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Sally Armstrong's Dharma Talks
Sally Armstrong
Sally Clough Armstrong began practicing vipassana meditation in India in 1981. She moved to the Bay Area in 1988, and worked at Spirit Rock until 1994 in a number of roles, including executive director. She began teaching in 1996, and is one of the guiding teachers of Spirit Rock's Dedicated Practitioner Program. Sally has always been inspired by the depth and the breadth of the Buddha’s teaching, as presented in the suttas of the Pali Canon, because the truth and power of the Buddha’s words still speak to us today. Her intention in teaching is to make these ancient texts and practices accessible and relevant to all levels of practitioner, from the very new to the dedicated meditator.
2010-11-17 Teachings on the Practice of Reflection 20:33
Teachings on the practice of reflections, and duided reflections on what inspired and challenged you in the Emptiness Retreat, and what you will take home with you.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Emptiness: A Meditation and Study Retreat
2010-11-17 Reflections on Compassion 33:52
Guided reflective meditations on compassion for someone who is suffering, for oneself, and for the world.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks
2010-11-17 Compassion Needs Emptiness 47:03
True compassion needs space to function. The less self-obsessed we are, the more responsive and connected our hearts can be.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Emptiness: A Meditation and Study Retreat
2010-11-15 Dependent Origination As a Pointer to Emptiness 57:34
The Buddha's teaching on Dependent Origination are among his most profound and challenging. This teaching clearly shows how ignorance leads to suffering, and implicit in this is the way out of suffering.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Emptiness: A Meditation and Study Retreat
2010-11-14 The Five Aggregates Are Empty 69:57
The Buddha often used the schema of the Five Aggregates to show that what we take to be self is actually impermanent and unsatisfactory, and that clinging to the aggregates will bring suffering.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Emptiness: A Meditation and Study Retreat
2010-11-14 Meditation on the Aggregates 45:48
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Emptiness: A Meditation and Study Retreat
2010-11-12 The Three characteristics as Pointers to Emptiness 58:13
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Emptiness: A Meditation and Study Retreat
2010-09-21 Morning instructions – Day 10 - Standing meditation 58:49
The Buddha said that we should be mindful in all four postures – sitting, walking, standing and lying down. We talk a lot about sitting meditation, some about walking and very little about the other two. This session is a guided meditation on standing meditation. Standing can be used as a practice in itself, or as a way to balance energy, especially sleepiness.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
2010-09-20 Am I OK? 54:16
Though we receive lots of instructions for our meditation practice on retreats, let’s face it – we spend a lot of time thinking. What do we think about? At the heart of these movements of the mind is answering the questions, “Am I OK?”, “Was I OK?”, and “Will I be OK?” Our obsession with these questions is the cause of a huge amount of restlessness. Restlessness is one of the major hindrances to calming the mind and deepening our meditation, and can be seen as both the cause and the effect of all the other hindrances. The Buddha also talked about this kind of thinking, and called it unwise attention that leads to all kinds of suffering. We need to look at the core issues that lead us to dwell on these questions if we are to create a more skilful relationship to our thoughts.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
2010-07-21 Deepening Metta and Concentration 57:19
Learning how to work skillfully with the pleasant experiences that arise from the development of metta and concentration is an important part of supporting the deepening of these practices.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Metta Retreat

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