Dharma Seed - Various's Dharma Talks

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2020-02-11 The Seven Factors of Awakening 1:24:10

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The Seven Factors of Awakening offer an effective framework for cultivating the mind, overcoming the hindrances, and balancing the energetic and calming forces that develop through meditation. When these seven factors are well developed, the mind is ripe for awakening. This series will explore each factor to reveal its importance, function, and role in the process of awakening.

Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley

2020-01-07 Buddha's Core Teachings: Finding True Happiness Through the Four Noble Truths 2:46:38

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No one wants to suffer, and yet stress is everywhere in our lives. After the Buddha awakened under the Bodhi Tree, the first thing he talked about was how to find true happiness. He described four wise ways you can work with your mind in the midst of ordinary and meditative experiences, popularly known as the Four Noble Truths. You can (1) comprehend your suffering; (2) abandon its causes; (3) realize that it is possible to end suffering; and (4) follow the path that leads to its end. Practicing this path, you will become free—not by avoiding what is unwanted, but by developing a wise relationship to your mind and all the myriad conditions by which it manufactures stress.

Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley

2019-07-16 Meditation in Hard Times 3:42:33

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An IMSB series dealing with stress, life transitions, traumas, and tragedies.

Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley

2019-02-13 The Path is Beautiful and Pleasant and Joyful and Familiar 0:00	Listen to tracks Show 0 Tracks

2019-02-05 Engaged Buddhism 3:44:38

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Meditation instructions are sometimes misinterpreted to imply that one should disengage from activity and suspend all judgment. Buddhist advice on “letting go” can be misunderstood to suggest that problems in the world can or should be ignored. Yet the Pali canon shows that the Buddha taught practical social and economic remedies, and urged monks to travel so they could benefit the largest number of people. Thích Nhất Hạnh coined the term “engaged Buddhism” to describe efforts to respond to the suffering in his country during the Vietnam war, work he saw as part of meditation and mindfulness practice rather than something apart from it. In this series, some local “engaged Buddhists” will share how they personally apply Buddhist wisdom to engage with the suffering around us, in areas such as social action, prison ministry, and environmentalism.

Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley

2019-02-05 Engaged Brahmaviharas 48:55
Ayya Santussika	Download Listen
Ayya Santussika presents the first talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist. Here she speaks on the role that each of the four Brahmaviharas play to help and guide us in our engaged actions, whatever they be, to promote wholesome and beneficial outcomes. She discusses lovingkindness, joy in the good fortune of others, compassion and equanimity as well as the near and far enemies of these qualities.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-05 Meditating on the Brahmaviharas 29:05
Ayya Santussika	Download Listen
A guided meditation on practicing the Brahmaviharas.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-10 Communication as Daily Practice 50:24
Oren Jay Sofer	Download Listen
Oren Jay Sofer presents the second talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist. Here he speaks on our practice off the cushion, pointing out that we spend the vast majority of our days communicating in one way or another. He describes three practices to improve our relationships with others: leading with presence, cultivating the intention to understand the other, and training our focus.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-19 Generosity and Compassion Inside: Teaching Buddhist Meditation in a California State Prison 51:21
Bill Kostura and Phil Goodwin	Download Listen
Bill Kostura and Phil Goodwin present the third talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist. They describe their experience teaching dharma at a California men's prison over a period of several years. Their stories evoke the feelings of traveling the long distance to the prison, the difficulties of entering a secured facility, both tender and challenging interactions with inmates, and the refuge created by the practice for the inmates and even themselves.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-26 Non-Clinging to Outcomes 44:51
Jennifer Dungan	Download Listen
In this fourth and last talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist, Jennifer Dungan ties together the lessons from previous speakers. She mentions precepts of socially engaged Buddhism put forward by Thich Nhat Hanh, and how various dhamma elements such as compassion, right view, right intention, and right mindfulness can work to reduce the suffering caused by clinging to even the most pro-social and aspirational outcomes.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Engaged Buddhism

2018-04-24 Goals in Meditation 3:05:54

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We invited several local teachers to share both the personal aims that guide their practice and their understanding of the goals of the Buddhist Path. We asked them the following questions: What is the goal of Buddhist practice? What do you personally hope to achieve through your practice? What is a reasonable way to assess our progress – how can we tell if we are on track? How can we work skillfully with goals in the context of mindfulness-based practices that emphasize present moment awareness? This series will explore both the ultimate and relative goals of Buddhist practice. It will address the benefits and limitations of having goals, and explore some related practice issues: comparing, expectations, craving for attainments, inspiration, and the potential for discouragement. Join us for an illuminating look into some aspects of your practice you may never have considered!

Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley

2018-04-24 Commitment to Enlightenment 30:23
Shaila Catherine	Download Listen
In this talk, Shaila Catherine explores the purpose of meditation practice. By knowing the goal of the Buddhist path, we can avoid becoming satisfied with deceptive attainments such as mere joy, calmness, and concentration. These pleasant states are not the aim of the liberating path. If we become attached to these temporary states and initial attainments, they become impediments on the path and can prevent the realization of the ultimate goal of awakening.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Goals in Meditation

2018-05-01 Nurturing the Process 35:23
Kim Allen	Download Listen
Kim Allen gave the second talk in a speaker series titled "Goals in Meditation." Kim advised that instead of spending time wishing for attending some future goals, we can just do the practice. When we develop and nurture the process of the liberating path, it will naturally lead us to the goal of the path.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Goals in Meditation

2018-05-08 Cooling the Fire 43:32
Andrea Fella	Download Listen
Andrea Fella gave the third talk in a speaker series titled "Goals in Meditation." Andrea pointed out that the Pali word that the Buddha used to describe his awakening is "nibbana." This word literally means "cooling." In other words, awakening is not about gaining something; rather it's about cooling the fire of greed, hatred, and delusion in our minds. indeed, we can experience nibbana in this life time, when we let go of greed, hatred, and delusion.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Goals in Meditation

2018-05-15 Not Make Things Worse 34:21
Tony Bernhard	Download Listen
Tony Bernhard gave the fourth talk in a speaker series titled "Goals in Meditation." Tony explained that the Buddha's insights is captured in the Four Noble Truth. The First Noble Truth points out suffering or dissatisfaction we experience in life. Unfortunately, we make things worse by complaining when we experience things as unpleasant, or wanting more of things that are pleasant. This is the Second Noble Truth, which explains the origin of suffering, namely our clinging and aversion. The Third Noble Truth tells us that we don't have to make things worse for ourselves. And the Fourth Noble Truth tells us how not to make things worse by follwoing the Noble Eightfold Path.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Goals in Meditation

2018-05-22 Milestones on the Path to Freedom: Assessing Progress in Practice Wisely 42:14
Dawn Neal	Download Listen
Dawn Neal gave the last talk in a speaker series titled "Goals in Meditation." Dawn offered a perspective on how to relate to assessments of practice in day-to-day practice, as well as over the arc of a practioner's journey. Beautiful experiences in practice, including great sits, concentration states, and even insight, can be celebrated, and assessed in ways that can nourish confidence in the Dharma and increase spiritual maturity. The same milestones can also become impediments -- dead-weight on the spiritual journey -- if clung to or identified with in an unhelpful way.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Goals in Meditation

2017-12-18 Being With and Working With Difficulty 0:00	Listen to tracks Show 0 Tracks

2017-10-14 Workshop: The Discipline and Freedom of Wise Speech 2:43:28

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The Buddha has much to say about wise speech as a cause for living with integrity and building wholesome community, and as a direct opening to what the Buddha calls the bliss of blamelessness. In this workshop we will look at the Buddha’s teachings on wise speech in terms of all the relationships we navigate in our lives. We will explore the radical question, what does speech look like when it is not being motivated by greed, anger or delusion? The Living the Practice Workshop Series is designed for people who have an ongoing mindfulness practice and want to integrate the practice more thoroughly into all aspects of life.

Common Ground Meditation Center

2017-09-12 The Great Disciples: People and Personalities in the Buddha's Community 3:50:52

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The early Buddhist sangha included some accomplished and intriguing disciples--lay and monastic, male and female. By searching the literature of the Pali Canon, contemporary scholars have been able to compile biographical information, infer personality traits, and gain a vivid sense of the human relationships and life-stories that formed the earliest Buddhist community. This speaker series will explore the lives, practice, and teachings of several of the great disciples of the Buddha. The series will illuminate both the ordinary and extraordinary contributions of some of the most interesting personalities whose questions, challenges, and life situations shaped the teachings that we cherish today.

Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley

2017-09-12 Angulimala: An Ethical Transformation 27:30
Shaila Catherine	Download Listen
In this first talk in a lecture series on the Great Disciples, the speaker, Shaila Catherine, tells the life story of Angulimala and his transformation from notorious robber and murdered to a peaceful, compassionate, truthful, and awakened monk. It is an inspiring example of the power of restraint, and the potential for redemption. Habits and dispositions do not need to control our lives. We can stop unwholesome, unhealthy, and harmful courses of conduct. We can purify our minds.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection The Great Disciples: People and Personalities in the Buddha's Community

2017-09-19 Ananda:The Man with the Questions 35:05
Thanissaro Bhikkhu	Download Listen
In this second talk in a lecture series on the Great Disciples, the speaker, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, talks about the contributions by Ananda to the Dharma. Because of his incredible memory, what we know in the Pali Canon today came mostly from Ananda's recollection of the Buddha's teachings. He described in detail who came to the Buddha, what were their question/problem, and how the Buddha addressed that particular question/problem. This is an important contribution to our understanding of how the Dharma was taught, because so much of it depended on who was asking what, and what kind of teaching was the best for them. Another debt that we owe Ananda is that he asked the Buddha questions that no one had asked. And Ananda's questions in turn sparked the Buddha to explain things or do things that he otherwise might not have explained or done.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection The Great Disciples: People and Personalities in the Buddha's Community

2017-09-26 Anathapindika: A Generous and Devoted Lay Follower 44:25
Ed Haertel	Download Listen
In this third talk in a lecture series on the Great Disciples, the speaker, Ed Haertel, tells the life story of Anathapindika. He was not a monk, and he is remembered as the foremost in generosity among the Buddha's followers. He received teachings from the Buddha that consisted a comprehensive code of conduct for conscientious lay followers of the Buddha. In this way, Anathapindika has become a benefactor to all those in the future, who try to follow the path of liberation.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection The Great Disciples: People and Personalities in the Buddha's Community

2017-10-03 Kisa Gotami: Buddha's Deep Compassion Toward Women 40:55
Ayya Santussika	Download Listen
In this fourth talk in a lecture series on the Great Disciples, the speaker, Ayya Santussika, tells the life story of two enlightened, fully ordained nuns. In fact, there were quite a few of enlightened, fully ordained nuns at the Buddha's time. The speaker also discusses how we can find the key to our own happiness in these nuns' stories, such as letting go, calming the mind, and realizing complete freedom from suffering. Finally, Ayya Santussika describes the Buddha's tremendous compassion for women. In his teachings, the Buddha acknowledged sufferings that were specific to women that are still relevant today.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection The Great Disciples: People and Personalities in the Buddha's Community

2017-10-10 Rahula: Son of Buddha 39:47
Margaret Gainer	Download Listen
In this fifth talk in a lecture series on the Great Disciples, the speaker, Margaret Gainer, describes the life story of Rahula, son of the Buddha. After meeting his father for the first time at the age of seven, Rahula became the first novice monk in the Buddha's Sangha. He is known as foremost in his eagerness in receiving training. The teachings that he received from the Buddha are still relevant to us today, more than 2,600 years later.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection The Great Disciples: People and Personalities in the Buddha's Community

2017-10-17 Mahakaccana: Clarifying the Most Cryptic Teachings 42:18
Shaila Catherine	Download Listen
Shaila Catherine concluded our lecture series on the Great Disciples, with a talk about the Venerable Mahakaccana. He was a monk famous for explaining difficult and perplexing teachings. The Buddha sometimes gave brief teachings that left the listeners confused. Sometimes the disciples did not ask the Buddha questions to clarify their doubt. Instead they sought out another monk to elucidate the matter and explain the detailed meaning. The Pali Canon preserves several insightful discourses in which initial enigmatic teachings by the Buddha are systematically explained by Venerable Mahakaccana. He addresses profound topics including the construction of I-making and mine-making, craving, conceit, views, mindfulness of sense perceptions, obsession with thoughts of past and future, and overcoming desire and lust. His methods of exposition became the basis of early commentary, and Mahakaccana became known as the first Buddhist commentator.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection The Great Disciples: People and Personalities in the Buddha's Community

2017-07-22 Workshop: The Happiness of Forgiveness - Living the Practice 3:21:31

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The practice of forgiveness releases an authentic happiness. So why do we ignore or resist it? In this workshop we will acknowledge our stories of resentments and disappointments and how they often imprison us. Forgiveness is not imaginary or hopeful, it is a deepening understanding and acceptance of what is already true. The goal of this workshop is to recognize the limitations of ill will as a strategy for life, and to appreciate letting go as the expression of deep wisdom and compassion.

Common Ground Meditation Center

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