The Noble Eightfold Path: The Buddhist Map of Awakening

The Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths

( Class 1 ) June 6, 2013MP3

An overview of the series. Includes group discussion of the key features of any spiritual path, a brief overview of the eight fold path, and a discussion of the four noble truths, the key feature of wise view, the first pillar of the path. Click here for an outline that is useful throughout the series, summarizing the main features of the path.

Wise View, Karma, and Not-Self

(Wise View, Class 2 ) June 13, 2013MP3

The Supreme Sight: Looking for the Self and Not Finding It

(Wise View, Classes 3, 4, 5) June and July 2013PDF

Continuing the exploration of wise view, this essay is an in-depth look at the Buddhist teaching on not-self. Realizing our lack of separateness relieves any suffering and helps us taste a sense of ultimate belonging and ease. While the idea of a lack of a separate self is challenging, it is actually fairly easy to experience and the essay presents a set of meditative exercises to do just that. To deepen the understanding, the essay includes a section that conceptually deconstructs the self and the lack of an essence in anything to reveal that all of existence is a vast, interconnected web.

The Road to Heaven is Paved with Good Intentions

(Wise Intention, Class 6) Aug. 6th, 2013 MP3

Happiness, says Buddhism, is not something that can be ordered up at will by a solid, separate self, but, rather, results from the sum total of our actions, choices, habits, and intentions. Mindfulness is a path to lasting happiness because it gives us the choice to act on skillful, or wholesome, intentions and let go of unskillful ones. In essence, we want to be mindful of the three root difficulties – greed, aversion, and delusion – and act upon their opposites – generosity, contentment, and renunciation; kindness; and wisdom.

From the Heart: Speech that Truly Connects

(Wise Speech, Class 7) Aug. 15, 2013PDF

Speech is one of the most powerful forces in our lives, with the potential to cause great harm or benefit. Wise speech is so important that the Buddha made it one of the trainings of The Eightfold Path, his map of how the heart awakens. Does your speech reflect the wisdom and insight derived from your mindfulness practice? When you are more mindful of your speech you can connect that much more deeply with others.

Ethics without Right and Wrong

(Wise Action, Class 8) Sept. 4, 2013MP3

This talk was given on Dec. 6, 2012 and covers much of the material from this class. The Buddha taught that ethical behavior is not just for benefitting others, but, is a fundamental part of the path of awakening. Buddhist ethics avoid judgmental codes of right and wrong by focusing, instead, on harm and benefit. This prevents guilt, which is self-centered and immobilizing, and focuses on the real issue at hand – the effects of our actions. Because ethical behavior is primarily a relational concern, it can come from love and care rather than shame or fear. Buddhist ethical precepts are not judgmental rules, but mindfulness bells that wake us up to our behavior.

Buddha in Your Briefcase: Making Work Less Stressful, MoreSatisfying, and More Meaningful

(Wise Livelihood, Classes 9, 10) Oct. 10 and 24th, 2013 MP3

Because work uses so much of our energy and has such a large effect on others, the Buddhaemphasized the importance of making it an integral part of our awakening. The talk covers how to make work less stressful, and more spiritual and meaningful, as well as how to integrate it with our deeper longings and values. Mindfulness in our work day is the key to making this all happen.

The Four Wise Efforts that Liberate the Heart

(Wise Effort, Class 12) Nov. 21, 2013 MP3

On the Theravada Buddhist path, awakening does not come through grace or the intervention of an external being, but through one’s deliberate and persistent effort. This talk explores the Buddha’s simple yet profound fourfold framework for wise effort – prevent or abandon unskillful states and cultivate or prolong skillful ones. When we employ this framework for action we become the architects of our own happiness and freedom.

The Buddha’s Mindfulness Instructions: The Four Ways of Establishing Mindfulness

(Wise Mindfulness, Classes 13 – 16) Dec., 2013 and Jan 2014 PDF

This is an outline of the Satipatthana Sutta, the comprehensive mindfulness instructions given directly by the Buddha himself. Includes more than 50 objects of meditation within four basic areas of mindfulness focus: body, feeling tone, mind, and dhammas.