by Peter Carlson | Apr 2, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this talk, Peter described how stimulation through the “sense bases” is transformed into the disruptive and energy draining process Buddhism calls panca nivarana, the Five Hindrances. He described the nature of sense desire as a hindrance, focusing on the activities of the amygdala (fear orientation) and nucleus accumbens (associated with addictive behavior) are examples of craving and clinging from a classical Buddhist perspective. Setting aside sense desire frees up the internal energy flows, cultivating joy, one of the awakening factors, establishing an internal source of happiness, rather than the false promise of the objects of sense desire. Next week’s discussion will explore the hindrance of aversion and ill-will.
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by Peter Carlson | Oct 10, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This dialogue initiates several discussions of the practice of Right Effort on the Eightfold Path. During this talk, Peter described the classical rendering of the Four Noble Efforts, placed into the context of 21st century neuroscience. He quoted the statements of Dr. Dan Siegal, who describes the importance of integrating different neural pathways-emotional, cognitive and behavioral-in the process of transforming “energy into information”. Peter then described the characteristics of the five hindrances of classical Buddhist teachings in the context of neural “dys-integration” as a way to understand the nature of suffering. Next week’s planned dialogue focuses on revisiting the Buddhist precepts with contemporary terms such as “commitment”.
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