mindful clear comprehension, alternatively termed knowing, which is part of the First Foundation of Mindfulness. It is reflected as “Breathing in long, he knows ‘I breath in long'”, and again “…”when walking, he knows ‘I am walking’; when standing, he knows ‘I am standing'”; this quality of knowing attention is found repeatedly throughout the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse. During the guided meditation Peter made several suggestions regarding cultivating a knowing awareness, that is, being mindful of the three characteristics essential to Buddhist concepts about subjective reality: anicca (ah-nee-chah), the transient nature of experiences, dukkha (doo-kah), the distress and confusion that comes from being ignorant about anicca, and anatta (ah-nah-tah), the absence of an enduring, autonomous self. Clearly knowing functions to deconstruct craving and clinging and allows the mind to be free from the five hindrances and, alternatively, able to bring the seven awakening factors to maturity.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:56 — 82.3MB)