This Sunday, Payton led the sangha’s exploration of contentment in two parts.
The first part was a guided meditation by Rick Hanson, a psychologist and author of several books about contentment. The meditation is on Dharmaseed at the following link.
The second part was extracts from a dharma talk by Caroline Jones entitled “The practice of contentment”. Caroline quotes Ram Dass as once saying that contentment requires us to “plumb the depths of this moment”. She also quotes Christina Feldman’s classic question, “what in this moment is truly lacking?” Caroline’s talk is available at the following link.
Michael guided our discussion November 26 on the topic “Pleasure and Enjoyment in Meditation.” Here are some of the key sources brought together in our discussion.
Many meditators treat practice as a duty, and the role of pleasure is ignored. But both canonical texts and contemporary neurological research point out the importance of pleasure in cultivating a meditation practice.
For example,
The 5th and 6th steps of Buddha’s detailed instructions on breathing meditation in the Anapanasati Sutta are
“[5] He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to rapture.’ He trains himself, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to rapture.’ [6] He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to pleasure.’ He trains himself, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to pleasure.’
Contemporary meditation master Sayadaw U Tejaniya, author of “Awareness Alone is Not Enough” among other books, puts it this way:
When you experience good mind states, actively remember them.
Remind yourself that you are experiencing a good mind state,
that good mind states are possible,
that this is how a good mind state feels.
In this way you reinforce the understanding
of the good states you experience.
The effectiveness of utilizing pleasurable experience to cultivate the meditative mind is corroborated by the neurological research of Ron Hanson, whose 20-minute Ted Talk on the “Hardwiring Happiness” can be found on Youtube.
If you are a subscriber to Tricycle, you have access to the archive of dharma talks on their website. Of particular interest is the last session of a course offered by Culadasa and Matthew Immergut, March 2016, in which our management of mental drifting and forgetting is managed.
And finally, the wonderful book “Meditation for the Love of It,” by Sally Kempton offers much good guidance to practitioners in many traditions, including Buddhism.
This Sunday, Steve Barry led our Sangha’s discussions. He brought up perspectives on the variety of modes and methods of practice we might engage as our practice evolves.
Here is the link to the Dhamma talk by Akincano (Marc Weber) on Dharmaseed:
Mike Blouin guided our reflections this past Sunday, focusing on looking deeply into Vedana, the immediate sense of pleasure, displeasure or neutrality woven into every experience. Our preferences and habit, emerge and solidify from this point of origin. What can be done to modify our responses?
Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha-to-be, became a yogi when he left his father’s palace to “go forth” in pursuit of liberation….He sought out and studied with the greatest yogis of his day–including approximately five years of study with the well-known yogis Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta. Under their tutelage, the young aspirant studied the most sophisticated yogic meditation techniques then known…stages of Dharana and dhyana, and which Buddhist teaching describes as the jhanas (concentrations).” (Stephen Cope: The Wisdom of Yoga.) As a deep yoga practitioner, he became part of a movement known in India as the great “shamanic stream”, a culture of dedicated yogis actively engaged in experimentation with the goal of complete liberation. Following his enlightenment, the Buddha’s teachings were then adopted by some yogic adepts. For almost a thousand years following his death, yogic and Buddhist teachings developed side-by-side, practitioners exchanged philosophies and practices, debated their differences, and shared many common threads.
This past Sunday Lorilee presented an overview of the historic cross-pollination between yoga and Buddhism, and lead our sangha in experiences to taste the effects of yogic concentration and meditation techniques (as described by Patanjali) both similar to, and different from classic Buddhist practices.
Below is attached a PDF that she made for the meeting.
Apropos to some discussion last week, this Sunday Mike B led the Sangha on the topic of Engaged Buddhism.
Many have criticized the Buddhist path over the centuries for its inward focus, but in fact the Buddha himself was a powerful advocate for peace and equality. Buddhist leaders like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh have had a profound social impact in our current era. The Bodhisattva vows are entirely devoted to changing not just ourselves, but the whole world.
The challenge for those engaged in such a practice is to enter the world of conflicting ideas and strong opinions with kindness, compassion, and without becoming overwhelmed.
Today Zac led our reflections on the topic of nirvana (cessation or unbinding) and bodhi (awakening or enlightenment). We listened to a talk on the topic from Shaila Catherine, which led to a spirited group discussion.
The buddhist world often values skepticism, but just as often points to faith as a fundamental part of practice. How do skepticism and faith define each other? How can they both have a role in strengthening our practice? Michael offered reflections on these questions as we met this past Sunday.
Buddhism encourage faith in the sense of confidence in the practice, which implies that we experiment with elements of the dharma (meditation, ethical behavior, reflections) and, in time, as a result of our experience, come to have a confidence in the solid workability of the path.
In the rich and vibrant philosophical scene of the Buddha’s day, the question of who or what to believe arose often. Two approaches to this question are illustrated in the Suttas. First, is the Buddha’s reflection on “questions that do not tend to edification,” i.e. points of philosophical speculation which can absorb our attention without really leading anywhere near the end of suffering., see https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.063.than.html
As for which teachers/teachings to listen to, and which to pass by, the Buddha offered instructive words to the Kalamas, See the Kalama Sutta https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.065.than.html
Thanissaro Bikkhu says . . .Although this discourse is often cited as the Buddha’s carte blanche for following one’s own sense of right and wrong, it actually says something much more rigorous than that. Traditions are not to be followed simply because they are traditions. Reports (such as historical accounts or news) are not to be followed simply because the source seems reliable. One’s own preferences are not to be followed simply because they seem logical or resonate with one’s feelings. Instead, any view or belief must be tested by the results it yields when put into practice; and — to guard against the possibility of any bias or limitations in one’s understanding of those results — they must further be checked against the experience of people who are wise
Sharon Salzberg’s book on wise faith can help us reflect on the deep questions of faith and the variety of its meanings. Examples from life stories as well as careful reflections abound in her book, titled “Faith”. https://www.sharonsalzberg.com/faith/
