Tag Archive for: Dennis Warren

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The Historical Buddha considered Generosity the first and foundational parami (or essential quality of mind & heart that leads to awakening.) While the possibilities for giving and sharing are endless, we frequently not only miss the opportunity to be generous, but fail even to see the opportunities.

This evening will explore Generosity as a practice of spiritual development, rather than isolated and disconnected acts of giving or sharing. It will examine a model of doing this where Generosity serves as a mirror, a doorway and a path moving from a sense of separation to connectedness and inter-relationship. It will include discussion of the Historical Buddha’s advice that we should be generous in the way we think, and by thinking, create the world we live in.

The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice. You can attend in person or by ZOOM. Dennis will be presenting in person and encourages you to be there in person as well.

To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.

The Historical Buddha was clear about his message concerning the importance of thought: What we think about, so we incline the mind. We make the world with our thoughts.

Thoughts are so powerful because they shape our beliefs, assumptions, and expectations. They act as lenses thru which we perceive and understand the world. When these become fixed – and they usually do – we have the same experience over-and-over even though the circumstances and persons keep changing.

This phenomenon – fixed thoughts and views shaping our lives and resulting in suffering – is at the center of Buddhist psychology and practice. This Thursday evening will explore this field of experiences through common situations in meditation and everyday living. The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice.

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Our minds tend to see the world as dualistic. Life – personal, relationship, financial, political choices – seems to be limited to two dimensional competing alternatives, an either/or proposition.

Unless we pause and step back from the drama of the moment, we lose touch with the nuance, beauty, and multi-dimensional nature of life, and life choices. We fail to see and experience the underlying reality that the world operates on a wide continuum of related and inter-dependent events, experiences, and choices.

We lose access to the most important, skillful, and healing life option – collaborating with life as it is, and collaborating with others as they are.

This Thursday evening will explore this field of experiences through common situations in meditation and everyday living.

The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice.

To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.

All of us have experiences which change the direction of our lives.
Sometimes we know this at the moment it is happening. Other times, we only realize it later. One of those experiences can be encountering a book that causes us to question how we are living or helps us have a new vision of practice or life.
This evening will explore ten books that mattered in this way for SIM’s Founding Teacher, Dennis Warren. Each book will be discussed from the viewpoint of how it was encountered, its impact, and the change or shift in direction that followed.  Dennis will discuss why each book was helpful for him…and maybe for you.
The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice.

To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.

“I Feel More Comfortable When I’m Tense”

One insight that unfolds in many layers is how we hold, brace, and defend against experiences that make us feel vulnerable, uncertain, confused or at risk. These form into deeply embedded patterns in both the body and mind. These patterns are the result of years of self-protective thoughts, habits, assumptions, projections, and actions.
Understanding these patterns brings the practical real-life problems associated with fixed views, and attachment to outcomes, into focus. It frames the common difficulties and challenges of being human, including self-sabotage, into a more workable Buddhist framework.  And it provides a basis for opening to, and experiencing, more accessible and meaningful forms of empathy and compassion.
This evening will explore this field of experiences through practical common situations in meditation and everyday living.
The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice.

To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.

“Noting” or “Naming” is the practice of making a soft mental note to highlight the present experience that is unfolding in meditation or in daily life. It has a number of different purposes and uses. Among others, it can interrupt the distorting grip of reactivity, reframe present moment experiences, and create a new context for working with events, particularly difficult or challenging ones.
Noting/Naming is frequently misunderstood or undervalued even though it has the potential to be one of the most helpful, practical, and powerful tools of practice available to us. 
This evening we look at the different purposes and applications of the Noting/Naming process through practical illustrations of common situations in meditation and everyday situation. We will also place the practice into the larger framework of Buddhist psychology, teachings, and methods.
The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice.

To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.

Energy and Effort are essential, and interdependent, elements of good meditation and daily living practice. They can be valuable tools for keeping the mind alert, focused and curious if we understand the difference between the two, and develop the ability to monitor and regulate both. And they can become confusing and disrupting aspects of practice if we don’t.
This evening we look at a framework for skillfully working with Energy and Effort using common situations in meditation, daily living, and relationships – becoming drowsy during meditation, losing focus of attention, being unable to sustain relaxed awareness, getting lost in thought or narratives.
The evening will also explore a practice approach using Energy as the primary focus of attention and exploration. Experientially understanding thought, emotions, and actions as fundamental expressions of different types of energy can be a door way to immediate, direct experience and insight.
The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice. You can attend in person or by ZOOM. Dennis will be presenting in person and encourages you to be there in person as well.

To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.

Why do some people face serious challenges, then go on to persevere or thrive, while others collapse, give up or quit? Why does facing serious difficulties result in some becoming stronger and more resilient, while seeming to break others?
Revolve or Determination is considered a pivotal skill in Buddhism. It implements and facilitates Intention and Aspiration. That’s what make it a Parami, a special quality of mind essential to deepening and maturing our meditation practice, as well as living a full and satisfying life. It is an elemental tool in working with difficulty, challenge, confusion, and doubt.

Dennis encourages you to watch a two-minute video entitled “Movements as Your Teacher Not as Taskmaster” by Ido Portal in preparation for this Thursday evening. Substitute “practice methods” for the word “movement” as you listen to the session. Then reflect on what, if anything, this has to do with your own meditation practice and your life.

To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.

This evening will be all questions and answers. During this session we’ll explore questions you’ve been wanting to ask about Buddhism, practice, different traditions, a situation you’re dealing with or the follow up to a previous talk by Dennis. The topics are open to what would be helpful for you.

You can send questions to Dennis in advance at dennis@sactoinsight.org; show up on Thursday with questions; or spontaneously respond to the discuss that unfolds that night. The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice.

To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.

“Right” View is considered the North Star of practice. It can guide the mind, and mobilizes our attention and effort, in nourishing, enriching and healing directions. It is the first condition in the chain of causation that leads to deep peace and satisfaction. But the Historical Buddha also insisted in multiple discourses that there is “Wrong” view. It points our mind and heart in a different direction – into confusion, dissatisfaction and suffering.
During this evening we will explore the meaning and differences between these two contrasting aspects of practice. Dennis, SIM’s Founding Teacher, will illustration the real-life value and power of Right View in the context of dealing with the aging and disability of a member of his family and his recent experience of being hospitalized after a major accident involving fractures to his back and ribs.
This subject is appropriate for all stages of practice. You can attend in person or by ZOOM. Dennis will be presenting in person and encourages you to be there in person as well.