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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
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Dharma Talks
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2007-10-26
#7 Self & Society
59:18
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Stephen Batchelor
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A consideration of the Buddhist understanding of self as a process, based on passages from the Pali Canon. A critique of "perfection" as the aim of the teachings, based on the understanding of "freedom" as found in the Padhana Sutta. Followed by a reflection on the Buddha's SOCIAL VISION. This leads to comments on the nature of Buddhism itself as a religious institution, and concludes with a call for a CULTURE OF AWAKENING in a secular world.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Meditation and Study Retreat
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2007-10-25
#6 God & Buddhanature
57:15
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Stephen Batchelor
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A study of the Buddha's understanding of God (Brahma) as found in texts of the Pali Canon. The Buddha was an ironic ATHEIST, who did not take a fanatic position against God. This is followed by a reflection on the idea of BUDDHANATURE, starting with its origins in the Pali Canon and seeing how it evolves in later Buddhist thought in ways that both complement and contradict the early tradition.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Meditation and Study Retreat
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2007-10-24
Wisdom
56:52
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Donald Rothberg
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How do we live and act wisely, whether in our meditation practice or in the rest of our lives? The core of our practice is to come back to wisdom moment-to-moment. The main teaching on wisdom that can guide us is the Four Noble Truths. We explore this teaching as a practical guide, requiring an understanding of causes and conditions. Yet wisdom ultimately must also be connected to to two further qualities to be whole - to compassion, and to courage.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Cultivating Clear Seeing, Opening the Heart
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2007-10-23
Walking Meditation
28:02
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Walking helps to shift energies of the mind. The movement of walking holds the mind, helping it give up its preoccupations and come into the body. Breathing in and out, taking one step at a time, the afflicted stirred up energy recedes and you feel yourself in flow. Let your mind rest in that.
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Cittaviveka
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Group Retreat
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In
collection:
A Moving Balance
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2007-10-23
A Moving Balance
2:01:01
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Ajahn Sucitto
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This is a collection of 9 of Ajahn's earlier dharmaseed files from 2007 to 2021, that give instructions and encouragement on walking meditation. They have been selected to support a book by Ajahn entitled "A Moving Balance". This and other books by Ajahn Sucitto can be downloaded here: Forest Sangha - Books - Ajahn Sucitto |
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2007-10-22
#3 Turning The Wheel Of Dhamma
59:54
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Stephen Batchelor
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A reflection on the COUNTER-INTUITIVE nature of the Buddha's teaching - how the Dhamma goes against deeply seated intuition, e.g., that there is something permanent in this impermanent world. This is followed by a reading of and reflection on the first discourse the Buddha gave, which outlines the middle way and the four ennobling truths. To be followed in talk #4 by a detailed reading of the four truths as four injunctions rather than four things to believe.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Meditation and Study Retreat
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2007-10-21
#2 Going Against The Stream
56:31
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Stephen Batchelor
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A continuation of the study of the Buddha's account of his awakening in the ARIYAPARIYESANA SUTTA (M.26). Mindfulness as the way to GROUND oneself in the GROUND of Conditional Arising. the subjective pole of this ground is the stopping of greed, hatred, delusion. The Buddha was reluctant to teach because what he had awoken to "WENT AGAINST THE STREAM". The talk concludes with several passages from the UPANISHADS to illustrate this.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Meditation and Study Retreat
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2007-10-20
#1 The Groundless Ground
59:27
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Stephen Batchelor
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What did the Buddha teach that was distinctively his own view? This talk attempts to answer this question. I start to define three cardinal tenets of the Buddhist teachings: the Principle of Conditionality; the Process of the Eightfold Path, and the Practice of Mindfulness. I then examine a passage from the Ariyapariyesana Sutta in which the Buddha describes his awakening as a shift from a Place to a Ground.
NOTE: The quality of the recording of this talk may be improved after 11/15
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Meditation and Study Retreat
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2007-10-16
The Hindrances: Doubt
41:30
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Shaila Catherine
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Doubt can be an obstacle to meditation or a form of healthy inquiry. It is helpful to ask questions, to ponder, and be willing to doubt our beliefs and opinions. Ask yourself: are my views true? We hold many unexamined beliefs—beliefs about self, about how things should be, about what other people should do. The Kalama Sutta encourages us to question what we think, and to not adopt beliefs based on hearsay or mere tradition. We can use our minds to critically inquire into how things actually are. Doubt as an obstacle, on the other hand, is a painful state that leads to confusion, fear, indecision, and uncertainty. It manifests as obsessive thinking, planning, and anxiety. The Discourse to Malunkyaputta (Middle Length Discourses, M. 63) proposes that if we indulge in speculative thinking we might miss the opportunity to free ourselves from suffering. Specific suggestions are offered for working skillfully with the hindrance of doubt.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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Tuesday Talks
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2007-10-09
Hindrances, Restlesness
44:05
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Andrea Fella
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The hindrance of restlessness and remorse is a fundamental hindrance out of which the other hindrances can arise. The importance of becoming familiar with restlessness, to see or understand its nature, is discussed. Through having a clear understanding of how it arises in the mind and in the body one can work with its various manifestations in practice.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2007-10-03
Path Of Peace
1:12:35
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Tara Brach
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Awakening from the Trance of Separation - We all have conditioning that can keep us at war with our inner life, and fuel violence in the world. These universal tendencies can block our natural attunement and capacity to respond with compassion to life. The practices of presence allow us to recognize this conditioning and awaken to the truth of our connectedness, to the wisdom and love that make peace possible.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
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2007-10-03
Relationship As Spiritual Practice II
62:54
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Donald Rothberg
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We continue our exploration, with a review of why, in the contemporary west, it’s important to develop a fuller sense of relationship as practice, and what the prerequisites for this practice are, in terms of Buddhist resources. Then we explore how in relationship there can be a full sense of inner awareness and roundedness (the “I”), awareness of and xxx toward the other (the “you”), and a third “body” (the feid of the “we”. We use experiential exercises to explore this.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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