Retreat Dharma Talks
at Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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| Regular weekly talks given at the lower Spirit Rock meditation hall |
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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2023-07-10
The Present Moment is a Temple
1:56:06
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Dana DePalma
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This guided meditation goes through the Arriving Sequence, including arriving in the present moment, becoming available to practice, and aligning with our deepest values. Having established ourselves thus, we deepen into the felt sense of presence and aliveness. Includes Mary Oliver’s poem, Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me.
This talk follows the guided meditation from the same evening and continues the exploration of the Arriving Sequence and the felt sense of presence and aliveness. The Arriving Sequence includes arriving in the present moment, becoming available to practice, and aligning with our deepest values. Includes a short guided meditation to demonstrate the steps of the Arriving Sequence and turning toward aliveness and presence.
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2023-07-12
Cultivating Wise Speech 1
61:26
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Donald Rothberg
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We look first at the importance of wise speech, the way that it forms an integral part of the path of awakening, the way that it is often underdeveloped in Western Buddhist practice, for various reasons, and some of the challenges of speech. We then examine three aspects of wise speech practice: (1) developing presence in the midst of communication; (2) working with the four guidelines for skillful speech developed by the Buddha; and (3) integrating our practice to be mindful and skillful with thoughts, emotions, and body states with our speech practice. The talk is followed by discussion, focused especially on some challenging relational and speech situations.
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2023-07-19
Cultivating Wise Speech 2: A Review of Three Foundations of Wise Speech and An Introduction to a Fourth: Empathy Practice
64:50
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Donald Rothberg
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We first focus on the importance of the practice of wise speech and then review three foundations of such practice: (1) developing presence in the midst of communication; (2) working with the four guidelines for skillful speech developed by the Buddha; and (3) integrating our practice to be mindful and skillful with thoughts, emotions, and body states with our speech practice. We then introduce a fourth foundation, empathy practice, aiming to understand and connect with another, exploring the roots of such practice in the innate capacity of empathy. We then identify a simple yet basic practice of tuning into someone's emotions and "needs" (or what matters to someone), based on the work of Nonviolent Communication (developed first by Marshall Rosenberg). A discussion follows, particularly examining bringing these practices into challenging interactions. (Materials on emotions--or feelings, needs, and an "empathy map" are given below, under "documents.")
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Attached Files:
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Feelings Inventory from NVC
by NVC (added by Donald Rothberg)
(PDF)
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Needs Inventory from NVC
by NVC (added by Donald Rothberg)
(PDF)
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Empathy Map
by Donald Rothberg/Oren Jay Sofer
(PDF)
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