by Peter Carlson | Mar 1, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this dialogue, Peter read the part of the Satipatthana Sutta called “the charnal ground contemplation”. He then commented on how our culture is shielded from the experience of death and what happens to the body as it disintegrates, which was a common occurrence during the time of the Buddha. The intention of that contemplation was to motivate diligent practice, as in those days, life was typically short and a lot less certain than during this era. How can we be motivated to be diligent in our practice since our culture is much more comfortable and secure than at that time? This question was discussed around the group for the rest of the evening, with each person who shared talking of what makes her or him motivated to practice.
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by Peter Carlson | Jan 16, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this talk, Peter described the relationship between the various factors that support the development of yoniso manasikara, wise attention. Attention that is wise manifests as mindful, tranquil, equanimous, tranquil, agile, pliant wieldy, proficient and accurate. This well-developed attention is capable of investigating emerging self-states, turning away from the unwholesome and nurturing the fulfillment of the wholesome.
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by Peter Carlson | Jan 15, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this talk on the second night of the 2014 one week retreat, Peter talked of the contemporary views on karma, relating this to the characteristics of the five hindrances. Ways to use the skills developed during the retreat to set the hindrances aside were described, setting the stage for the cultivation of concentration and tranquility, which would then be applied to the practice of vipassana.
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by Peter Carlson | May 30, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Reporting on significant retreat experiences is encouraged in our community, as it supports the integration of the meditation practice into life at home. It’s also hoped that the reports will encourage others to go on retreats as well. This retreat was a bit different for Peter, as he worked on a home addition project, spending between 9 and 12 hours a day sitting, and 3 or 4 hours doing carpentry. He reported an increasing appreciation of samadhi (stable focus) and passadhi (tranquility), combined with the awakening factor of investigation, which provided him with a significant increase in patience and awareness of the value of working with his hands.
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by Peter Carlson | Feb 26, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this first Dhamma talk of the one-week retreat, Robert reviewed the five Precepts: Avoiding hurting others, avoiding hurtful speech, avoiding dishonesty and theft, avoiding hurtful speech avoiding hurtful sexual behavior, and avoiding dulling the mind with intoxicants. He also talked of the three Refuges: Buddha (the potential for all of us to wake up from our delusions), Dhamma (the ways and means for waking up) and Sangha (the supportive community of like-minded people). Then Peter talked of the progressive course of training during the week, that is, increasing concentration and tranquility, then the practice of vipassana, often called insight. He also described two stages of development: first, that of the integration of self-states, then, when the personality is more integrated, the development of spiritual transcendence.
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