The Important Things To Know In Working With Difficult, Problematic and Obsessive Thinking:

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• Talk handout (PDF)

We all know that our minds have “a mind of their own.” It’s not uncommon to find ourselves in situations where we can’t stop thinking about things we don’t want to think about. Or we can’t think the way we want to think in dealing with highly emotional or pressurized issues. Thinking can be difficult, problematic, obsessive…and more. It plays a major role in nearly every, if not every, intra-personal, interpersonal and existential question, delima and dysfunction.
This evening will examine what’s important to know in working with thinking. What do we do when we are faced with a mind that seems out of control? How do we deal with thinking that just won’t stop? How do we develop the ability to think clearly and productively when we want to? What are the underlying principles that will help us understanding our thinking patterns and what to do about them?
There are basic approaches that will apply to all these topics whether your particular mind’s approach to “thinking” is based primarily on logic, kinesthetic or body based, through imagery or emotion, or one of the other ways the mind processes information, relates to experience and makes decisions.
In preparation for this talk, please consider the following basic questions:

• What is “thinking” based on the teachings of the historical Buddha?
• What is “thinking” from a meditative and practice perspective?

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Investigation Leading to Liberating Insight – A Practical Model For Working With Doubt
How can doubt based experiences be investigated in a way that leads to liberating insight? This is one of the fundamental skills of a good practice. This evening will be devoted to examining a practical, experiential and hands-on model of working with doubt.
While doubt can appear in many different places in our practice and our life, it usually acts as an undermining factor in our confidence, decision making and behavior. What is doubt? What is its experiential origin? What causes it to be present? What causes it to diminish and no longer be present? What can we do to work with it skillfully while it is present? A helpful handout of the model will be used as the outline for the evening.
As preparation for this evening, reflect on how doubt has influenced your experience and decision making in the last year, and come prepared with questions you have regarding your experiences.

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The third in a talk series examining the purpose and nature of “Investigation” leading to Liberating Insight in meditation practice. If you have the time, you may want to visit the two prior talks on June 21 and May 24.
In this talk we explore two handout charts as the jumping off point for the presentation and discussion. The first handout details the actual development stages in the process of Investigation. The second handout depicts the way that Investigation is a source of resilience in practice and is internally renewing – it sustains and supports itself and every other part of practice.
The evening will include, among other things, a discussion of the distinguishing characteristics of both cognitive and intuitive Insight, a look at the unique quality of effort involved in the investigative process, and an examination of a number of obstacles to investigation producing Insight. See the third handout.

The Meaning and Practice of “Investigation” in Insight Practice – The principal purpose of Insight Practice is the creation of conditions that lead to spontaneous, intuitive Insight that liberates the mind and heart from suffering. This occurs through “Investigation.”
An exploration of the meaning of Investigation involves an examination and understanding of the most fundamental and radical viewpoints expressed in the teachings of the historical Buddha. Likewise, it involves how those viewpoints are operationalized into the Buddha’s instruction for practicing meditation and paying attention to our experience in everyday life.
Dennis’ talk explores these topics and the challenges they represent to evaluating our own individual meditation and daily life practices. The talk uses the Buddha’s teachings on the “Seven Factors of Awakening” as a jumping off point for discussion and exploration of this fascinating topic. It would be helpful to review the first 12 pages of the article by the same name by Piyadassi Thera which can be found at https://accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/piyadassi/wheel001.pdf.
This talk references the following handout:  Seven Factors Chart (.pdf)

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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:

• The Components of Buddhist Learning – Chart (PDF)
• The Nature of Insight by J.Goldstein (PDF)

To listen to Part I of this talk, click here.

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