This talk topic is based on Chapter 24 on Craving in The Dhammapada.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Another Piece of the Map: The Meaning and Practical Importance of “Causes and Conditions”.
This will be the third in a series of talks on the basic map of Buddhist practice.
The principle of “conditionality” is central to Buddhist practice = “Everything that happens has causes and conditions, proceeds according to causes and conditions, and leads to results in line with causes and conditions.” If you were to remove this principle from practice, the remaining teachers would no longer make sense.
Understanding causes and conditions provides us with the wisdom to see into the true nature of our suffering and the way out of suffering. They are the dynamic elements that hold the comprehensive, inter-related Buddhist teachings together in a single, living presence. Causes and conditions replace the casual agency occupied by a deity or god figure in traditional religions.
But what are causes and conditions from a Buddhist perspective? What is the difference between a cause and a condition? As a completely practice matter, why are they important to the issues of daily life and suffering? He can we use these as a central element of our practice?
Dennis’ talk will use a number of specific, familiar situations as practical illustrations in answering these questions and in responding to questions at the end of the talk.
On this evening, we will explore reconciliation, truth, and forgiveness, in our own hearts and the wider world.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Daylong Retreat with Visiting Senior Teacher Heather Sundberg. Two audio files:
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Reconciliation is a process that has been used in areas torn by violence, from Argentina to Yugoslavia. Perhaps the best known example is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa led by Bishop Desmond Tutu. The website of the Greensboro (North Carolina) Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the first in the United States, defines the process this way: “Truth and reconciliation promotes the belief that confronting and reckoning with the past is necessary for successful transitions from conflict, resentment and tension to peace and connectedness.” Does this not sound like the process each of us needs to engage in our own meditation practice? You may prepare by reading an article by Thanissaro Bhikkhu:
“Reconciliation, Right & Wrong“. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 18 July 2011. The article states, “Reconciliation — patisaraniya-kamma — means a return to amicability, and that requires more than forgiveness. It requires the reestablishing of trust.”
On this evening, we will explore reconciliation, truth, and forgiveness, in our own hearts and the wider world.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Tastes of Freedom: Poems from the Therīgāthā – the poems of awakening of the Buddha’s first female disciples. A central message of this canonical text is that Nibbāna – complete release – is possible for practitioners of all sorts: women or men, lay or monastic, old or young, rich or poor, from all classes of society including slaves, from many different walks of life from the queen to the prostitute, for those gifted in meditation but also for those with wild minds unable to concentrate, and for individuals lost in grief, despair, or even madness. This ancient text was the subject of Meg’s Master’s thesis, which examined how the Therīgāthā might be used by Dharma teachers today to inspire practitioners, particularly in regard to the Third Noble Truth, the truth of freedom.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
This is a meeting of the SIM community with presentations from the SIM Board and Senior Faculty regarding what we’ve accomplished in the last year and areas where we plan to direct attention and effort in the year ahead. We have scheduled ample time for community questions and comments, and are looking forward to seeing and hearing from all of you.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here .
Resolving Conflicting, Contradictory or Paradoxical Teachings –Part II
This is the second in a series of talks on the process of working through and unwinding confusion over what appear to be conflicting, contradictory or paradoxical teachings. What do we do? How do we do it? What are the conditions that need to be in place to help us do this exploration skillfully?
Dennis’ talk will use a number of specific, familiar situations as practical illustrations of the fundamental issues involved in working with issues from a Buddhist, rather than a conventional perspective.
Talk handouts:
To listen to Part I of this talk, click here.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Most of us consider ourselves rational, caring human beings who can be counted on to do the right thing. We rarely consider that this “rationality” is a bundle of views, opinion, experiences and even genetics! Without hesitation, we assume our actions, whether in personal relationships or large political movements, are wise and undertaken for all the right reasons. But are they? In an interesting commentary on the Satipatthana Sutta, clear comprehension in everyday life is addressed through a series of steps that are recommended to come to a rational, helpful solution to any situation. With this guidance we do our best to leave views and judgement behind and ACT with wisdom and compassion for ourselves and all other sentient beings.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Sometimes we forget that this path of awareness has been described as a “gradual training.” We get impatient or expect our progress to look a certain way and are disappointed when it doesn’t turn out that way. Tonight we will discuss a discourse that likens the refinement of the mind to the purification of gold. The Pansadhovaka Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya 3:100 1-10) makes it clear that this is a gradual training with many steps. We will look at how these steps relate to our householder practice and offer reassurance (if we can avoid comparing mind!) to keep on practicing without expecting results.
Please read the introduction to Text VIII,4 on page 260 of “In the Buddha’s Words” (ed. Bhikkhu Bodhi) and the sutta on pages 273-275. You may find a different translation online at Access to Insight (Pansadhovaka Sutta: The Dirt-washer).
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Steve’s talk this evening with focus on the meditation instructions of Mahasi Sayadaw and Sayadaw U Tejaniya.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Visit Us
SIM meets online and in-person at the Sacramento Dharma Center
What is Dana?
Dana is a Buddhist word that means generosity or heart. Nearly all Sacramento Insight Meditation activities are offered on a dana (donations) basis. This means our programs are sustained by the generosity of instructors in offering teachings freely and on the generosity of students and members of the meditative community in the form of financial support, service and participation in events. Practice dana, please support our Sangha. DONATE NOW