Spirit Rock Meditation Center: dharma talks and meditation instruction

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In this overview about developing concentration (samadhi) in our practice, we examine (1) the nature of concentration (or samadhi), including the etymology of the term and how we often find a natural concentration in daily life; (2) its importance in our practice; (3) some ways to practice to develop concentration, and (4) five challenges of such practice and how to work with them. The talk is followed by discussion.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Full instructions are given at the beginning for cultivating concentration (samadhi), including attention to posture, a variety of possible areas of focus (with most attention given to the breath, including on the "three-part breath"), and balancing "not too tight" and "not too loose." Then we practice mostly in silence, with a brief discussion period at the end of the sitting.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is immediately followed by a Dharma talk. (Group discussion has been omitted.)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Dharma talk about how to nourish joy as a source of strength. (NOTE: Group discussion has been omitted.)

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) T expounds on a broad range of what muditā may include, then guides a practice

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Cultivating an understanding of stuck energies; nourishing a curious interest to support the movement of stuck energies; to know capacity of a given moment; to release appropriately. begin again.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) This talk is an introduction to practicing with feeling tone, or vedana in Pali, and includes a guided meditation.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) T shares some of his personal journey with mettā, and guides a brief radiating practice.

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Meditation & Dharma Talk - This talk references a video "The Story of the Weeping Camel: Song" which can be found on Youtube

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Homage and Precepts in Pāli and English, using the Forest Sangha melody and translation.

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is immediately followed by a Dharma talk. (Group discussion has been omitted.)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) This talk focuses on the first three noble truths exploring what suffering is, how is comes about and how it can be released.

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Forgiveness can support releasing the heart from patterns of resentment and emotional pain. It supports the heart to more fully open to loving-kindness

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) An exploration of feeling tone/Vedanā the second foundation of mindfulness and how it relates to patterns of reactivity and entanglement.

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) When strong experiences such as fear, grief, shame or desire become predominate in our awareness, we can meet them with mindfulness and interest. Asking “what is happening?” rather than “why is it happening?”. With mindfulness we can feel emotions as ripples of sensations within the body that arise, peak and fade when we dont feed the story in the mind. At times we need to fortify mindfulness by turning to other parts of the body such as feet or hands to allow for more space around intense sensations. This helps us not get caught in aversive tightening in response to the emotion.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Describing the Relationship Between Metta, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is followed by a Dharma Talk

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In mettā (lovingkindness), as in so many kinds of spiritual practice, we are instructed to love our neighbor, excluding none: folks we like and don’t like, appreciate, fear, or judge by their actions to be very difficult people. We often think of “difficult person practice” as a kind of emotional purification, where we work through our judgment and aversion. This is good, but there’s more to enjoy about it than this! Difficult people are just a symptom, and the sickness is Saṃsāra, the wandering. We start by understanding difficult people as wounded people, and then as victims of the great poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion. Seeing with the eyes of compassion in this way, blame and hatred drain away. Sean Oakes supports movements for individual and collective liberation in our time of great trouble. He teaches and writes on somatics and philosophy in Buddhism, Yoga, and contemplative movement. Dr. Oakes practiced as a monk in Burma, received authorization in Insight Meditation from Jack Kornfield, wrote his PhD dissertation on extraordinary states of consciousness in Buddhist meditation and experimental dance, and lives in human and non-human community on a ridge near the ocean.

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Includes metta for self, metta for sangha, and metta for the 6 directions

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is followed by a Dharma Talk

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Dharma talk

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(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)