This talk is the first of a series of reviews of the contents of the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, Dhammanupassana (Dah-mah-noo-pah-suh-nah), Mindfulness of Mental Phenomena. The primary focus of this talk is the first two of the Five Hindrances, Sense Desire and Aversion/Ill-Will. Peter described how an initial sensory stimulus initiates a cascade of thoughts and feelings that “capture” a person’s attention, and because of ignorance about the changing and impersonal nature of thoughts and feelings, a self that is distressed and confused is experienced. He referred to the guided meditation “Understanding Impermanence Meditation” that was just posted and can be found in the Audio archive as a beneficial way to interrupt the actions of the hindrances effectively. He then talked about the characteristics of each of the two hindrances and strategies for setting them aside. Overcoming sense desire and Aversion/Ill-Will are especially important considering the distress and confusion caused by the disruption of the pandemic. Next week’s talk will focus on the next two of the Five Hindrances, Sloth/Torpor and Restlessness/Worry.
Hi Fellow Travelers–Thanks to the causes and conditions provided by the Covid-19 virus there will no assemblies in our meditation cottage until the circumstances make it safe to assemble in groups. I hope this supports and maybe even expands the outreach of the Orlando Insight Meditation Group, the goal of which is to provide training in mindfulness and lovingkindness meditation and practical applications of the Wisdom found within these concepts that will support us as we go through these trying times. Last week’s recording was a first attempt at streaming and hopefully the recording of April 1 will be more effectively posted; the microphone will be muted until the Dharma talk so the meditation will not be interrupted by the sounds of folks entering into the group.
The meeting operates through the Zoom software (OIMG has subscribed for one year at a cost of $150). The URL for the meeting is: https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuf-2srDMtnERzureO8f2K4iQeRCf-dQ and the meeting password is 620329. As I understand how it works, you must preregister at the site the URL in order to participate in the events and registering one time will provide access to all the upcoming meetings, as long as we continue streaming them (Which may become a problem when we resume meeting in the meditation building which has weak reception from the server in my home; hopefully sometime later in the Spring we can safely assemble again in the cottage). The meetings will be audio only and, once again as I understand the way it works, the meeting can be accessed by smartphone as well as any internet-connected computer system. The meetings will be recorded and posted on the website as usual. Please be patient with me as I find my way into the world of internet streaming and hopefully we can all benefit from this crisis.
The topic for the meeting on March 31 will combine a contemplation from the First Foundation of Mindfulness, The Four Elements, which involves using noting sensations of pressure, movement, temperature and liquidity to interrupt the narratives that accompany the hindrances; this interruption creates more stability, clarity and tranquility, which is of great benefit in these trying times. The talk will focus on how the pandemic relates to the Four Noble Truths and interdependence. i hope you will participate in the streaming meeting and I wish you well. Peter
This talk is the first of several reviews of Sattasambojjangha, (sah-tah-sahm-bow-jahn-gah), the Seven Awakening Factors. The factors are mindfulness, investigation of mental phenomena, energy/effort, joy, tranquility, concentration and equanimity. Each of these factors will be reviewed individually over the course of several weeks. During the talk, Peter emphasized the integrative characteristics of the factors, as the cultivation of each supports the unification and capabilities of all the factors in supporting, first, the setting aside of the Five Hindrances and second, realizing the direct experience of impermanence, dukkha and non-self aspects of subjective reality. After the review, there was discussion among the participants to clarify and expand on the concepts.
This is the first of a two-part exploration of how cultural stress might have been a contributing instigation for the spiritual masters Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and Martin Luther, followed next week with the potential for a rebirth of spirituality as a result of the stressful times we live in. Peter described the cultural stresses of ancient India, Palestine, Arabia and Europe as motivation for the deep introspection and creative redefining of spiritual development. Each of these profoundly transforming insights came about as the result of introspective efforts by the above mentioned individuals, who were trying to come to terms with the internal contradictions of the prevalent cultural and religious norms, along with the accompanying wars and other societal upheavals. The radical changes that followed could be conceptualized as a form of rebirth, not of the body but of the culture. These innovations then were codified by the development of the religions that came afterwards, which provided another set of internal bureaucratic contradictions. The current cultural situation is perhaps the most radically stressful period in human history. Peter suggested that this period of time might also produce a revitalization of spiritual/evolutionary development, prompted by the almost total sharing of insights regarding the human condition provided by contemporary scientific research and the direct introspection that mindfulness meditation provides. What is unique about this era is the almost universal research into the history of the various world religions through the medium of the internet, along with neuroscientific research that shows how dedicated meditation practice changes the structures and functions of mind/body processes.
Next week’s talk will be “A Different View of Rebirth, Part 2”. The focus will be on how important the cultivation of mindfulness will be for the adaptive creativity that will be necessary for human culture to successfully resolve the radical changes prompted by environmental stress, accompanied by economic and societal pressures.
This meditation focuses on combining mindfulness meditation with compassion meditation, suggesting that the effective experiencing and expressing of compassion requires using Right Mindfulness and Right Effort to create the subjective clarity and serenity that supports the emergence of compassion. The ability of a person to empathize with the distress and confusion of others is emphasized, and the inter-relatedness of all beings is also included in the contemplation. This meditation is intended to accompany the posting entitled “Mindful Compassion In Trying Times”, recorded November 4, 2020.
