The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Sally Armstrong's Dharma Talks at Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center
Sally Armstrong
Sally Clough Armstrong began practicing vipassana meditation in India in 1981. She moved to the Bay Area in 1988, and worked at Spirit Rock until 1994 in a number of roles, including executive director. She began teaching in 1996, and is one of the guiding teachers of Spirit Rock's Dedicated Practitioner Program. Sally has always been inspired by the depth and the breadth of the Buddha’s teaching, as presented in the suttas of the Pali Canon, because the truth and power of the Buddha’s words still speak to us today. Her intention in teaching is to make these ancient texts and practices accessible and relevant to all levels of practitioner, from the very new to the dedicated meditator.
2017-10-08 Third foundation of mindfulness 59:49
In the third foundation of mindfulness, the Buddha instructs us to bring awareness and clear seeing to the contents of the mind. In a nonjudgmental way, we are invited to be aware of whether the mind is affected by lust, ill will or delusion, and also when the mind is not affected by these states. Included in this practice are various experiences of concentration, expansion, and contraction in the mind. The section ends by including awareness of the liberated mind, even if this is only a temporary experience. The thrust of this section is to notice both the wholesome and the unwholesome qualities of the mind and by that very noticing increase the wholesome and decrease the unwholesome.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
2017-10-06 Guided Loving Kindness For Neutral Person 49:33
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
2017-10-01 Second foundation of mindfulness 59:51
Vedana, or the feeling tone of pleasant, unpleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant that arises with each sense contact, was considered important enough by the Buddha to be a foundation of mindfulness, one of the five aggregates, and central to the teaching on dependent origination. It is also at the heart of the Dart Sutta in the Samyutta Nikaya, where the Buddha talks about the two common responses to suffering: to bemoan and lament the fact that suffering is happening, but often to try to avoid the unpleasant by chasing after the pleasant. This talk looks at these different teachings to help us understand the importance of bringing mindfulness to vedana in our practice and in our lives.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
2017-09-24 Continuation of the First Foundation Of Mindfulness 57:10
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
2017-09-24 Standing Meditation 48:08
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
2017-09-18 Mindfulness Of Emotions 48:43
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
2017-09-17 The First Foundation of Mindfulness 61:11
In the Satipatthana Sutta on the foundations of mindfulness, the first area of practice is the body. The Buddha gives us many different practices and ways to investigate the body. This talk explores these practices, beginning with the breath, but going on to other practices that we don't often teach, such as the four elements, the 32 parts of the body, and corpse contemplations. Each of these practices can be a powerful doorway to wise seeing and freedom. This talk is the first of a series of four on each foundation of mindfulness.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1
2016-10-20 The Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness 59:51
The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (usually translated as the Foundations of Mindfulness) offers a complete description of the practice of mindfulness, beginning with the direct awareness of the breath and the body, progressing through mindfulness of vedana or feeling tone, to the more subtle object of the Third Foundation, mindfulness of mind states. The Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness represents the culmination of this series of practices, and can be seen as a direct pointing, again and again, to the possibility of freedom through direct awareness of where we get caught, and how to turn the mind towards liberation. This talk is an overview of the practices of the Fourth Foundation, which can be seen as both the last in the sequence of practices, and as a progression in itself. It also covers how the Fourth Foundation can be skillfully interwoven into our practice of the other foundations.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Part 1
2016-10-13 Kamma and equanimity 57:58
There are two main aspects to mental factor of equanimity. The first is a vast and spacious mind, within which all experiences can arise and pass without disturbance. The other is understanding deeply the nature of reality and experience, so the mind is steady in the face of changing conditions. In Buddhist teachings this includes the understanding of kamma, the teachings of cause and effect. This important teaching is not about blame and judgment, but rather an empowering instruction on the possibility of understanding the natural laws of cause and effect, and how to train the mind and heart to reduce suffering and increase well-being for oneself and for others.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Part 1
2016-10-07 Steadying the Mind, Opening the Heart 58:41
There are five factors that are supported for deepening concentration, known as the jhana factors. These factors are developed in any kind of intensive meditation practice, but are particularly supportive for the development of samadhi. They also serve to counterbalance the hindrances. When the hindrances are not active, the mind and heart can be buoyant and open, allowing concentration and insight to deepen.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Part 1

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