Thursday, August 4, 7-9:15 pm. Sitting and Dharma Talk with SIM Founding Instructor, Dennis Warren. RIGHT EFFORT, PART II

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 evening will be a follow up to the initial discussion of Right Effort last Thursday evening, July 28. We’ll 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.

This evening of meditation and discussion, led by SIM’s Founding Instructor, will further explore the meanings of Right Effort, its role in practice and its place in Buddhist psychology.

“WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF LIVING THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE?” – Part II –  

“What is the benefit of living the contemplative life?”

This is the question put to the historical Buddha by King Ajatasattu. The dialogue that continues is one of the most comprehensive and eloquent presentations of the Buddha regarding his teachings; a comparison of his teachings to the other major spiritual and philosophical theories of the time; the original Sangha’s code of ethics; the Buddha’s own lifestyle, and more.

This evening will be part of a continuing discussion of this fascinating Sutta that began during Dennis’ talk on June 9^th. You might listen to that talk at as a way of preparing for this evening athttps://sactoinsight.org/category/audio-dharma/ .

The evening will explore the specifics of this sutta and how they have direct application to our practice and daily life today in an urban setting.

This event will begin at 7:00 pm at Sacramento Friends Meetinghouse, 890 57th Street.

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