by Peter Carlson | Jan 10, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This Dhamma dialogue reviews three levels of awareness related to mindfulness of breathing and how they interact with the practice of vipassana, that is, insight into the impermanent and selfless nature of personal experience. The first level is simply being aware “This is the in-breath, this is the out-breath”. The second level is a cultivated interest in the “textural” quality of the breath sensation, while the third level narrows the focuses the concentrated awareness around a discrete, singular sensation “like noticing the sensation of one nasal hair vibrating”. How each level relates to the practice of vipassana was described and then there was a general discussion of these practices.
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by Peter Carlson | Dec 13, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
It is our custom to dedicate the meeting after sangha members have participated in a significant retreat experience to talking about each person’s insights and experience. Peter briefly described the format of the retreat, which was progressively more intimate investigation of the breath process. After this, a lively discussion ensued, with opportunities to explore further the experiences and implications for ongoing practice. Since Peter will be on a 2 week self-retreat until the end of the month, there will be no further dhamma talk recordings until the first weekend of January, and that will focus on Peter’s experience during his retreat. We hope that all who listen to these talks will enjoy a safe and happy holiday season.
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by Peter Carlson | Nov 22, 2013 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation, Listen to Dharma Talks
During this meeting, Peter provided a guided meditation regarding breath awareness that tracks the progression of focus on the sensations of breathing from the simple awareness “this is the in-breath…this is the out-breath” to cultivate continuity of breath awareness, then “looking closer” to note carefully the textural quality of each breath cycle to increase interest and investigation in awareness. Finally, the meditation students are invited to hone in on one specific touch sensation exclusively in order to cultivate the quality of awareness preparatory to practicing jhana, or alternatively, to maximize the practice of vipassana. A separate file is associated with this notation that reflects the question and answer period following the guided meditation, during which particular points of meditation practice were explored.
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by Peter Carlson | Feb 26, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Pursuing the development of a more integrated personality prior to spiritual transcendence, Peter described sentient beings as “energy transformation” beings, emphasizing that the five hindrances (sense desire, aversion and ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and skeptical doubt) are “energy dumps”. The first steps on the path involve developing the ability to focus attention on breath awareness to concentrate and calm the mind, combined with the ability to be mindful of distractions away from breath awareness and to turn attention away from the distractions and back to the breath. Each hindrance was described as to characteristics and impact on the body/mind processes. Classical antidotes for the hindrances were also described. The freed up energy from ongoing breath awareness can then be available for cultivating vipassana, which is the ability to note the emergence, fulfillment, and dissolution of self states, in order to further personality integration.
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by Peter Carlson | Feb 26, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this first Dhamma talk of the one-week retreat, Robert reviewed the five Precepts: Avoiding hurting others, avoiding hurtful speech, avoiding dishonesty and theft, avoiding hurtful speech avoiding hurtful sexual behavior, and avoiding dulling the mind with intoxicants. He also talked of the three Refuges: Buddha (the potential for all of us to wake up from our delusions), Dhamma (the ways and means for waking up) and Sangha (the supportive community of like-minded people). Then Peter talked of the progressive course of training during the week, that is, increasing concentration and tranquility, then the practice of vipassana, often called insight. He also described two stages of development: first, that of the integration of self-states, then, when the personality is more integrated, the development of spiritual transcendence.
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