Dharma Seed - dharmaseed.org: Tempel Smith's most recent Dharma talks
by dharmaseed.org
Tempel Smith spent a year ordained as a monk in Burma and teaches Buddhist psychology and social activism in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is currently part of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program.
Episodes
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Tempel Smith: Morning Instructions: Mindfulness of Self'ing
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Once we have a base of simple connection to breath, body, and our immediate senses, we can explore our driven habits of adding a sense of self to these very simple experiences. As stated in the Bahiya Sutta, in the seeing just let there being the seen, with out...
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Tempel Smith: The process of self obsession and how we untangle this very deep habit.
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) For those new to directing there mindfulness practice towards the experience of self production, there are a few relatively simple practices to expose and let go of the over concoction of a thicker sense of self to life's present time experiences.
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Tempel Smith: Mettā practice and Wise Speech
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) The blessings of a strong mettā practice developed on retreat include how we can cultivate wise actions and wise speech when we leave retreat.
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Tempel Smith: Guided Forgiveness Practice
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) From a base of loving kindness and compassion we can consciously aim our heart's attention into a practice of Forgiveness.
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Tempel Smith: Morning Instructions - Mettā (Loving Kindness) including Dear Friends
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Extending loving kindness meditation from the primary practice of ourselves and a chosen easiest being, we can open at times to include any dear friend whom also easily come to mind. At this stage of practice we are inclining out mettā practice to rest where mettā…
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Tempel Smith: 1st Night - Why Come on a Loving Kindness retreat?
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) What is special about a 9-day Loving Kindness retreat? The form of Buddhist practice helps cultivate positive qualities of friendliness and kindness, it helps purify old habits of defensiveness and hostility, and it help cultivate samadhi (concentration).
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Tempel Smith: Three kinds of Nibbana in our western Insight traditions
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Within our blessed lineages of Venerables Ajahn Cha and Mahasi Sayadaw, and the teachings within the Pali Canon, we have found three kinds of nibbana. Nibbana is closely related to the full liberation from dukkha (suffering). To even talk about one kind of nibbana...
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Tempel Smith: Compassion Instruction and Guidance
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) We need to explore how to find and develop true compassion which is a beautiful quality of opening our hearts to the suffering inside and outside ourselves. While there is pain in suffering we can actually grow to have a sweet heart of compassion when we know how…
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Tempel Smith: The Process and Experience of "Streaming"
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) The Buddha wanted us to learn how to wakefully "stream", to realize we are forever and only a stream of mental and physical phenomena. We have no part internally or externally which is permanent, though in daily life we subjectively feel as if there is a lot of...
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Tempel Smith: Instructions and Guided Meditation: Choiceless Attention
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) There is a style of mindfulness practice where we lightly attending a central, familiar anchor of attention, such as the breath or scanning the body, and then intentionally choose to watch our minds move through its habits and its nature. In this style of…
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Tempel Smith: Vedana: The 2nd Foundation of Mindfulness
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) An incredibly important aspect of mindfulness is to direct attention to "vedana" which is the tone of every moment which is either pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. This one tone of conscious experience is at the very root of all suffering and therefore all...
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Tempel Smith: Instructions and Guided Meditation: Mindfulness of Thought
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) 5 mins for chanting refuges and precepts, then a careful guided meditation on mindfulness of thought. We create a base of being mindful with the breath and body to allow us some perspective on thought as a direct stream of phenomena.
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Tempel Smith: DPP7 - Three Nibbanas in Theravada
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Spirit Rock has blessed lineages from both Ven. Ajahn Cha and Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw. From our deep connection to these traditional lineages, we can see at least three different kinds of Nibbana: 1. Nibbana for Everyone; 2. Dealthless Awareness; and 3. Complete Zero.…
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Tempel Smith: DPP7: Four Stages of Awakening
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In the Pali Canon the process of awakening typically passes through four stages of awakening: Stream Entry, Once Returner, Non Returner, and Arhat. For lay people in the west the two most important are experiential Stream Entry and the aspiration of the full...
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Tempel Smith: Practical Instructions for Mindfulness of Vedanā (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) With a wise expectation of the three kinds of vedanā, we steady our mindfulness to intimately connect with unpleasantness, pleasantness, and neutral experiences. This is the first step with vedanā. The second is to cool off the old habits of reactivity , and the...
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Tempel Smith: Vedanā: The 2nd Foundation of Mindfulness (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Key to all of our suffering and eventual freedom, mindfulness of vedanā disrupts our unconscious struggle to reject unpleasant experiences, crave pleasant experiences, and ignore neutral experiences. Since vedanā is a tone or aspect of every moment in the stream of...
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Tempel Smith: Instructions for mindfulness of mind
(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) Exploring the third foundation of mindfulness, including emotions and cognitive activities
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Tempel Smith: Third foundation of mindfulness: mind/citta
(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) In progressing through the four foundations, we come to my mindfulness of mind (citta). This includes emotions and cognitive states.
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Tempel Smith: Breathing In and Out in All Conditions (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) At the beginning of breath awareness practice we can feel our attention is either with the breath or distracted. As we deepen out faith and dedication to mindfulness of breathing we learn to breath in and breath out in all conditions. The breath becomes a sanctuary...
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Tempel Smith: Concentration and Insight (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In the detailed description of the 16 steps of anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing) the first 12 steps develop samadhi (concentration) as a basis for the last four steps (13-16) of insight practice. These are using in and out breathing to become sensitive to...
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Tempel Smith: Orienting Towards Breath Concentration (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) After our initial work to begin meditation on in and out breathing we can further relax with total faith into immersion with breathing awareness. Some gentle supporting techniques of counting can be helpful, as well as welcoming an attitude of devotion and patience...
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Tempel Smith: 12 Steps of Breathing Concentration (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) When the Buddha taught detailed instructions for breath meditation he often used 16 steps from initial meditation to complete freedom. The first 12 steps on the common meditation guidelines to develop stable concentration and experience a mind temporarily free from...
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Tempel Smith: Many ways to practice Mettā and Samādhi
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) After exploring many categories of beings to eventually send mettā to all beings, we can now approach each conception of single or many mettā subjects to be places of collected, restful mettā samādhi (loving kindness concentration). It's more simple and humble than...
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Tempel Smith: Mettā and Samādhi (Absorbed in Loving Kindness) (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) This style of meditation practice is designed to support both the strengthening of mettā (loving kindness) and samādhi (concentration). The kind and benevolent tone of the brahmavihārās (sacred dwellings) carries a deep beckoning of our hearts to be whole and…
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Tempel Smith: Simple Mettā Meditation (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Setting up and devoting ourselves to a steady mettā (loving kindness) meditation practice, we start where it is easiest and where we can keep it simple. With a basis of blending a sense of ease and relaxation with patient steady attentiveness, we invite mettā to...
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Tempel Smith: Simple Mettā Meditation
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Setting up and devoting ourselves to a steady mettā (loving kindness) meditation practice, we start where it is easiest and where we can keep it simple. With a basis of blending a sense of ease and relaxation with patient steady attentiveness, we invite mettā to...
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Tempel Smith: Working with Hindrances to Mettā Meditation (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) As we practice mettā meditation we will have waves where the practice feels easy, intuitive and validating; and we will all have waves where we struggle. There are five very common states which visit us in meditation practice called the "five hindrances". These are...
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Tempel Smith: Simple Mettā Breathing and Body Awareness (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) There are so many ways to practice formal mettā (loving kindness) meditation, and they all benefit from a relaxed mind and body. The proximal cause for samadhi (concentration) to arise is from a deepening sense of happiness, calm, and contentment. Many…
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Tempel Smith: The Three Trainings to be in the Stream of Freedom (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Sariputta equated the stream of liberation to being the very same 8 fold path of the Buddha's main teachings. The 8 fold path can be summed up as the three higher trainings: training in Sīla, Samādhi, and Pañña. To stay in the stream which only flow in one…
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Tempel Smith: Guided Equanimity with Nature
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) To find equanimity within us we can reflect on how we naturally feel when in nature. We rarely judge nature or get rigidly stuck on our preferences. We can see a young sapling, a mature tree, a much older tree, and a fallen tree. We can see rabbits and coyotes,...
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Tempel Smith: The 3rd and 4th Foundations of Mindfulness
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) While the 3rd and fourth foundations of mindfulness can be taught as their own separate topics, it can be very useful to look at the language and instruction given in both of them together. In the 3rd foundation we rest mindfully in all cognitive and emotional…
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Tempel Smith: Guided Morning Meditation
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
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Tempel Smith: Guided: Returning to 1st and 2nd Foundations of Mindfulness (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) After receiving many dharma talks and and expanding mindfulness into the 3rd and 4th Foundations of mindfulness, it is important to intentionally return every now and then to 1st and 2nd foundations of mindfulness. This keeps us grounded in the body as a continual...
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Tempel Smith: Arising and Passing in the Stream (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In truth we are in a stream of every changing experiences, both internally and externally. AS we develop greater mindfulness and concentration we see through our direct experience everything which arises also passes away. This is the true nature of all conditioned...
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Tempel Smith: Guided Mindfulness of Intentions (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In daily live many of our actions are habitual and unconscious. The Buddha asked us to be increasingly aware of our motivation and intention behind each action so we can better sort out what is wholesome and helpful, and which actions are connected with greed, harm...
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Tempel Smith: Guided Mindfulness of Intentions
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In daily live many of our actions are habitual and unconscious. The Buddha asked us to be increasingly aware of our motivation and intention behind each action so we can better sort out what is wholesome and helpful, and which actions are connected with greed, harm...
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Tempel Smith: Guided Karuna/Compassion Practice (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Every being experiences loss, pain and fear, and often feels the additional suffering of isolation. Our process of waking up gives us increasing awareness of our own vulnerability and that of others. Practicing compassion strengthens our hearts to stay conscious…
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Tempel Smith: Mindfulness of the Body for Concentration (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) At some point we can fully let go of all our concerns to give our full attention to the breath and body. As we build faith and devotion to this simple fullness of attention we can feel the mind healing from its habits of being scattered and exhausted. This practice...
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Tempel Smith: Mindfulness of the Body
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) The Buddha stated we are often lost in craving and aversion when we are not mindful of our bodies. In a discourse named the Six Animals (SN 35.247) the Buddha strongly encouraged developing the concentration of body mindfulness as a pillar to collect and calm...
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Tempel Smith: Loving Kindness for Ourselves (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Here is a simply guided meditation to bring kindness and patience to our mindfulness practice. As mindfulness develops it brings both clarity and warmth to our awareness.
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Tempel Smith: Simple Breath and Body Awareness
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) All practices of mindfulness begin with commitment toward breath and body awareness. This is where we start our practice and where our practice develops. Here in this guided meditation we simplify our ambition just to rest in the in breath and out breath.
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Tempel Smith: Tuning the Heart with Gratitude
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Close to the four Brahma viharas lives the heart warm with gratitude. Blending intentional gratitude into our dharma paths and to the practices which open the heart, counting our blessing of a human body, simple resources around us, and gratitude for our planet…
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Tempel Smith: Loving-kindness for Difficult Relationships
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Our hearts' defenses might be most reinforced where there has been emotional pain. Using the previous practice of loving-kindness for easier relationships we can visit the places in our own hearts where we hold fear, hatred, resentment, and judgment. Relaxing these...
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Tempel Smith: Metta Samadhi in Daily Life
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) The developed momentum of loving-kindness can become a stable flow of both happy contentedness and stability of attention. This is the unification and immersion (samadhi) cultivated through dedicated metta practice. Like a river unblocked by fallen trees and…
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Tempel Smith: Equanimity Brahma Vihara
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Opening the heart and balancing with wisdom, the equanimity sacred dwelling becomes established as we relax the tightness of our preferences to be more intimate with how the world actually is moment to moment. Equanimity brahma vihara is a flow of sacred caring...
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Tempel Smith: Simple Metta Breathing and Metta Body Scan
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) To form the foundation for loving-kindness meditation we invite the attitude of kindness, calm, and simplicity to our breath and body awareness. For many, this is the most simple and suitable metta meditation, and once embodied this metta meditation becomes the…
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Tempel Smith: Four Brahma Viharas Practice in Daily Life, Part 2 (Online Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) To bring forward the highest heart quality of Equanimity we need to understand all four brahma viharas (heavenly dwellings: friendliness, compassion, celebration, and balance) and how the work together in beautiful harmony.
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Tempel Smith: Guided Equanimity Mindfulness of Emotions and Mental States (Online Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Guided meditation to bring mindful intimacy to our every changing emotions and mental states. This is the third foundation of mindfulness.
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Tempel Smith: Guided Equanimity Mindfulness of Pleasure, Pain, and Neutrality (Online Retreat at Spirit Rock)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Description: Guided meditation to bring mindful intimacy to pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral experiences in the body and other phenomena. This is the second foundation of mindfulness.
About this show
Tempel Smith spent a year ordained as a monk in Burma and teaches Buddhist psychology and social activism in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is currently part of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program.
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