08/18/2016 “The Power of Negative Thinking” with Laura Rosenthal

In Buddhist teaching, ethical conduct constitutes an essential training: sila, one of the three trainings that form the ennobling eightfold path. While contemporary teachers frequently discuss the ethical precepts in positive terms, emphasizing the wholesome qualities we are cultivating, traditional Buddhist teaching frames them in the negative, as core unwholesome behaviors with respect to which we practice renunciation. In this dharma talk and group discussion, we will explore why the precepts may have been framed in this way as well as the freedom and richness found in exploring this path of “not doing.”

This talk references a handout: click here

Laura Rosenthal, a long-time participant in the SIM community, is a graduate of Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP 4) and is currently participating in Spirit Rock’s Advanced Practitioners Program (APP).

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August 18, 2016/by Sabitre

08/11/16: “Right Effort and Right Action” with Dennis Warren

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The previous two talks (Jul 28, Aug 4) focused on Right Effort, or Energy, and the prominent role it plays in Buddhist practice. This talk has a focus on the important relationships between Right Effort or Energy, on the one hand, and Right Action on the other. Understanding these two different elements of practice; how they are similar; and how they are different is an important step in making them operational in daily life. This talk explores the meanings of Right Effort and Right Action, their role in practice and their place in Buddhist psychology.

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August 11, 2016/by Sabitre

08/04/16: “Right Effort, Part 2” with Dennis Warren

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Right Effort, or Energy, plays a prominent role in Buddhist practice. It is one of the “5 Spiritual Faculties”, one of the “7 Factors of Awakening”, one component of the “8 Fold Path”, and is a foundation for the “4 Foundations of Mindfulness.” It’s obviously pretty important for the Buddha to have included it as an element in all of these groupings of core spiritual tools.

This talk is a follow up to the initial discussion of Right Effort held July 28. We switch gears and look at Right Effort or Energy from a different perspective – as the application, monitoring, and adjustment of both physical and mental energy as the basic underpinning of all of our practice efforts.

In its most basic form, this involves non-conceptually figuring out, and using our effort to support, what works — what allows us to remain mindful and see into the nature and consequences of what is unfolding — in any moment of experience. In this sense, Right Effort’s contribution to helping us get free of suffering in our lives involves using it to stay focused on a particular way of investigating our experience and the nature of our lives. Understanding Effort in the context of meditative psychology, and how to use it as a reliable and practical tool in formal meditation practice, as well as daily life, is essential to developing, stabilizing, and maturing our practice.

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