During this talk, Allie Vaknin provides insights regarding the four stages of Nirvana experience: Stream Entry, Once-Returner, Non-returner, and Arahant. The recording includes comments from various participants in the meeting.
Next week’s talk will provide an overview of the Fourth Noble Truth, The Noble Eightfold Path; subsequent talks will address each element of the Noble Eightfold Path in more depth.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:49 — 52.0MB)
The Third Noble Truth describes the fundamental intention and goal of Buddhist principles and practices–the release from the bonds of craving and clinging–total and direct knowledge that there is no enduring, autonomous self. This talk reviews how concentration–samadhi– and investigation–vipassana–lead to a progression of insights that are recognizable on the path towards Awakening.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Reviewing the Third Noble Truth
The next talk will provide an overview of the Fourth Noble Truth–The Noble Eightfold Path–with an emphasis on the first of the eight concepts, Right Understanding.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:39 — 58.3MB)
This talk continues a review of the Four Noble Truths, with a focus on how the mind is liberated from dukkha through dissolving the potency of craving and clinging, the topic of the Second Noble Truth. Various views relevant to the Third Noble Truth are described, such as sunnata, translated as emptiness, and anatta, the absence of an enduring/autonomous self, which is another way to understand sunnata. Different approaches to the experience of Nibbana, the Unconditioned, are reviewed, either through cultivating highly developed levels of concentration called jhanas, or through what is called “dry vipassana”, insight into the nature of craving and clinging and either liberating the mind momentarily, through letting go, or ultimately, through realizing Nibbana. The traditional Theravada understanding that four levels of experiencing Nibbana are required for total liberation is also reviewed.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Reviewing the Third Noble Truth
Next week’s talk will begin a step-by-step review of the Fourth Noble Truth, the Noble Eightfold Path.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:36 — 56.4MB)
During this second of two talks on the Third Noble Truth, Peter reviewed last week’s dialogue, which was focused on understanding how emotionally potent memories (karma) bias the data input through the sense doors, the result being that we “imagine” our way through life. Mindful investigation allows these emergent processes to be noted sooner, and Right Effort allows the unintegrated self states to become more coordinated and less conflicted in function. This process sets the stable platform of samadhi, and allows the integrated personality structure to be investigated, producing a process of spiritual awakening. Peter then read a long excerpt from Rodney Smith’s book: “Stepping Out Of Self-Deception-The Buddha’s Liberating Teaching of Non-Self”, to illuminate how important letting go of egocentric thoughts are for the awakening process. For Those who might be interested in looking up the excerpts, they cover several pages in the chapter entitled: “Action From Emptiness”.
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This talk advances a developing theme for this year: How to cultivate a dhamma practice that is relevant to the core of the Buddha’s teachings that is adaptive to our 21st century culture. As Buddhism has evolved through the ages, each time it enters a culture, the terms and concepts have been affected by the culture it enters. For example, the changes induced as Buddhist teachings entered China, influenced by Confucianism and Taoism, becoming Chan, then being further modified into Zen in the Korean and Japanese cultures. We have an obligation to the liberating values of Buddhist principles and practices in mastering what has been given to us, then adapting it to our times, without losing the precious core of the teachings.
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