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Dharma Talks
given at Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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2020-11-04
Practicing after Election Day
1:10:00
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Donald Rothberg
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The morning after Election Day in the U.S., with the result in the Presidential election still uncertain, we explore a number of ways of practicing--in both a more inner and a more outer way. Participants, who include several from outside the U.S., share some of what they are experiencing, and we explore several ways of working with challenging emotions, thoughts, and body-states. We emphasize the importance of compassion for self and others, empathy--including across lines of difference, working with one's own views, participation in a community, and connection with traditions and approaches--such as that of the bodhisattva--that give one resources for the "long haul." Eve Decker brings in a vital further resource--song--three times during the session, with "Sending You Light," "We Who Believe in Freedom," and the dedication of merit from the Chinese Pure Land tradition.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2020-10-07
Deepening Our Practice in the Pandemic 9--Wise Speech 6--Practicing with Difficult Speech Situations 4
49:00
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Donald Rothberg
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We focus, in the context of difficult or challenging communication, on the integration of individual, inner practice and skillful speaking. After a review of eight general guidelines for skillful speech and how we do inner practice related to, but separate from, such challenging communication, we look at ways to bring inner practice in speaking and relating. We also focus on several more "outer" skillful ways of speaking to bring about mutual understanding, including using relatively neutral observations free of interpretations, and cultivating the practice of empathy. We then look at how to integrate more inner and more outer dimensions of practice in the context of several challenging situations.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2020-09-23
Deepening Our Practice in the Pandemic 7: The Foundations of Wise Speech 4: Becoming More Skillful with Difficult Speech Situations 2
1:10:06
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Donald Rothberg
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After a brief review of the foundations of wise speech and the eight guidelines for skillful speech when there are difficult or challenging situations, we explore the connection of inner practices with such situations. We look at two dimensions of such practice: (1) looking at and transforming conditioning that makes it hard to engage in such situations, such as related to negative views about conflict and anger, and discerning when there is spiritual bypassing in relationship to difficulties; and (2) bringing mindfulness, inquiry, and investigation to difficult emotions such as anger, fear, sadness, etc.,and to thoughts and narratives (especially generated by the judgmental mind). We will continue this exploration, including of difficult body states, next time..
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday 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
Deepening Our Daily Life Practice in the Pandemic 3
66:09
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Donald Rothberg
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After a brief review of what we've explored in the last two sessions, in terms of ways of deepening daily life practice in terms of formal practice, informal practice, and one's work, service, and/or activism, we go more deeply into two areas. We look at how to practice with exploring and seeing intentions, and some ways to make connections between formal and informal practice--in the flow of daily life. The talk has a few references to the life of Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights activist and Congressperson, who died on July 17, 2020, and is followed by discussion..
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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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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2020-06-24
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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2020-06-17
Buddhist Practice and the Transformation of Racism 1: Five Perspectives
65:27
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Donald Rothberg
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We open up five perspectives, the first three of which have more to do with understanding and the last two of which have more to do with practice and action. The five perspectives are: (1) remembering the Buddha's elimination of caste within his community; (2) understanding how greed, hatred (including racism), and delusion are not just personal but are also institutionalized; (3) understanding through looking at US history how race is a construction (with terrible consequences)-- both initially in the 17th century and later, commonly linked with divide-and-conquer strategies by those with economic and political power; (4) how our ethical practice calls us not just not to harm in our personal actions, but also not to let harm be done by others; and (5) the identification of different dimensions of transformative practice. The talk is followed by discussion.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2020-05-27
From the Ordinary Habitual Mind to the Buddha-Mind 19: Transforming Reactivity 3
65:50
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Donald Rothberg
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After a review of our last two sessions exploring the nature of dukkha as reactivity and how to practice to transform reactivity, in the context of the Buddha's teachings of Dependent Origination and the Two Arrows, we explore a third aspect of practice. Some of our experiences of reactivity, particularly those in which there are repetitive and habitual patterns, sometimes open up to reveal old and relatively unconscious material, part of our "ignorance," giving us the chance to access and transform such material. This can occur, for example, when there is trauma, or when there are limiting beliefs originating from childhood (or sometimes later) related to psychological and/or social conditioning. A general model is given of four steps in the transformation of such material.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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