Orlando Insight Meditation Group

A Contemporary Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation Community For Central Florida

Karma In The 21st Century

by | Jul 25, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks

During this talk, Peter again emphasized how different 21st century culture is from the time of the Buddha.  During that era, it was assumed that a person’s karma was determined by what clan he or she was born into, and karma was equivalent to fate.  The Buddha’s radical change was claim that a person’s salvation from suffering, related to karma, depends upon his or her ethical behaviors, not birth status.  Peter further emphasized that modern scientific research also suggests that relief from suffering is ethical, in that the different regions of the brain recruited in the process of developing a personal narrative work best when the results represent kindness rather than self-absorption.  During next week’s talk, this topic will be revisited to explore how modern neuroscience takes the place of old Brahmanic philosophy, to make sense of the universe of human consciousness.

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The Nature Of Craving

by | Mar 7, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks

During this talk, Peter reviewed the classic Buddhist concepts of craving and clinging in the context of the Second Noble Truth.  Special emphasis was placed on the insights of modern neuropsychological research that relates Buddhist notions of craving to the experience of addictive craving.  The three aspects of spiritual progress were reviewed as well: craving and clinging are to be understood conceptually, brought directly into mindful awareness, and noting and renouncing craving and clinging is to be mastered.  Next week, Peter will continue to explore the nature of the Second Noble Truth as regards clinging.

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