This is a recorded dialog between Shaila Catherine and John Kelly. Shaila is a Dharma Teacher in San Jose, California who leads local and online sutta study courses; John Kelly is a Pali Scholar in Australia. John assisted Bhikkhu Bodhi on the production of the English translation of the Numerical Discourses. Shaila and John share their impressions and insights regarding of this ancient text, highlighting the practical relevance of these teachings for contemporary lay people.

This talk by Shaila Catherine is the fifth in a speaker series titled "Eight-Fold Path of Awakening." The Buddha said that we should develop concentration, because one who is concentrated understands things as they really are. Concentration is the ground for wisdom to arise. When we concentrate the mind, we learn to steady and strengthen the mind. That concentrated mind has the capacity to see the nature of things more deeply and clearly, leading to liberating insight.

This series explores the Noble Eight-fold Path as a liberating practice. The Eight-fold Path is among the most practical and powerful core teachings of the Buddha. If offers practitioners a comprehensive approach for training the mind in the context of meditation, action, relationship, and life.

Pastor Erik Swanson and Shaila Catherine discuss how we can nurture sacred and contemplative lives in the midst of the pressure and demands that are characteristic of Silicon Valley. They share their experiences in Christian and Buddhist traditions of contemplation, meditation, and prayer.

Equanimity allows us to remain present and awake with the fact of things—equally close to the things we like and the things we dislike. Shaila Catherine describes the importance of developing equanimity in two arenas: 1) in response to pleasant and painful feelings, and 2) regarding the future results of our actions. Equanimity develops in meditation and in life. We can use unexpected events that we cannot control to develop equanimity. Our job is not to judge our experiences, but to be present and respond wisely. Equanimity is a beautiful mental factor that can feel like freedom, but if "I" and "mine" still operate, there is still work to be done. This talk includes many practical suggestions for cultivating equanimity.

Shaila Catherine discusses how ignorance (sometimes referred to as delusion) is the root of all unwholesome activities. Ignorance is present any time that we fail to see the three characteristics of experience: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self. The wisdom that develops through insight meditation practice can overcome and uproot even deeply conditioned ignorance. Wisdom helps us to understand suffering and the cause of suffering, and awaken compassion for ourselves and others who suffer due to ignorance.

This is the second talk in a speaker series titled Ethics, Action, and the Five Precepts. This talk by Shaila Catherine explores kamma (karma) and the training precept to refrain from killing. The Abhidhamma presents a detailed analysis of both wholesome and unwholesome mental states to explain how some actions lead to suffering, and other actions lead to happiness. The conditions that surround an action, the intentions that instigate it, and the reflective understanding of potential consequences will influence the intensity of the patterns that affect our options. If you find that you have killed a living being, perhaps an insect, notice your mental state. Was hatred or greed present? Learn what happens in the mind to enable killing, and what happens in the mind when you refrain from violence. The act of restraint is a particularly potent action. When virtue (sila) is pure, reflections on the abstention from harming can be a source of joy. The potency of wholesome restraint can be increased by reinforcing it with the wisdom that understands the causes and end of suffering—right view of the path.

This series explores virtue as the indispensable foundation of Buddhist practice. It is structured according to the five training precepts. These precepts are not rules to be followed obediently; rather, they serve as guidelines for the intentional development of compassion, mindfulness and wisdom. These five precepts offer us a joyful method to cultivate the heart, nurture harmony in our relationships, and free the mind from inner forces of greed and hatred that if left unrestrained might cause suffering for ourselves and others.

This talk by Shaila Catherine is the first in a speaker series titled Ethics, Action, and the Five Precepts. It offers an over view of the five precepts (sila) as training tools for bringing mindfulness and restraint into our actions, relationships, and daily life activities. These basic guidelines for living an ethical life, and the power of restraint are as relevant in the modern world as they were in ancient India. Taking care with our actions can be a source of joy and happiness. When our actions are clear, the mind is free from regret, guilt, and remorse; we gain self-respect, self-esteem, and confidence. The four bases of success (iddhipadas) can be used to strengthen these training precepts. With the support of desire, energy, consciousness, and investigation we can fully commit to abstain from unwholesome actions, and develop wholesome states, thereby gaining sovereignty over our own mind.

Buddhist tradition offers a rich tradition of wisdom teachings. This series focuses on the philosophy, principles, practices, and instructions that are fundamental to developing a meditative or Buddhist practice. It is intended as an introduction to Buddhism series, with an emphasis on the primary teachings that guide meditators to a liberating understanding of the mind, world, and life.