This Sunday, Nancy led our investigation of the Four Great Elements of Nature and their relation to our own fundamental nature, Anatta. As part of our exploration we spent time quietly and fully taking in the gardens outside the Studio, the wind, the sounds, the earth beneath our feet.
Michael guided our reflections as we explored Craving and Clinging, the next links in the chain of Dependent Arising. Here we enter the real thicket of what makes for unsatisfactoriness in life. The Buddha went well beyond the usual commonplaces here, distinguishing three different kinds of craving, and four distinct types of clinging. Not only do we often not see these subtler developments, but once we do see them, we realize that we’ve been trying to cure one kind of suffering by introducing another. How, then, to move beyond all of them?
Paticca Samuppada, here translated Dependent Arising, is also often translated as Inter-Dependent Co-Origination, Dependent Origination, Inter-Dependent Co-Arising, etc., etc.
Since we are exploring the Buddha’s key teaching of Dependent Arising at a number of our meetings, it may be of some use to those who wish to re-trace the ground or explore more widely, to have some reliable guides at hand.
The Wikipedia article offers a standard overview of the 12 nidanas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Nidānas
One of the several places that the chain of Dependent Arising is given in full in the canon is in the Maha-nidana Sutta: The Great Causes Discourse, in the Digha Nikaya #15, pts D ii 55
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.15.0.than.html
IMS teacher Nikki Mighafori’s hour long talk on Dependent Origination covers all 12 nidanas sequentially, and can be found at http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/555/talk/21420/
An in-depth view, including considerable quotation from many suttas, plus explanation and commentary, can be found in Ajahn Thanissaro’s book “The Shape of Suffering,” offered in its entirety on line at
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/shapeofsuffering.pdf
To request a printed copy of this book, please write to: Metta Forest Monastery, P.O. Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082, USA.
This Sunday Joey guided our reflections on the dharma through a guided meditation by Guy Armstrong on expansive awareness and an excerpt from his talk on fear and fearlessness.
the guided meditation is about 45 minutes long and can be found at
http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/79/talk/22397/
and the complete talk on Fear and Fearlessness can be found at
http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/79/talk/22258/
Rebecca led our reflections this morning, centering them around readings from Joseph Goldstein’s new book, Mindfulness.
If the self is in some way an illusion, and if it causes so much difficulty, why do we create it. Sam guided our reflections on this tantalizing question, anchoring us in a talk by Akincano Marc Weber titled “Setting to sea in the leaky boat of self”, recorded at a recent IMS retreat.
http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/360/talk/24014/
Michael led our reflections on the third link in the chain of Dependent Arising, Consciousness (Pali Viññana; Sanskrit Vijñana). After a framing talk, our explorations took the form of guided meditation in which we explored the differences between Consciousness, Attention and Awareness, seeing something of their relations and uses in meditation, as well as daily life.
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Since we are exploring the Buddha’s key teaching of Dependent Arising at a number of our meetings, it may be of some use to those who wish to re-trace the ground or explore more widely, to have some reliable guides at hand.
The Wikipedia article offers a standard overview of the 12 nidanas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Nidānas
One of the several places that the chain of Dependent Arising is given in full in the canon is in the Maha-nidana Sutta: The Great Causes Discourse, in the Digha Nikaya #15, pts D ii 55
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.15.0.than.html
IMS teacher Nikki Mighafori’s hour long talk on Dependent Origination covers all 12 nidanas sequentially, and can be found at
http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/555/talk/21420/
An in-depth view, including considerable quotation from many suttas, plus explanation and commentary, can be found in Ajahn Thanissaro’s book “The Shape of Suffering,” offered in its entirety on line at
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/shapeofsuffering.pdf
To request a printed copy of this book, please write to: Metta Forest Monastery, P.O. Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082, USA.
Chris and Shery shaped today’s exploration of the centrality of relationship in our practice, as a way of uncovering the deep truths of spirit. As the dhamma moved beyond the monastic community, relationship has moved to an every more central place in dhammic practice. Tara Brach’s talk on this topic, drawn upon for today, can be found at
http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/175/talk/1894/
Rebecca drew from Joseph gold stein’s new book-length examination of the Satipatthana Sutta, titled “Mindfulness,” to present an overview of Dependent Arising, as background for our continuing study
Michael guided our reflections as we continue exploring the Buddhist understanding of cause and effect , focusing this week on the fabricating of habitual patterns (Sankhara), the stress that results, and the possibility of transforming them in practice. Contemporary neurology as well as ancient scripture were brought to bear on this causal phase of suffering.
The work of neurologist Rick Hanson was of particular use here, not only in explaining humankind’s bias toward negative experience, but also in spotting and cultivating thought patterns which lead to sustained happiness. Hansen’s books are “The Buddha’s Brain,” “Hardwiring Happiness,” and “Just One Thing.” A respected teacher of meditation at spirit Rock, he is also recognized for his work in neuroplasticity but the scientific community.
