I have always enjoyed working with practitioners who are continuing to deepen their practice. In the many long retreats I teach at both IMS and Spirit Rock, I feel free to pass on the deepest pointings I’ve found in the teachings of the Buddha in the Pali Canon. Those are my guiding lights in practice and understanding.
It is fun for me to take the most difficult concepts and put them into accessible language, to unwrap the mystery. So I try to find ways to explore the breadth of concepts like "emptiness" -- to see how the entire path can be explained in terms of this synonym for nibbana. One of my aims is to bring the goal of freedom into the here and now. This way practitioners get a taste of freedom, so they know what they are heading toward on their journey to liberation.
The tools of mindfulness and lovingkindness can be picked up by anyone. They are easy to understand and they bring immediate benefit to our lives. The essence of vipassana is ideally suited to western society, especially to the resonance between our psychological turn of mind and our quest for spiritual understanding.
This talk explores the third noble truth, or the end of suffering, also described as Nibbana. Nibbana is seen as a transcendent dimension of our being accessible in any moment. Practices that approach this unconditioned element are described also.
The second noble truth points to craving (tanha) as the origin of suffering. The talk describes three kinds of craving: for sense pleasures, existence and non-existence.
Emotions are expressed through a mood, body sensation, and thoughts. Mindfulness of these aspects is illustrated in the talk for desire, anger, sadness, and fear.
Suffering becomes a noble truth when it is fully understood. Then it is seen as a universal experience that connects us through compassion with all beings.
As we develop awareness of the objects of our experience, it is also important to be aware of our attitude to them. Is there greed, aversion or delusion; or is there non-greed, non-aversion or non-delusion?
This talk gives an overview of mindfulness of breathing with reference to the Anapanasati Sutta. It is 16 stages of development show how the breath is a foundation for both concentration and insight
