 Image search results - "sense" |
04_anapanasati_sutta.pdfThe Anapanasati Sutta4583 viewsThe Anapanasati Sutta is not an easy read, although the language itself is quite simple. But its structure is complex and dense, and this complexity raises serious questions about interpretation. The complexity of the structure creates ambiguity. Even the orthodox commentary sees certain passages as capable of different but simultaneous readings, referring to either serenity or insight practice depending on what approach to the practice the practitioner is taking.
We can see how Thich Nhat Hanh can take liberties with the text, but he does so to make the practice explained within it more accessible to ordinary lay people. Are we to assume that this was not the intention of the original compilers? Or can we see the complexity of the sutta as evidence of an attempt to create a discourse that different communities of practitioners could, quite legitimately, read in different ways? In any event, if we are to make sense of this sutta, and extract from it what it has to offer in terms of guidance on the practice, we need to read the structure of the text. It is not just the surface words that convey meaning, but the underlying networks that link the words.
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06_satipatthana_sutta_02.pdf02 Satipatthana Sutta3014 viewsDuring this course we have looked at how different interpretative communities read the Nikayas. Among these are contemporary communities formed by the experience of modernity, practitioners who are attempting to apply the teachings found in the Nikayas to their daily lives in the contemporary world. Locating ourselves within such a community, we can see that our reading is a form of practitioner criticism. We have sought to make sense of this alien literature firstly by acknowledging that it is not a literature at all, but a collection of oral performances. We have examined how these performances are both made up of and linked by patterns of repetition lists of lists within lists. The lists function like tables in individual databases, and the teaching as a whole - the dhamma - functions as a relational database which exists, not within any given sutta, but as a network of relationships which underlies and unites all the suttas.
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10_At-six-sense-doors.mp3(10) At the Six-Sense Doors2860 viewsThis is an orientation to Sense Doors or sense spheres: i.e. the five senses as well as the mind itself.
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11_Track_11.mp3THOUGHTS2562 viewsI fold my palms to worship Him,
And meditate thro’s love,
I place the blossoms one by one,
And lift my eyes above.
I see Samsara‘s mighty vast
And sorrow’s yearning fate,
But thro’s the law the Dharma’s taught
I sense a pathway great;
“Oh may that Noble Eightfold way
Be sense by you and me,
For on this Holy Wesak Day,
‘Tis my true gift to thee!â€
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13_Track_13.mp3RIGHT ACTION2076 viewsFirm in our purpose we have act,
Our feet in Wisdom’s Way;
Nor shall the transient things of earth,
Our resolution sway.
We spurn the lure of fame or gold,
The lust for things of sense;
And find purity and peace,
Our ample recompense.
Unselfish love to all that live,
Our lives shall manifest;
In thought, in word, in action show,
Its inspiration blest.
Though steep and toilsome be the path,
We shall but strive the more;
Nirvana’s holy realm to gain,
And peace forevermore.
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File02_(AM)_Introducing_Mahasi_method.mp3Introducing Mahasi Method2765 viewsPatrick Kearney's Vipassana Retreat Talk at Bodhi Tree Monastery (2009)
Today we introduce the method of meditation we are practising during this retreat. Yesterday morning we just brought a sense of open curiosity to the examination of mind/body experience. This morning we are applying system to this investigation, stimulating what the Buddha calls yoniso manasikara, “appropriate attention.†We do this through the meditation method created by Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma (1904-1982), which is structured by his division of experience into primary and secondary object, along with the fundamental activities of noting, naming and noticing.
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File06_(AM)_Contemplating_breathing.mp3Contemplating Breathing1530 viewsPatrick Kearney's Vipassana Retreat Talk at Bodhi Tree Monastery (2009)
This morning we experiment with breathing as our meditation object. We learn to experience breathing as air element (vayo dhatu) — the movements within the body associated with inhalation and exhalation — and cultivate a sense of detail and precision in tracking these movements.
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File09_Not-self.mp3Not-Self1772 viewsPatrick Kearney's Vipassana Retreat Talk at Bodhi Tree Monastery (2009)
We come to Anattalakkhana Sutta (Characteristics of not-self), where the Buddha presents the five aggregates associated with clinging and reveals their real nature. The five aggregates are one of the two main ways in which the Buddha analyses the nature of the human being. They represent what we cling to to create our sense of who we are and what the world is.
We look at the Buddha’s description of how we construct our identity through the three movements of: craving (tanha), the drive to possess; conceit (mana), our fundamental sense of separation and identity; and view (ditthi), the completed concept we have of ourselves-within-our-world. We consider how the Buddha's understanding of not-self (anatta) plays out in his understanding of life-after-life. If there is, fundamentally, no-one here, then who moves from one life to another?
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File10_(AM)_Contemplating_the_thought-stream.mp3Contemplating the Thought-stream1648 viewsPatrick Kearney's Vipassana Retreat Talk at Bodhi Tree Monastery (2009)
Our addiction to thinking creates a major barrier to settling into Samadhi, “unification†or “concentration.†Often we try to push thought away, or simply endure it as an unpleasant fact of life. But the essence of this practice, according to Mahasi Sayadaw, is to note, or be deliberately aware of, whatever is predominant in any of the six sense fields, now. If thinking is currently predominant, then thinking should be our meditation
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File12_(AM)_Contemplating_citta.mp3Contemplating Citta1385 viewsPatrick Kearney's Vipassana Retreat Talk at Bodhi Tree Monastery (2009)
This morning we are looking at how we can track the state of our citta. Citta is a key technical term used by the Buddha. It could be translated as “mind,†“heart,†“heart-mind,†or even “soul,†in the non-theological sense of that word. In the context of our practice, citta represents our inner state; how we are, at this time. It is intimately connected to the body, and is in a state of constant change. While the state of our citta may be quite subtle, often we are moved to contemplate it when we find ourselves disturbed by emotion. Here we discuss using emotion as a meditation object.
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