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Dharma Talks
given at Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2015-03-10
Fewness of Wishes
45:07
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Misha Merrill
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This talk by Misha Merrill was given as part of the series “Eight Great Thoughts” (Anguttara Nikaya 8:30). Another possible title for this talk is “To Want What We Have.” As long as getting more is possible, however improbable, desire will arise to meet it. This brings us to the Four Noble Truths, where dukka or dissatisfaction can be seen as the distance between what we want and what actually is. When we become aware of this thirst, it creates possibility for change. Fewness of wishes, or wanting what we have, is fundamentally a combination of simplicity and renunciation.
Fewness of wishes is realizing that there is nowhere left to go but right here. Our wish is actually just to be present. It sounds simple, but is hard to do, because we are preoccupied with the future (i.e., worry) and we are rehashing the past (i.e., regret). Yet the only place that we are free of worry and regret is in this moment, right here, where there is nothing but what is.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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In
collection:
Eight Great Thoughts
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2015-03-03
Effortless Mindfulness
44:36
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Lisa Dale Miller
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Psychotherapist Lisa Dale Miller discussed her textbook about Buddhist psychology, “Effortless Mindfulness: Genuine Mental Health Through Awakened Presence.” Her talk focused on the varying concept of liberation of mind in the three schools of Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana). She also discussed, how through the practical application of Buddhist psychology, a psychotherapist or a mental health professional might facilitate liberation of mind in the people who they work with.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2015-02-24
An Evening with Ajahn Brahm
1:37:34
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Ajahn Brahmavamso
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With gentle humor and inspiring stories, Ajahn Brahm shared his profound insights about practice and how to live one's life with respect, love and compassion. No summary can do justice to all the topics that he touched on, or the generosity of heart with which the lessons were given. This talk needs to be listened to in order to appreciate the seamless and spontaneous presentation of the Dharma. This evening was also a benefit for the Dhammadharini Sangha, the first Bhikkhuni Sangha of the Theravadin forest traditions in North America.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2015-01-02
Nibbana Reflections
30:36
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Shaila Catherine
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Nibbana (nirvana) cannot be reduced to a simple definition, yet this talk by Shaila Catherine explores nibbana from a number of perspectives. She considers what nibbana is not, and how nibbana has been experienced through Buddhist practice. Some descriptions present nibbana as a transcendent perspective, beyond this world; other descriptions present nibbana as an imminent phenomena, always available. Perhaps most frequently we find nibbana equated with deep peace, sublime happiness, non-clinging, profound release, and the quenching of all greed, the cooling of the fires of hatred, and the cessation of ignorance and delusion.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2015-01-01
Mindfulness of Mind
28:00
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Shaila Catherine
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This talk by Shaila Catherine explores the third establishment of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna)—mindfulness of mind—with emphasis on comprehending mental states as wholesome or unwholesome, developed or undeveloped. We learn to examine the condition of our own minds with discernment and non-identification. We develop the ability to clearly know what is present and what is absent. It is through an honest recognition of the state of our minds that we can purify the mind, nurture deep concentration, and realize liberation.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2014-12-27
Deep Peace
27:11
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Shaila Catherine
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Everyone seems to wish for world peace and inner peace, yet stress, agitation, and struggle may still dominate our lives. Are you seeking peace in ways that it can realistically be found? Satisfaction cannot be gained in the world of conditioned things, possessions, and identities. Enduring happiness and peace are found when we turn our attention inward, and let go of the causes of suffering and conflict. This talk by Shaila Catherine explores a number of Buddhist approaches to santisukha, peace and happiness, including 1) virtue, 2) guarding the sense doors with mindfulness, 3) concentration and jhana practices, 4) formless or immaterial attainments, and 5) the ultimate peace brought by insight, letting go, release, and final knowledge. The path of peace develops the mind and enables the adept practitioner to live joyfully, without clinging to anything in this world.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2014-10-21
Kamma and Intention: A Fresh Start
24:54
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Shaila Catherine
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This talk by Shaila Catherine was given as a part of the series "Enhancing Mindfulness Skills: A Seven-Week Series Dedicated to Cultivating Transformative Insight." Action influenced by intention is called kamma in the Pali language or karma in Sanskrit. We condition patterns, habits, and create pleasant or painful results through repeated intentional actions. The key to working with our patterns is not in the past, it is how we relate to present events. We are not condemned to dwell in any mental state. We have the potential to disentangle ourselves from suffering and cease creating causes for suffering. When we are mindful, we can notice the process that occurs between a stimulus and our response. Then, supported by calmness, wisdom, and clear intention, we stop reacting to life through the conditioned force of habit and may experience a truly spontaneous, free response to life.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2014-10-14
Many Kinds of Thoughts
41:01
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Shaila Catherine
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This talk was given by Shaila Catherine as a part of the series "Enhancing Mindfulness Skills: A Seven-Week Series Dedicated to Cultivating Transformative Insight."
Mindful of the thinking process, we explore how thoughts function in our lives. Unwholesome mental patterns can reinforce obsessive desires, identification, rigid opinions, and attachment to belief systems. What patterns are most common for you—planning, rumination, fantasy, rehearsing, daydreaming, judging, comparing, fixing, instructing? We observe the types of thoughts that arise, and reflect on whether those thoughts support our values and purpose. We learn to let go of unskillful thoughts and then focus our attention so that we use the mind skillfully. Buddhist tradition identifies three sources for proliferating thought: craving, conceit, and views. By examining the sources of conceptual proliferation, we can curb the wandering tendencies of mind.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2014-09-23
Body: A Matter of Life
47:34
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Shaila Catherine
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This talk was given as a part of the series "Enhancing Mindfulness Skills: A Seven-Week Series Dedicated to Cultivating Transformative Insight." This talk focuses on "Four Elements." It is a traditional practice of mindfulness of the body. In ancient India, the materiality of the body was thought to be composed of four elements—earth, fire, wind and water. These four elements, in turn, have twelve characteristics—(earth) heaviness and lightness, hardness and softness, roughness and smoothness; (fire) heat and coolness; (wind) pushing and supporting; (water) fluidity and cohesion. All of these characteristics can be known with our mind and in our body. Discerning the characteristics of material elements will lead to a profound contemplation of impermanence and death. Seeing the impermanence of the body, we know we cannot control it. The body is not-self, it is not possessable, not I, and not eternally me. Understanding the impermanence of material elements and this body composed of elements, we learn to let go. This talk concludes with a guided meditation of body scans, with emphasis on the four elements and their respective characteristics.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2014-09-16
Breath: An Intimate Focus for Attention
45:06
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Shaila Catherine
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This talk was given as a part of the series "Enhancing Mindfulness Skills: A Seven-Week Series Dedicated to Cultivating Transformative Insight." How do we approach the breath? The breath can be used in a variety of ways to enhance mindfulness and to cultivate the insight into impermanence. Observing the breath calms the mind and allows us to tune into present moment experience. By observing the changes in breathing we can assess our feelings, emotions, and moods. Realizing the impermanent, conditioned, changing nature of the breath supports a skillful and powerful recollection of death. Let this contemplation of death be poignant enough to stir a sense of urgency. Reflect on what is really important in life.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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