Orlando Insight Meditation Group

A Contemporary Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation Community For Central Florida

Letting Go Of Things

by | May 11, 2017 | Listen to Dharma Talks

This talk follows up on the talk last week involving the Parami of Generosity.  Each person attending was given a worksheet, (the .doc file posted below) to review, creating a hierarchy of valuing possessions, from relatively unimportant to the most important.  This was followed by a participatory group discussion of the items on the list, including how the attachment to that thing creates a sense of self that must be defended or gratified, thereby fostering distress and confusion, a resistance regarding the practice of generosity.

Here is the worksheet provided for listing and contemplating how the valuing process regarding material possessions contributes to selfing:  Generosity Worksheet 

For those participating in the meeting, please note that this posted document has two pages instead of one; the second page offers suggestions for contemplation.

Next week’s topic will explore the classical and contemporary commentary on the benefits of cultivating the Parami of Virtue

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:31 — 116.3MB)

The Benefits Of Generosity

by | May 4, 2017 | Listen to Dharma Talks

This is the second of a series of talks exploring the Paramis, translated as the qualities of mind to be perfected during the awakening process.  The topic for this talk is dana, generosity.  Some references to how the Buddha’s teachings were reported, followed by contemporary research on the personal and social benefits of altruism.  This was followed by a discussion among those present about how generosity has been personally applied beneficially.

Here are the notes prepared for this talk:  The Benefits Of Generosity

The topic for next week’s discussion is the Parami of sila, the Pali term for virtue.

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:05:14 — 119.4MB)