by Peter Carlson | Mar 22, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This dialogue explores the Third Foundation of Mindfulness, cittanupassana, translated as mindfulness of the mind. After reading the content of the third foundation from Analayo’s book on satipatthana, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Peter related this to what our era calls “mood”, that is, a pervasive emotional state. The neurological and hormonal aspects of mood were described. This was followed by a group discussion emphasizing the impersonal nature of moods.
by Tim | Oct 30, 2012 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Kitty discusses the Gates of Awakening from Jack Kornfield’s book, “After the Ecstasy, The Laundry”. This is the second talk of a two part series. Unfortunately, the first recording is not available due to a recording malfunction.
by Peter Carlson | Jan 10, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
—In this dialogue, Judy presented two translations of the beginning of the Satipatthana Sutta, usually translated as The Four Foundation of Mindfulness, and then explained how important it is to practice mindfulness of breathing meditation in order to understand the first section, mindfulness of the body. During the talk, she invited the sangha to briefly practice the progressive practices of mindfulness of breathing as described in the Sutta. At the end of the evening, she stated her intention to continue the exploration of this primary teaching, relying to a great extent on the book Satipatthana-the Direct Path To Realization by Analayo, a German Buddhist monk.
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by Peter Carlson | Jan 31, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this talk, Kitty explored how Buddhist practices help us relate to the inevitable uncertainty of life, sharing some of her experiences working with Hospice. She used material from Pema Chodron’s book “Comfortable With Uncertainty” as reference. She also included brief meditations on “open mind” and “bodhicitta mind”.
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 11, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this second of two talks on the Third Noble Truth, Peter reviewed last week’s dialogue, which was focused on understanding how emotionally potent memories (karma) bias the data input through the sense doors, the result being that we “imagine” our way through life. Mindful investigation allows these emergent processes to be noted sooner, and Right Effort allows the unintegrated self states to become more coordinated and less conflicted in function. This process sets the stable platform of samadhi, and allows the integrated personality structure to be investigated, producing a process of spiritual awakening. Peter then read a long excerpt from Rodney Smith’s book: “Stepping Out Of Self-Deception-The Buddha’s Liberating Teaching of Non-Self”, to illuminate how important letting go of egocentric thoughts are for the awakening process. For Those who might be interested in looking up the excerpts, they cover several pages in the chapter entitled: “Action From Emptiness”.
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