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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 |
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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2025-01-08
Guided Meditation: Identifying Some of the Ways that We Construct Experience
37:10
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Donald Rothberg
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After some basic instructions in developing concentration and stability, as well as mindfulness, we practice in silence. After about another ten minutes, there are several periodic brief periods of guided practice, in which we are guided to notice our main patterns of thought and perception of objects. In the latter part of the period, we are guided to drop constructions of experience in two ways.
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2025-01-08
The Nature of Awakening and the Path to Awakening
58:53
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Donald Rothberg
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As we begin a new year, it's helpful to remember the deep motivation of our practice--to awaken--and to ask how our intention to awaken manifests in our practice. In this talk, we explore the Buddha's metaphor of "awakening" (from sleep, from dreams) as a metaphor for spiritual practices, and how he also speaks of realizing Nirvana. We unpack how the Buddha understood Nirvana and awakening--both negatively, as the end of ignorance, and dukkha and reactivity--and more positively as going fully beyond the ordinary constructions of experience. We also look at how the Buddha understood the practical path of training to realize awakening and Nirvana, and how this was explicated through different teachings and practices. At the end, we briefly bring up the question of what a contemporary path of awakening looks like. The talk is followed by discussion.
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2025-02-03
Wisdom of the Heart: What the Mind Forgets
58:25
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Devin Berry
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Wisdom of the heart transcends logic—it remembers, connects, and reveals truth. This talk explores the language of the heart (citta), interbeing, and the knowing beyond thought. Through moving stories we uncover the heart’s capacity to awaken. A rich, evocative dharma reflection on trust, belonging, and awakening.
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