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Dharma Talks
in English
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2015-10-19
The Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness
57:05
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Sally Armstrong
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The Satipatthana Sutta (usually translated as the Foundations of Mindfulness) offers a complete description of the practice of mindfulness, beginning with the direct awareness of the breath and the body, progressing through mindfulness of vedana or feeling tone, to the more subtle object of the Third Foundation, mindfulness of mind states. The Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness represents the culmination of this series of practices, and can be seen as a direct pointing, again and again, to the possibility of freedom through direct awareness of where we get caught, and how to turn the mind towards liberation. This talk is an overview of the practices of the Fourth Foundation, which can be seen as both the last in the sequence of practices, and as a progression in itself. It also covers how the Fourth Foundation can be skillfully interwoven into our practice of the other foundations.
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Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center
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Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
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2015-10-19
Bowing to Instinct and Embracing Desire
51:54
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Leela Sarti
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A gnawing sense of incompleteness underlies much of our experience. Desire is thehuman response to the discontent described in the first noble truth.
Desire and human istinctual nature cannot be supressed, so what does it mean to bow
down to our nature and practice in a way that truly embraces the fact that we are
animals, with a hunger for life and experiences? We must learn to use desire, not be
used by it, but in our practice we have to take to heart that there is more to desire
than suffering. There is a yearning that is as spiritual as it is sensual and there is a drive
for trancendence that is implicit in the most sensual of desires.
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Gaia House
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Embodying the Awakened Heart
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2015-10-17
Noble View
42:15
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Leela Sarti
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How much of the time do we live in the dreamlike nature of thoughts and perceptions? Our sensory awareness tends to go to the external. The more we get clear about that
it becomes meaningful to stay in and with ourselves.
We have the capacity to see life in a clear and transparent way, that is aligned with the
depth of reality and makes our inner reality a sanctum and a sacred ground.
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Gaia House
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Embodying the Awakened Heart
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2015-10-12
The Third Foundation of Mindfulness: Mindfulness of States of Mind
59:26
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Sally Armstrong
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In the third foundation of mindfulness, the Buddha instructs us to bring awareness and clear seeing to the contents of mind. In a nonjudgmental way, we are invited to be aware of whether the mind is affected by lust, ill will or delusion, and also when the mind is not affected by the states. Included in this practice are various experiences of concentration, expansion and contraction in the mind. The section ends by including awareness of the liberated mind, even if this is only a temporary experience. The thrust of this section is to notice the wholesome and the unwholesome qualities of the mind, and by that very noticing increase the wholesome and decrease the unwholesome.
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Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center
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Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
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2015-10-11
On The Wings of the Breath
17:38
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Using the breath to move into the silent space in the heart and attentively following its rhythm, the breath becomes our whole world. We let go of all objects that arise, all thought, as we stay present and aware in the simple current of breathing. In these moments of pure presence, we are planting the priceless seeds of our awakening.
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Sati Saraniya Hermitage
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2015-10-07
The Urgency of Now - Connecting Inner and Outer Transformation
66:23
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Donald Rothberg
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As we face multiple crises, yet also open to new transformations - inner and outer- a new type of spiritual practitioner is needed, who is able to connect inner and outer transformation. Echoing the Buddhist bodhisattvas, Jewish prophets, Jesus, many indigenous leaders, Gandhi, King, and Dorothy Day, among others, the "new bodhisattva" follows a new kind of training which is outlined.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2015-10-05
The Second Foundation of Mindfulness: Feeling Tone
57:36
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Sally Armstrong
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Vedana, or the feeling tone of pleasant, unpleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant that arises with each contact, was considered important enough by the Buddha to be a foundation of mindfulness, one of the five aggregates, and central to the teaching on dependent origination. It is also at the heart of the Dart Sutta in the Samyutta Nikaya, where the Buddha talks about the two common responses to suffering: to bemoan and lament the fact that suffering is happening, but often to try to avoid the unpleasant by chasing after the pleasant. This talk looks at all of these different teachings to help us understand the importance of bringing mindfulness to vedana in our practice and in our lives.
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Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center
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Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
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2015-10-04
How to be an Earthling
30:09
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Wes Nisker
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Stories celebrating our experience as Earthlings. Earth days (and Earth Care days) are not just a call to “do something” to heal our damaged eco-systems, but more of a spiritual exercise, a time to celebrate all life, regardless of kingdom, phyla, or species: regardless of color of skin, feathers, fur, flowers, leaves or bark. This is a time to reflect on our connection to this planet, and to embrace our basic identity as "earthlings.”
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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A Day of Connection: Sustainable Practice for a Sustainable World
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2015-10-04
Softly Close the Gates
30:00
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Ayya Medhanandi
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There is so much for us to understand. Preparing yourselves for that unfolding of wisdom, take your rightful seat in a balanced way and follow the path inward. Softly close off all the gates and give your full attention and energy to the mind's interior exploration – of itself. We are on a wondrous journey!
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Sati Saraniya Hermitage
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