Dharma Talks
given at Spirit Rock Meditation Center
2011-10-30
Breaking Free of Habits: Part 1
60:28
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Martine Batchelor
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During this daylong we will work with the habits that bind us and stop our potential for wisdom and compassion from manifesting fully. We will use the meditative tools found in the Vipassana and Zen traditions, like watching the breath, listening and questioning, to see how we can engage creatively with our habits and transform them into positive functions.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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2011-10-30
Breaking Free of Habits: Part 2
1:25:21
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Martine Batchelor
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During this daylong we will work with the habits that bind us and stop our potential for wisdom and compassion from manifesting fully. We will use the meditative tools found in the Vipassana and Zen traditions, like watching the breath, listening and questioning, to see how we can engage creatively with our habits and transform them into positive functions.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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2011-10-26
Getting Down to Direct Experience III
63:07
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Donald Rothberg
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Building on the last two sessions, we explore three inter-related aspects of ignorance or confusion: 1. How we move away from direct experience, especially because of reactivity. 2. How we develop, personally and collectively, unconscious material;and 3. How we do not fully understand impermanence, the roots of suffering and the nature of the self. We suggest ways to practice with all three forms of ignorance.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2011-10-16
Mindfulness According to Early Buddhist Sources
2:37:12
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Bhikkhu Analayo
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"The aim of my presentation will be to investigate what mindfulness practice is about according to the early Buddhist discourses. These discourses have been preserved in the Pali Nikayas, in the Chinese Agamas, and at times also in Sanskrit fragments and sutra quotations preserved in Tibetan. From a historical viewpoint, these discourses represent the earliest layer of Buddhist textual material and thus take us back as close as possible to the original instructions delivered by the Buddha.
In these texts, we find two basic expositions:
1) the fourfold establishment of mindfulness taught in general;
2) the threefold establishment of mindfulness associated with the Buddha himself.
First, I will examine the fourfold establishment of mindfulness, based on the way it is depicted in the different extant versions of the Discourse on Mindfulness and the Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing. Then, I will compare these to the threefold establishment of mindfulness. Through such comparison, I hope to arrive at key aspects of Buddhist mindfulness practice according to the earliest available textual sources at our disposition."
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Attached Files:
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Mindfulness According to Early Buddhist Sources
by Bhikkhu Analayo
(PDF)
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2011-09-27
Meditation on the last group (6th) of the 32 Parts of the Body
43:37
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Mary Grace Orr
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Tears, Grease, Saliva, Mucus, Oil of the Joints, Urine
(assu, Vasa, Kelo, Singhanika, Lasika, Muttam)
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Standing Firm in That Which You Are: Mindfulness of the Body
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2011-09-27
Meditation on the 5th Group of 32 Parts of the Body
42:21
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Bob Stahl
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Bile, Phlegm, Pus, Blood, Sweat, Fat
(Pittam, Semhan, Pubbo, Lohitam, Sedo, Medo)
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Standing Firm in That Which You Are: Mindfulness of the Body
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2011-09-18
Forgiveness & Assertiveness: Love in Action in the Real World
1:19:16
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Rick Hanson
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To be able to enter deeply into relationship, it is necessary to be able both to forgive and to assert yourself skillfully. Forgiveness and assertiveness support each other. Forgiveness clears out ill will so you can assert yourself with compassion and Wise Speech. Self-assertion takes care of your own needs so forgiveness can emerge without the sense that you are a doormat.
This experiential workshop will get into the nitty-gritty of how to bring the Buddha’s profound teachings on interrelatedness, lovingkindness, and virtue (sila) into the messy real world of relationships with family members, lovers, friends, bosses, and co-workers.
This workshop - led by a world renowned expert on forgiveness, and by an experienced couples and family therapist and meditation teacher - will offer user-friendly information with lots of practical methods. We'll cover:
-- The Buddha’s teachings on non-harming, wise speech, compassion and kindness, and releasing ill will -- as well as his teachings on self-care, respecting your own needs, and looking out for your own happiness
-- The primacy of relationships in evolution, and the deep capacities for both loving altruism and fearful aggression
-- The neural machinery of emotional reactivity and developing grievances with others
-- Why forgiveness and assertiveness are both important
-- The foundation of basic mindfulness, precepts, Wise Speech, compassion for oneself and others, and emotional self-care
-- Forgiveness practices
-- Assertiveness practices
There will be some voluntary paired activities as well as time for questions and discussion. While the teachings are appropriate for use in health care professions, no background with psychology or meditation is needed. Also please know that this workshop is not psychotherapy or any substitute for professional care.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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2011-09-14
Dharmic Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of September 11th, Part II--Wisdom, Compassion and Courage in our inner and outer lives
66:13
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Donald Rothberg
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Howard Thurman, the great African American activist, mystic, and theologian, once said: “Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” In the spirit of this guidance, we continue exploring how to understand and respond some of the core issues related to the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001. We are further guided by (1) understanding the inter-relationships between individual, relational, and collective domains of practice; and (2) taking wisdom, compassion, and courage (and responsiveness) as three touchstones of our practice, both more inner and more outer.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2011-09-11
Wise Speech in Groups, Part 2: Becoming More Skillful in Challenging Group Situations
3:22:40
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Donald Rothberg
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We begin with a review of what was covered in Part I (July 10, 2011), covering the importance of speech practice, the basics of Wise (or “Right”) Speech practice, what this practice looks like in the context of small groups, and the basics of how to approach speech practice in challenging situations. We then bring in new materials, using short presentations and exercises, that expand our capacities to respond skillfully in challenging situations. We first examine how to direct mindful attention to emotions and underlying interests or values both in ourselves and in others (using some of the models from Nonviolent Communication and the Harvard Negotiation Project on "Difficult Conversations"). We also bring attention to our stories and narratives, using the model of the "Ladder of Inference" to help clarify how we often go very quickly to stories (particularly self-centered ones, often way beyond the "data") in challenging situations. We then develop further our capacities to use these tools and perspectives in situations in which we are triggered, and to respond more skillfully.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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