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.
On this day of thanksgiving, it is important to remember what we are actually celebrating: the generosity of Native Americans to the early settlers, and all that they have given us. It is also a day to be grateful for all the blessings in our lives, and to bring a sense of appreciation to the beauty and joy that is all around us. As we incline the mind towards noticing what we are grateful for, we find an increased sense of well-being and happiness in our lives.
The Buddha considered Dependent Origination to be his most profound insight. This teaching shows us how we get caught in the cycle of suffering, and how it is possible to free ourselves. When we’re not aware of this process, we are blinded by our ignorance and get caught in craving again and again. We create different identities that we cling to, and that limit our ability to be free in the moment. When we’re aware of this process, we can make wiser choices about how to respond, and perhaps even break the cycles of becoming altogether. This talk gives a brief overview of the 12 links of Dependent Origination, and then describes how it works on a practical, moment-to-moment basis in our lives.
The way we experience ourselves and the world is highly conditioned by our perceptions , known as sañña in the Buddhist teachings. Through the process of perception we judge and filter our experience, preventing us from seeing things as they really are. The practice of mindfulness offers the possibility of working directly with our perceptions, and even inclining the mind towards more skillful and pleasant ways of experiencing ourselves and the world.
The world spins around the alternating pairs of gain and loss, praise and blame, fame and disrepute, and happiness and unhappiness. When we bring them into our awareness, we see how much of our time and energy is spent trying to create and hold on to the positive ones, and avoid or get rid of the negative ones. If we see with wisdom, we realize that these conditions are always operating no matter what we do, and that the skillful way to respond to them is to come to a clearer understanding of what actually brings us true happiness and a sense of well-being, and to cultivate that, rather than chase after gain, praise, fame, and superficial happiness.
In the teaching on Transcendent Dependent Origination, the Buddha gives us a map for our spiritual journey, beginning with the common human condition of suffering, which, when opened to with wisdom, leads to faith and many other beautiful qualities. These qualities support the deepening that leads to liberation.
Mudita or the practice of sympathetic joy opens us to the possibilities of increasing our sense of well-being and happiness. The haqppiness of others when directed towards ourselves, is manifesting as gratitude for the blessings in our life
The voice of the inner critic is a huge source of suffering for many people. Learning to work skillfully with this voice allows us to develop an sense of respect and trust in ourselves that is essential for the deepening of our spiritual practice.
Based on the Honey Ball Sutta, this talk is an exploration of papanca,
a Pali word meaning proliferation of thought in the mind. Mental
proliferation leads into the creation of self and into craving and
comparing, as well as holding on to views and opinions.
