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Although meditation techniques for quieting the mind are widely taught, it sometimes seems that we are left on our own to find specific paths to  insights that could change our own particular lives.  Yet there exist practices which encourage and support the development of such insights, life-clarifying and life-changing. 

This week, Michael guided our reflections on, and practice of, some key meditation strategies for opening to insights that arise from—and help us to meet—our own individual lives.

There are many moments during each day where our mind brings up
thoughts of resentment, greed, fear, or doubt. These thoughts can seem wildly random, coming from nowhere at all; what can we do?

But the teachings tell us that these experiences are lawful: there is always a cause and effect. Buddhist practice is about observing the mind, noticing the unpleasant effects of unskillful mind states, and
discerning the seeds that gave rise to them.

So too, is it about noticing pleasant states of mind and discerning those seeds. We can then choose to not water the seeds of unwholesome thoughts and only tend to the wholesome.

Mark Nunberg gave a talk in 2023 about taking responsibility for watering the seeds we want in our lives. Payton played this talk and guideed the Sangha’s discussion on the topic this Sunday.

You can hear Mark’s full talk here:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/78249/

This Sunday, Don again took us on an excursion into the jhanas, those states of deeper concentration that were touchstones for the Buddha and his disciples. 

These progressive levels of focus can be accessed in well-defined progressive stages, and a high level of jhana is the subject of the dharma talk by Leigh Brasington which anchored our practice and discussion this week. You can listen to the talk here:

https://www.dharmaseed.org/talks/76538/

Most of this talk will focus on the fourth jhana. This fits well after the last presentation on jhanas 1-3. The fourth jhana leaves behind the bliss/emptiness of the third jhana and replaces it with emptiness and equanimity. In the fourth jhana we are bright, alert and complete. We don’t need or want anything.

What if we meditate and jhana never come? There is still some benefit to calming down and letting our internal chatter coast to a stop.

What if one of the jhana arrives and we don’t know what do or what it all means? What if the bright white (or amber) light of nimitta happens and we get excited and “fumble-the-ball-at-the-ten-yard-line.”

The four jhanas only work for a while on the cushion. How do they relate to everyday life?

Historians debate about what happened 100 years ago. How do we know what people in a vastly different culture did 2600 years ago? Mr. Brasington mentions that the Vissuddhamaga and the Vimuttamagga describe jhana differently. Mahayana and Vajrayana practitioners, typically, don’t talk about jhana at all. What’s going on here?

There is no need to bring up jhanas 5,6,7,8 at this time. It is the fourth jhana, that counts, right now.

Is jhana practice beneficial to everyone? Can we slide into a non-productive state? We are somewhat limited by our biology. Only a finite number of mental states are possible. Various Buddhist sects seem to have an infinity of views on what this all means.

Is there a better moment than this moment? That is a key question that Narayan Helen Liebenson posed during a recent Dharma talk devoted to liberation realized as always already in the present moment. Sam hosted this week as we explored this insight using excerpts from Narayan’s talk, along with more input from John Peacock.

Sam quoted from the Middle Length Discourses (MN131) which you can read here: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.131.than.html

You can listen to the talks below:

“The Present Alone — is our happiness”  John Peacock: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/35006.html

“Nirvana is enough”   Narayan Helen Liebenson: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/79492.html

Throughout the ages of Buddhism, monks have been supported by receiving food from their communities, traditionally by going on rounds with a begging bowl. The lay people would place food and medicine within these large bowls which would then be used by the monks not only to feed themselves but also their entire Sangha.

Even the Buddha himself performed these alms rounds, and, as shown by the story of Bāhiya, they were a high priority: the Buddha would not stop his alms round to answer a desperate petitioner until the man had asked three times, and even then the Buddha gave only a brief teaching.

There are many layers to the practice of alms rounds, but one in particular stands out: monks must use whatever is put into their bowl to bring nourishment, no matter their preferences or thoughts on the contents.

Even if we are not begging for food, we face a similar situation every day.

In so many moments, other people and the world itself put things into our life over which we have no control; if we want to be happy and healthy, we must find a way to make use of those things. Even things which are unpalatable offer us wisdom.

This does not mean we should accept injury and injustice without taking action to protect and heal ourselves and others. The teaching points out, rather, that no matter what we do, unexpected things will end up in our bowl and we must wisely learn how to respond to them in a way that reduces suffering.

This week, Michael led our Sangha in a discussion about the practice of receiving and how it applies to our modern life.

We may have begun spiritual work in a quest for certainty, but the more we examine our lives, the more we see how uncertainty is a constant – just as the Buddha predicted.  Darryl has chosen excerpts from a talk by Mark Nunberg to help frame our exploration of the role of uncertainty in our lives.

You can listen to Mark’s talk here: https://www.dharmaseed.org/talks/62655/

In his article in the spring Tricycle “The Elephant in the Dharma Hall”, Buddhist scholar John Peacock quotes Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek: 

“Although Buddhism presents itself as a remedy for the stressful tension of capitalist dynamics, allowing us to uncouple and retain inner peace…it actually functions as capitalism’s perfect ideological supplement…The “Western Buddhist” meditative path is arguable the most efficient way for us to fully participate in capitalist dynamics while retaining the appearance of mental sanity.”  

This Sunday, Ron led us in a discussion to explore this controversial article.

Concentration is the final element listed in the Eightfold Path – and throughout our practice life some degree of concentration is necessary to be able to look deeply into the workings of the mind.  This may range from the amount of attention necessary to read a book (Ajahn Cha) to the profound absorptions of the jhanas (Pa Auk Sayadaw). This week, Don guided our reflections utilizing excerpts from a talk by one of the leading Western teachers of the jhanas in the present day, Leigh Brasington, who covered what to cultivate and what to move beyond in the first three stages of jhana meditation.

You can listen to Leigh’s talk here: https://www.dharmaseed.org/talks/76538/

Disclaimer for jhana practice discussion:

1. Jhana practice is not suitable for everyone for a variety of reasons. Only you can decide what is best for you.
2. I have no ambition to become a dharma teacher. You should go to my sources if you want more information.
3. This is a basic theravada tool not a “cub-scout-merit-badge-of-attainment.” If you are proud of being able to do this, you have totally missed the point.
4. The prerequisite, quieting down the mind, is useful by itself.
5. Insight practice could get better as a result. Observe your mind as you come out of jhana, see your habitual patterns as they start up.
6. Find your own “center-of-gravity”. Some practitioners may want to emphasize different things (or nothing whatever.) Some traditions (E.G. Vajrayana & Zen) do not teach jhana at all.
7. Excessive intense practice is not recommended. Here are websites that deal with meditation gone wrong. Go to Dr. Willoughby Britton & https://www.cheetahhouse.org/ website or do a google search and look for discussion of “Zen Sickness”. Unproductive meditation is a real thing.

Sharing Joy, celebrating the good fortune that comes to others, can be quite individual. But it can also be deeply social – as when we work for social justice to change the lives of others for the better.  We can work with joyful hearts to move beyond racism, economic inequality, gender bias and the like, rather than casting our work as a series of battles.  

This Sunday, Ellen shared excerpts from a dharma talk by Tuere Sala and led us in a Mudita meditation to bring the full and transformative power of the Brahma Viharas to support this shift in perspective.

You can listen to the talk here:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/76912.html

Gratitude is a doorway into our practice. We are always in relationship – interdependent with everything around us.  An attitude of gratitude – fully realizing ‘I am receiving this in this moment’ – can be felt in the body. It relaxes and calms the mind.  We are unstuck, and the world looks new.

With open eyes, we receive, learn and grow.  We live complicated lives; we love complicated human beings.  Grateful attention is a key dimension of skillful mindfulness, at the heart of the Eight-Fold Path.

This week, Eveline guided our discussion, sharing portions of two dharma talks: Shelly Graf on “Pragmatic Gratitude” and Susie Harrington on “Gratitude as Doorway to Belonging”. 

You can find the talks here:

• Shelly Graf: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/83099/
• Susie Harrington: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/69664/