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VIPASSANA
Excerpt from Mindfulness in Plain English
Compiled from Chapter 3 — What Meditation Is
by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
NIBBANA
Excerpt
from Mindfulness in Plain English
Chapter 16— What's in It for You
by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
VIPASSANA (INSIGHT MEDITATION) INSTRUCTIONS
DHAMMA TALKS
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The Chain of Dependent Origination
John's dhamma talk May 1, 2007
John speaks about this complex Buddhist concept. He reviews the entire chain
and focuses on these three parts... sense base, sense contact, and feeling (vedana).
Moving Beyond Limitations
John's dhamma talk March 6, 2007
John expands on Aaron's talk given at the spring workshop.
Moving Beyond
Limitations
Aaron's dhamma talk March 30, 2007
We often perceive ourselves to have boundaries or limits. Aaron looks
at limiting beliefs and how with meditation we can move beyond limits. Here
is a transcript in PDF format.
Mindfulness of Dhamma
John's dhamma talk March 6, 2007
John's topic this month is the fourth foundation of mindfulness, mindfulness
of dhamma.
Mindfulness of Conciousness
John's dhamma talk December 5, 2006
John's topic this month is the third foundation of mindfulness called
cittanupassana, which is mindfulness of consciousness. Citta, or consciousness,
is that within us which thinks, knows and experiences.
The Loveliness of the Dhamma
Barabara Brodsky's dhamma talk at our fall retreat November 4, 2006
Samadhi
John's dhamma talk October 3, 2006
John speaks about samadhi, one of the three foundations of spiritual practice;
sila (morality), panna (wisdom), and samadhi (steadiness and stability of mind).
The Spiritual Path
John's dhamma talk September 5, 2006
John shares some thoughts on The Spiritual Path. How unique each persons
path is and the importance of honoring this uniqueness while having a
solid foundation for our practice.
Right Speech
John's dhamma talk July 18, 2006
John's topic concerns how to live skillfully
in the world by using right speech (and right listening).
Courage and Faith on the Spiritual Path
John's dhamma talk June 6, 2006
"Experiencing the power of faith doesn't mean we've annihilated fear, or
denied it, or overcome it through strenuous effort. It means that when we think
we've conquered fear only to be once again overcome by it, we can still go on.
It means feeling our fear and still remaining in touch with our heart, so that
the fear does not define our entire world, all we can see or do or imagine."
--Sharon Salzberg
Acceptance
John's dhamma talk March 7, 2006
John speaks about bringing acceptance into our practice. The talk ends
with a question and answer period.
Death
John's dhamma talk February 7, 2006
John celebrates the life and death of his mother, Martha, who passed
away January 28. She died after being with us for 94 years
on the earth plane. She unconditionally loves others and has a deep faith
in God. John will give a talk on "How
Hindus and Buddhists use Awareness of Death as a Practice to Awaken.
The Heart Sutra
Wakoh's dhamma talk January 3, 2006
Wakoh Shannon Hickey is a Soto Zen priest who volunteers as the
Buddhist chaplain at Duke University. In this talk Wakoh touches briefly on the
differences between Theravada and Mahayana branches of Buddhism. Next she leads
us in a line by line study of the Heart Sutra.
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Forgiveness
John's dhamma talk December 6, 2005
John speaks of forgiveness from a Buddhist perspective. Not only forgiveness
of others, or asking others for forgiveness, but also how we can forgive ourselves.
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Dana:
Gratitude, Appreciation, and Generocity
John's dhamma talk November 1, 2005
From the early teachings of the Buddha, generosity has been a central practice
in Buddhism. John talks of this important spiritual concept and how it is taught
in southeast Asia and how we can integrate it into our daily lives.
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Bodhicitta:
Awakened Heart
John's dhamma talks September 6 and October 4, 2005
An eighth century teacher named Shantideva formulated a teaching
known as Bodhicitta. Translated this means the pure Awakened Heart.
This isn’t something that
we finally get when we are enlightened rather it is within each of us. It is
that part of us which is deeply loving, patient, kind, generous and fearless.
Often our fears get in the way of our accessing this loving heart, but it is
always there. Within “bodhicitta” is the aspiration for service to
all beings. Service opens the heart to bodhicitta and bodhicitta inspires service.
September 6, 2005
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October 4, 2005
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A
Journey into Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
William Frey's dhamma talk August 2, 2005
William Frey is the instructor for the UNC Mindfulness Program for Stress and
Pain Management. He has been practicing meditation since 1974 and yoga since
1980. This talk explores how the Dhamma is spreading through the medical
and healing communities into our everyday lives.
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The
Five Rememberances
John's dhamma talk July 5, 2005
The "Five Rememberances" are:
I am subject to aging. Aging is unavoidable.
I am subject to illness. Illness is unavoidable.
I am subject to death. Death is unavoidable.
I will grow different, separate from all that is dear and appealing to me.
I am the owner of my actions, heir to my actions, born of my actions, related
through my actions, and live dependent on my actions. Whatever I do, for good
or for evil, to that will I fall heir.
We should often reflect on this.
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Chanting
as Spiritual Practice
John's dhamma talk June 7, 2005
The focus this month will be on "Chanting as Spiritual Practice." Come
prepared to do a bit more chanting than usual.
"Oh music,
In your depths we deposit our hearts and souls.
Thou has taught us to see with our eyes
and hear with our hearts."
--Kahlil Gibran
STREAM DOWNLOAD
The
Three Characteristics
John's dhamma talk May 3, 2005
We have been exploring the Three Characteristics Of Existence, which are Impermanence
(Anicca), Not Self (Anatta) and Dissatisfaction (Dukkha). I will attempt to bring
all three of these important insights together, so we can see how they are connected
and understand there significance in our practice.
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Dhukka (Dissatisfaction and Suffering)
John's dhamma talk April 5, 2005 (poor sound quality)
We will focus on the third characteristic which is Dukkha. The Buddha
suggested that there are four things that are unpleasant and can lead
to dukkha:
* Coming into contact with what we dislike.
* Separation from what we like.
* Not getting what we want.
* Grasping at the five aggregates as being the Self.
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