by Peter Carlson | Jan 22, 2015 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This is a guided meditation that supports the practice of mindfulness of breathing, particularly the “mindful of the long…and short…) stanzas at the beginning of the instructions for anapanasati practice. The recording of a guided 45 minute meditation on Wednesday nights is unusual; this particular meditation included the placing of small amounts of Mentholatum, a salve which includes menthol. The menthol aroma and the tactile sensation of either hot or cold (depending on the mind condition of the practitioner) serves as a strong and persistent sensation, facilitating developing longer periods of concentration on the breath. It’s not meant to be a permanent part of mindfulness of breathing practice, but rather a way to support developing stable focus on the breath.
by Peter Carlson | Jan 15, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this guided meditation, the participants were invited to “look closer, to feel the texture, the details of sensation” in the areas of breath awareness ranging from the outer upper lip, through the nasal passages, down into the upper soft palate and hard palate areas, the upper gums, the teeth and inside of the upper lip. The intention of this practice is to nurture a stronger and more continuous practice of investigation of phenomena, as well as to introduce the participants to the dynamics of the body scan practices.
by Peter Carlson | Jan 3, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
As is the custom, this evening’s talk is a review of Peter’s two week self-retreat. During the talk, he quoted from Achaan Chah: “Life brings suffering. The untrained mind turns suffering into more suffering. The trained mind turns suffering into the path that leads to the ending of suffering.” He described his practice of integrating the “noting” strategies with the “body sweep” strategies taught by S. N. Goenka. The importance of using breath awareness to stabilize the mind, then using the body sweep to nurture a “curtain” of body awareness cultivates increasing levels of dhamma vicaya, the investigation of emerging self-states. As this practice deepens, a level of internal process awareness emerges that is “just knowing” without the need for noting.
by Peter Carlson | Oct 7, 2011 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Continuing the ongoing discussion of the Seven Factors of Awakening, this week the focus is on two of them: dhamma vicaya (Investigation of mind states) and viriya (Energy, or Right Effort). Peter pointed out that investigation, effort and joy are energizing factors, while tranquility, concentration and equanimity are calming factors; mindfulness monitors their action and coordinates their mutual influence of each other. Investigation and effort are linked to vitakka (bringing attention to a mind state) and vicara (sustained awareness of the mind state). Right Effort is explained in terms of four applications, in order to eliminate the unwholesome mind states and maximize the ongoing effect of wholesome mind states. The entire process is considered as the practical description of vipassana (insight into the true nature of reality).