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Retreat Dharma Talks

Three-Month Retreat - Part 1

This three-month course, including its six-week partials, is a special time for practice. Because of its extended length and ongoing guidance, it is an opportunity for students to deepen the powers of concentration, wisdom and compassion. Based on the meditation instructions of Mahasi Sayadaw and supplemented by a range of skillful means, this retreat will encourage a balanced attitude of relaxation and alertness, and the continuity of practice based on the Buddha’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

2011-09-10 (43 days) Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center

  
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2011-10-10 Waking up from delusion 57:42
Sally Armstrong
We often hear about and experience the suffering caused by greed and aversion, yet delusion, the third of the kilesas, or torments of mind, is in some ways a more fundamental cause of suffering, because if we weren’t deluded, we wouldn’t believe that by grasping or pushing away we could avoid suffering. The challenge with delusion is its very definition is that we don’t it is operating. This talk examines the many ways that delusion manifests, so we can begin to bring more clarity and understanding to our experience.
2011-10-12 Trusting Your Buddha-Knowing 59:55
James Baraz
The source of our awakening is right inside us. As we learn to listen deeply to the wisdom and purity of heart that is connected to the truth, we are following the Buddha’s instructions to “be a lamp unto yourself.” This talk includes the Buddha’s five methods for dealing with distracting thoughts and how to discern the voice of wisdom from the voices of confusion and fear.
2011-10-13 The cycle of suffering 58:44
Andrea Fella
The Buddha's teaching on dependant origination describes how our minds create stuggle and suffering in our lives. This talk explores some practical ways this teaching can help us to break this cycle.
2011-10-14 Determination: Support for wise seeing 60:06
Carol Wilson
Determination one of the ten paramis - is a wonderful support for our practice - learning to recognize this quality in our mind is the subject of this talk.
2011-10-15 Generosity 61:14
Chas DiCapua
The Buddha's words on the role generosity plays on the path to awakening and how generosity can manifest in out daily lives.
2011-10-16 Karma and the End of Karma 64:24
Guy Armstrong
This talk covers four key areas of the Buddha’s teachings on karma: action, results of action, relation to not-self, and the end of karma. Publishable online for the general public
2011-10-17 Practicing Patience 55:54
Sally Armstrong
Patience, one of the paramis, is a quality that we don’t often appreciate, even though it is tremendously important in our practice and our lives. To be patient is to be fully present for what is, to be with difficulty and challenge without resistance. Patience allows mindfulness and wisdom to deepen, as we meet our experience without agendas or expectations.
2011-10-19 Crossing the Flood 58:30
Andrea Fella
The Buddha often taught the Dhamma through the use of analogy, which can be a powerful way for the teachings to resonate. This talk explores two famous analogies from the Pali Canon, and how we can understand our practice thorugh the imagery of these analogies.
2011-10-20 Contentment: The Peace of Not Wanting What You Don’t Have 67:04
James Baraz
The experience of contentment is the true happiness available through letting go and seeing our experience complete just as it is. Nothing needs to be added or taken away. This talk explores inner contentment, the state of “abundant enoughness”, while distinguishing it from complacency, laziness or just being resigned to the way things are. We can be inspired by a vision of awakening, develop our gifts and make a contribution, while we appreciate things just as they are in the moment.
2011-10-21 Stories Of Some Buddhist Nuns: Then and Now 60:18
Carol Wilson
A brief telling of a few of the first Buddhist nuns, parried with stories of some contemporary Buddhist nuns.
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