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Dharma Talks
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2020-08-19
Deepening Our Practice in the Pandemic 4: The Foundations of Wise Speech 1: Cultivating Empathy
66:30
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Donald Rothberg
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We start with a brief review of the three previous talks on deepening practice during the pandemic (and other crises), including clarifying three broad areas of practice: Formal meditation practice, daily life practice, and work, service, and/or activism as practice. In this session, we explore the foundations of Wise Speech as practice, mentioning three foundations. The first two include (1) the ethical guidelines given by the Buddha regarding skillful speech, and (2) developing presence and mindfulness during speech (including listening). We focus most of the time on the third foundation of cultivating empathic connection with another, clarifying the difference between empathy and compassion, giving some of the findings of studies in neuroscience about empathy, and examining what blocks empathy. We then work with a simple (yet powerful) empathy practice of tuning into (1) emotions, and (2) what matters, and move into a period of discussion.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2020-07-29
Your Awake Heart is Calling You
50:50
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Tara Brach
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As individuals and societies, we are pulled by both the insecurity of our evolutionary past, and by our awake heart, our capacity for mindfulness and compassion. This talk explores the ways we can listen to and respond to the call of our awake heart, by training ourselves to open to vulnerability (our own and others) and widen the circles of compassion (a favorite from the 2017 archives).
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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2020-07-22
Deepening Our Daily Life Practice in the Pandemic 2
67:09
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Donald Rothberg
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We begin with a brief review of the previous week's talk and discussion, in which we explored a number of ways to deepen (1) our formal practice; (2) our informal (daily life) practice; and (3) our service, work, and/or activism as practice. This exploration points to a broadened sense of practice.
We then examine in some depth three inter-related foundational areas for deepening practice in all three areas: (1) developing mindfulness of the body; (2) working to transform reactivity (here as a translation of "dukkha"), including as it manifests in challenging or difficult experiences; and (3) pausing and setting intentions. Our discussion particularly goes into being skillful with challenging experiences.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2020-07-18
The Open and Unrestricted Heart
41:09
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Attention is generally driven by self-interest, to seek what is pleasant. The possibilities of what one receives are then restricted by the “self program”. Unrestricted means changing the baseline from that of the person to something impersonal that can yet be subjectively experienced – clarity, lovingkindness, letting go. Mindfulness of body acts as a platform for steady open awareness.
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-18
Practise Like the Barley Reaper
25:32
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Ayya Medhanandi
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In a dialogue between King Milinda and Venerable Nagasena, we hear the Buddha’s instruction on mental training and how to apply our allies of mindfulness, restraint and wisdom. Devoted to the training, we can overcome ignorance, take hold of the mind and cut off the defilements just as the barley reaper cuts his barley. Our mission is to lean towards Nibbāna, not believing the self-making stories, and gradually, patiently, wrestle free from ignorance, waking up right in the middle of any storm we may face.
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Ottawa Buddhist Society
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2020-07-17
We Are What we Think
54:12
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James Baraz
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The Buddha taught: "We are what we think. With our thoughts we make the world." We will explore mana or "the conceit of I am" and how we construct a sense of self with our mind. Based on how we see ourselves or how we compare with others, mana or the conceit of “I am” is born. This tendency leads to "The Three Conceits: I am superior, I am inferior, I am equal to." If we're not mindful, we then erroneously proceed to make a permanent, solid entity of self. We explore how not seeing this clearly creates suffering and how we can free ourselves of this self-constructed suffering.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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IMCB Regular Talks
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2020-07-16
Buddhist Practice and the Transformation of Racism 2: -Meditation and Inner Work
1:19:17
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Donald Rothberg
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In this second talk in the series, we first review the main "wisdom" perspectives presented last week, that give us some orientation toward understanding and transforming racism. Then we explore the second area of training: meditation and inner work, identifying four main themes and practices, the first three of which are supported significantly by working in small groups: (1) understanding and working with "implicit bias"; (2) cultivating mindfulness of our racial conditioning and the experiences which arise in investigating race and racism; (3) heart practices like compassion and empathy; and (4) the importance of continuing to access, as best we can, deeper experiences of our being.
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Insight Meditation Tucson
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Buddhist Practice and the Transformation of Racism
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2020-07-10
How Not to Be a Hot Mess
63:15
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James Baraz,
Craig Hase,
Devon Hase,
Eve Decker
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Devon and Craig Hase join James in sharing about their new book How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Survival Guide for Modern Life. The book offers a playful exploration of living a life of Integrity based on the teachings of the Buddha.
Devon and Craig lead meditation retreats throughout North America and Europe. Devon teaches at the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock. Craig spent six years in a Zen monastery and teaches mindfulness meditation, and dharma full time.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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IMCB Regular Talks
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2020-06-24
Buddhist Practice and the Transformation of Racism 2
65:20
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Donald Rothberg
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Traditional Buddhist training occurs through development in wisdom, ethics, and meditation. We use this model to help us to understand Buddhist practice that aims to transform racism. We start by reviewing briefly the first three perspectives offered in the previous week, which fall under training in wisdom. Then we look at how ethical practice and in particular the practice of non-harming can be the basis for action, based on an understanding of ethical practice as guiding both one's personal behavior and one's responses to harm in one's communities and society. Lastly, we explore meditative training and how in particular mindfulness and compassion play central roles in the transformation of racism.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2020-06-10
Meditation: Meeting Anger with Awareness
15:15
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Tara Brach
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When anger is held in mindfulness, it can energize us to respond wisely to challenging situations. This meditation guides us in meeting personal or societal anger with RAIN – recognize, allow, investigate and nurture.
[NOTE: this meditation was given at the end of Tara’s Anger and Transformation talk on 2020-06-10. A brief context is given, then the meditation begins at 4:56.]
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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2020-06-10
Anger and Transformation
49:21
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Tara Brach
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The purpose of anger is to let us know there’s an obstacle to our wellbeing, and to energize us to act. While natural and necessary for survival and thriving, this powerful energy often possesses us and leads to suffering.
This talk explores how we can use the RAIN meditation in our personal and societal life, to meet anger with a mindful, compassionate presence. Freed from the identification with a limited, separate reactive self, we can listen to the message of anger, draw on the purity of its energy, and respond from our natural intelligence, creativity and care.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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