Tag Archive for: Dennis Warren

02/18/2021 “Experiencing Emptiness of Self” with Dennis Warren

Experiencing Emptiness of Self and Its’ Practical, Every-Day Implications

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

Understanding and experiencing the teaching on the Emptiness-of-Self (“No-Self” / “Anatta”) is considered is to be defining and transformative. But having the actual experience that makes this teaching immediate, direct and relevant to every-day life and relationships seems to elude us.
The focus of this Thursday night’s discussions will explore the Emptiness-of-Self through 4 questions:

  • Why is it considered so important from a practical perspective?
  • What is (and is not) the experience of Emptiness-of-Self?
  • What impact does the experience of Emptiness-Of-Self have on our understanding of ourselves, our relationships, our behavior and our place in the world?
  • What methods can help us understand and directly experience Emptiness-Of-Self in meditation and everyday life more often and more tangibly?

Community teacher, Rich Howard, gave an excellent traditional overview of the teaching on “no-self” or “anatta” on Thursday, February 4 under the topic of “Finding and Losing Yourself.” Dennis’ discussion this Thursday will be on the same teaching but from a different perspective and emphasis. Rich’s talk is posted to SIM’s Audio Dharma Library (click here).
The subject matter of this evening is appropriate for all stages of practice. All that is necessary is showing up with an open, questioning mind.

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01/21/2021 “Reconsidering Mindfulness” with Dennis Warren

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

Mindfulness is the operational centerpiece of good practice, sound problem solving and living well. It supports and enables all the different teachings, methods and psychology of the historical Buddha which are designed to help us live a rich, full, satisfying life.
One way of understanding mindfulness is that it has two interlocking dimensions: One is practical and functional. The other is oriented towards awakening or liberation. As a community practitioner, we can inadvertently slip into the habit of relating to mindfulness, and practice itself, as only functional and practical.
When this happens, mindfulness and practice can become self-restricting and self-limiting. Such an approach can accidently obscure, and potentially cut us off from, spontaneous discovery and the deep, intuitive, healing wisdom of our bodies and hearts. We can become disconnected from the beauty and power inherent in exploring the mystery, and the dilemma, of being human, of being in relationships and of being alive on this planet.
This is the territory we’ll explore on Thursday evening: functional mindfulness; awakening or liberating mindfulness; and the unifying and inspiring experience at the center of practice which is beyond words, language and concepts.
The subject matter of this evening is appropriate for all stages of practice. All that is necessary is showing up with an open, questioning mind.

The book that Dennis references: In Love with the World – By YONGEY MINGYUR RINPOCHE and HELEN TWORKOV

Zoom Chat

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11/19/2020 “Exploring Equanimity” with Dennis Warren

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

OK, The Election is Over – The Fantasy Of A Magic Answer To All Our Problems is Dead – What Do We Do Now?
It’s pretty clear now that the world we live in has changed. This is hard to deny even for those of us who are really good at denial. For many, it is a world filled with confusion, uncertainty, resistance, anxiety and fear for the future – the future of our families, our country, the world.
How to deal with this reality in a way that allows us to experience a sense of ease, purposefulness, empoweredness, togetherness and kindness may not at first be clear.
During this evening we’ll explore the meaning of “equanimity” as a working life premise, as an operational reality, as a powerful tool in the face of our current challenges, sorrows and joys.

The Jordan Peterson video is at https://youtu.be/6_6zwVNn88o

From talk Zoom chat
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10/15/2020 “Where Are We Going?” with Dennis Warren

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

It’s good to step back from time to time and try to place our lives in context. This is one way for us to get a clear picture of where we are headed and whether our meditation and spiritual practices are helping us head in that direction.
This talk will focus on two familiar situations we regularly face in meditation, practice and daily life. This examination should be interesting and helpful no matter your level of knowledge or experience.
We’ll also take a hands-on look at two realities that our minds almost always want to treat as theory or philosophy, rather than real life, tangible, useful experiences: Annica (impermanence) and Anatta (no-self.) What are these two experiences as real-life events? What relevance do they have to our relationships and everyday activities? How can they help us live a richer, fuller, deeper, more vivid life? This is what we’ll explore.

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08/27/2020 “A Meditation for Rest, Renewal & Preparation” with Dennis Warren

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07/23/2020 “Who and What Gets Included or Excluded” with Dennis Warren

Who and What Gets Included or Excluded? Answers that Enrich or Diminish All of Us

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Two simple questions lie at the center of our spiritual practices, daily life and the “cultural” conflicts we are facing: Who and what gets included? Who and what gets excluded?
The answers to these questions influence our intentions, perceptions, choices, and relationships. They shape identity, education, social and economic status, access to power and our health and well-being. They determine how we participate, and how fully we are allowed to participate, in family, organizations and the American experience itself. They touch every dimension of our inner and outer lives.
How do we work with these questions of inclusion from a mindful and caring perspective? In our inner life? In outer life? In both our spiritual and real-life challenges of being fallible, while simultaneously seeking to be more fully human and inclusive? The evening will explore the special role inclusion plays in Buddhist psychology and practice.
Part of our evening will explore a caring approach to understanding and working with the hot, controversial cultural issues we’re all facing from a mindfulness perspective. This will include the meaning of “systemic” and “systematic” from the perspective of Buddhist psychology.
In preparation for a portion of the session, it’s helpful to view the following:

Talk Handout (11 slides) (.pdf)Download

Here’s the flyer to a 9-week course that Dennis Warren will be teaching, Living on the Other Side of Suffering – An Experiment in Opening the Heart and Becoming More Fully Human.

(Click image to expand)

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06/18/2020 “Generosity” with Dennis Warren

Generosity – What Is So Badly Needed at This Moment

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

It is reported that the Historical Buddha, when speaking to community groups and practitioners, would always begin his talks with a discussion of the meaning and importance of generosity. This is because the Buddha considered generosity the pathway to compassion, wisdom and ethical conduct.
This evening with be an exploration and discussion of this quality of mind and heart which seems so badly needed at this particular moment in our country’s history.
This will include an examination of the meaning of generosity; a practical model for evaluating the role generosity plays in our individual lives; and realistic ways to experiment with bringing more of it into our lives, relationships and our engagement with social, economic, cultural and political issues.

Here’s the flyer to a 9-week course that Dennis Warren will be teaching, Living on the Other Side of Suffering – An Experiment in Opening the Heart and Becoming More Fully Human.

(Click image to expand)

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05/28/2020 “Gratefulness…” with Dennis Warren

Gratefulness – One of the Most Unrated and Important Practices

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 said that one of the rarest persons to appear on this planet is one who is grateful and who responds with an urge to help. That’s quite a statement given the Buddha’s habit of understatement.
If the appearance of Grateful people on the planet is so rare, why does it seem to be such an unrated and infrequently taught quality of mind? What is Gratefulness from a Buddhist perspective? Why is it so important?
We’ll explore these questions, specific ways to experiment with bringing more Gratefulness into our lives, and the role Gratefulness plays in encouraging and supporting Loving-Kindness, Compassion, Equanimity and Joy.

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04/25/2020 “Take Us Home To Safety” with Dennis Warren

What Do We Need Now To Take Us Home To Safety?

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Handout: Characteristics Suffering and (Present Moment) AwakeningDownload
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04/23/2020 “Sensory Awareness and Intuition” with Dennis Warren

The Foundational Role of “Sensory Awareness” and “Intuition” In Practice & Daily 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.
Handout: The Nature of Insight by Joseph GoldsteinDownload

This evening will be devoted to exploring the meaning and indispensable roles of “Sensory Awareness” and “Intuition” in formal meditation practice and enriching our daily life.
For many, the practice of Mindfulness as described in beautiful detail in the teachings of the Historical Buddha seem rational, logical and linear. While having a clear intellectual understanding and framework for practice is essential, in actual application we open our experience to the vast and multi-dimensional world of direct experience through Sensory Awareness and Intuition. We go far beyond the limited potential of language, concept and thought when we move in the direction of becoming fully human through the cultivation and integration of these experiences in our practice and life.
The importance of this examination is focused by our reaction to, and relationship with, the current international health crisis. It must be clear to all of us that logical and rational problem solving, by itself, will not be enough for each of us to get through this situation with a sense of wholeness, healing and meaning.
If you have time, it might be helpful to listen to Dennis’ last talk on March 26. The discussion on this Thursday will be an extension of the themes in his prior talk.

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