by Peter Carlson | Mar 7, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this dialogue, Peter began to discuss the second Foundation of Mindfulness, vedanupassana (mindfulness of feelings). He talked of how feelings are not emotions as we might describe them in the West, but rather what in psychological terms is affect, the pull towards pleasant experience or away from unpleasant experience. Feelings are the bridge between physical sensations and the mental creations of meaning and self-organization we experience. He read a translation of the second foundation, and then led a brief guided meditation that illustrates concretely what to notice as a feeling, a perception and the mental formations that create what the Buddha called “the tyranny of I, me and mine”. This was followed by dialogues that further clarified the experiences of the guided meditation.
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by Peter Carlson | Jan 16, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this talk, Peter described Paticca Samupadda, usually translated as the principle of Dependent Origination. This is one of the core concepts of Buddhism, as it explains how the dynamics of self formation and dissolution operate. Emphasis was placed on understanding that being able to directly experience feeling as feeling (the second of the four foundations of mindfulness) interrupts the formation and operation of craving and clinging, and that these functions are core to the problem of suffering. Feeling brings resolution to this problem, and is why so much emphasis is placed on body awareness, particularly on strongly pleasant or unpleasant feelings in a non-reactive way.
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by Peter Carlson | Jul 4, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this talk, Kitty explored the complexity of relationships that are inherent to reality and to human experience. Since this talk occurred on the eve of American Independence Day, Kitty commented upon how dependent the colonists in rebellion were to the influence of France, Spain and the Netherlands during the American Revolution. She pointed out how complex our food chain is, and how interrelated the transportation systems are, including the raw materials, manufacture and distribution of cars, highways and so on. This complexity was related to the Buddhist concept of dependent origination in terms of how we experience life, and how our notion of isolation is a misperception, because we require human interactions from birth through life. This was followed by discussion and dialogue.
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by Peter Carlson | Feb 26, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this rather extensive Dhamma talk, Peter reviewed the concept of paticca sammupada, usually translated as dependent origination. He explained why he prefers to name the process “contingent provisional emergence”. This concept is key to the Buddhist understanding of karma, the law of cause and effect. The formation of a momentary self-state, it’s fulfillment as a moment of “selfing” in awareness, then the dissolution of that composite of conditioning factors was described in depth. Emphasis was placed on how important mindfulness of sense inputs is for the practice, and the critical emphasis placed on understanding the emerging self-state as provisional and the value of dispensing with unwholesome states as soon as possible. This furthers the process of personality integration, which is followed by nurturing wholesome states to fruition. The concepts of craving and clinging were described, with tanha, unquenchable thirst for craving and upadana, fuel or nutriment, for clinging. Peter described the “glue” of craving and clinging as raga, passion, heat or fire. The antidote for raga is viraga, dispassion, or the absence of fueling the fire. This was followed by a lively discussion of this process and it’s implications for alleviating distress.
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by Peter Carlson | Jun 21, 2012 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this dialogue, Tim explored the importance of paticca sammupada, typically translated as dependent origination. This core concept of the Buddha’s teachings describes how karma (past experience) shapes our perceptions and responses in current events, followed by our behavioral responses. After the karmic influence is enacted, the result (called vipakka) goes back into our memory banks until new circumstances occur that have enough potency to re-enact the karma. During the dialogue, Peter commented on how the process changed toward alleviating suffering when mindfulness monitors the emergence of the karmic influence, determines whether it’s wholesome or unwholesome, and responds accordingly to discard the unwholesome and enact wholesome actions.
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