Guided Investigation of Feelings Meditation

This meditation is intended to focus attention on the impermanence of feelings, either related to physical sensations or mental phenomena.  Cultivating skillfulness in this practice facilitates the ability to realize the benefits suggested in the concept of paticca samuppada, typically translated as dependent origination, but also to be understood as contingent provisional emergence, the focus of the Dharma talk presented the same evening “Reviewing Contingent Provisional Emergence”, which is a thorough review of paticca samuppada from a contemporary perception informed by complexity theory and neuroscientific research.

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How To Change Your Mind December 2, 2020

This talk reviews the key Buddhist concept of paticca sammuppada, typically translated as dependent origination.  During the talk, Peter explains an alternative understanding he developed, contingent provisional emergence, using terms that are hopefully more useful for contemporary Buddhist practitioners.  Paticca sammuppada has 12 elements, which are individually reviewed during the talk, emphasizing their non-linear, co-creative function in creating on a moment-by-moment basis the subjective self we all experience.  Specific focus is placed on the interactions between feeling and craving/clinging as the target for wise attention in order to change one’s karma, bringing relief from dukkha–distress and confusion.  This review is followed by comments from those participating in the Zoom meeting.  There is an accompanying guided meditation for this talk: “Guided Changing Your Mind Meditation”, posted in the archive.

Here are the notes prepared for this talk:  Contingent Provisional Emergence

The focus for next week’s talk is a review of the process of Awakening.

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Guided Changing Your Mind Meditation

This guided meditation is intended to cultivate mindfulness of feelings in order to make manifest the potential of the key Buddhist concept of paticca sammuppada, translated as dependent origination.  This concept describes how a person’s karma is organized in ways that liberate the mind from craving and clinging.  A variety of useful targets of attention while practicing mindfulness of breathing meditation are offered during the recording that support this goal.  It is intended to complement the Dharma talk entitled ” How To Change Your Mind”, recorded after to this recording on December 2, 2020.

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Working With Clinging February 12 2020

This talk concludes two focused on the elements of Dukkha, craving and clinging; the talk on tanha, craving,was posted on February 6.  Peter described the term Upadana as basically meaning fuel or nutriment, that which feeds the selfing process.  Upadana is the “maturing” of craving when the mind is insufficiently alert and balanced.  Contemporary research into how the brain transforms stimulation into a sense of self through what is termed the binding process.  Peter described how mindfulness of breathing meditation can provide the stability of attention and the level of insight into the process of becoming as described in the concept of dependent origination.  These explanations were followed by general group discussion regarding the applications of mindfulness to reveal and overcome the various manifestations of clinging.

Here are the notes prepared for this talk:  WORKING WITH CLINGING

Next week’s talk will focus on working with karma.

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How To Change Your Mind

This evening’s talk  focused on the core teaching of Buddhism called “paticca samuppada” (pah-tee-chah sah-moo-pah-dah), traditionally interpreted as “dependent origination”.  Peter offered an alternative translation, “contingent provisional emergence” with explanation regarding the increased usefulness of this understanding.  It points out that the opportunity to “change your mind” occurs when the awakening factor of investigation of mental phenomena, combined with Right Effort, allows previously conditioned, reactive responses to be altered by inner awareness of feeling, that is, impulsive emotional or habitual reactions to not mature into internally conflicted self-state organizations.  This was accompanied by a graphic illustrating the self-reinforcing links of mental conditioning functions, with mindfulness of feelings as a key point of focus.

Here are the notes prepared for this talk:  Contingent Provisional Emergence

Also posted here is a recorded guided meditation to foster increased capacity to investigate the sensations of breathing more persistently in greater detail.  It is entitled “Swimming In The Stream Of Dharma”.

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