Tag Archive for: Dennis Warren
Who and What Gets Included or Excluded? Answers that Enrich or Diminish All of Us
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:
- Stone Ghosts of the South – Documentary – 27:14 Minutes (https://youtu.be/K7AHm6Az_Ss)
- Discussion of Ghosts of the South – 8:21 minutes (https://youtu.be/UAFSESwDVcY)
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.
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Generosity – What Is So Badly Needed at This Moment
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)
Gratefulness – One of the Most Unrated and Important Practices
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.
What Do We Need Now To Take Us Home To Safety?
The Foundational Role of “Sensory Awareness” and “Intuition” In Practice & Daily Life
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.
What Does It Mean To Cross The River of Suffering
The Historical Buddha used the image of our making our way across “the River of Suffering,” then leaving the boat we arrived in at the water’s edge, once we are safely on “the other shore.” What does it mean to “cross the river of suffering?” and to reach “the other shore?” Was the Buddha implying that it is our fate to continuously suffer until we have crossed the River?
This evening will examination the Buddha’s guidance for community level practitioners – non-monastics – about the pleasures of community life and practice in the context of the responsibilities and obligations of community life.
This guidance clearly points to the idea that the teachings are designed to support and create ease in our life, not to foster a sense of struggle, and an over-emphasis & self-indulgence, on suffering that may be present. This guidance, for those living full community lives, is a necessary and important element in creating a balanced practice, and a satisfying & happy life.
With the start of a new decade, there is real value in looking at what we can reasonably expect from our individual practices as community level practitioners? What tests or standards did the historical Buddha recommend for assessing how we have done in the last decade, and what we may achieve in the new decade?
This evening will involve an examination of the historical context the lead to the Buddha’s approaches to psychological, emotional and spiritual development. It will also involve an investigation of guidelines for creating a sound practice and assessing it impact in our lives.
The discussion this evening will build on a number of themes explored in Dennis’ presentation on December 19 “Craving and Clinging – Stepping Stones on The Path of Both Suffering & Awakening.” You can listen to the December 19th talk that’s posted to our audio dharma library (click here).
Craving and Clinging (Attachment) – Stepping Stones on The Path of Both Suffering and Awakening
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
The historical Buddha taught that the primary cause of suffering is “Craving.” But a careful examination of his nuanced and interconnected teachings reveals that this basic, and apparently simple, teaching is really about a chain of reactions that lead to suffering. Why did the Buddha designate craving as the second Noble Truth, the origin of suffering? This seems like a surprising simple question, but isn’t?
This evening will involve an examination of the historical parameters defining “craving” and its role in the chain-reaction of suffering. We’ll explore the differences between craving and “clinging”? Should these two experiences be understood as separate and independent experiences? Are they related experiences on a continuum of experience that leads to suffering? Or does craving morph into clinging?
Why being able to feel the difference between craving and clinging – the moment of discernment that sets the conditions for everything that follows and what may be possible – is the key to both managing and being liberated from suffering.
Dennis discusses a new 2020 SIM course entitled “Living and Practicing on the Other Side of Suffering” that is directly related to these questions and their answers.