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Retreat Dharma Talks
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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| Regular weekly talks given at the lower Spirit Rock meditation hall |
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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2024-06-19
Guided Meditation: Practicing with Views
36:07
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Donald Rothberg
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After initial instructions in developing stability and concentration, and then mindfulness, there are further instructions, given after 10 and after 20 minutes, on developing more mindfulness of views, stories, and narratives (related to the talk given after the meditation). At the end, there is an invitation to reflect on views or stories that have been prominent in the last few days.
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2024-06-19
Practicing with Views, Beliefs, and Positions 2
63:52
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Donald Rothberg
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We start with a brief reflection on today's holiday, Juneteenth. Then we review last week's initial exploration of practicing with views, including (1) identifying the main teachings on views given by the Buddha, and (2) three basic ways to practice with views, including developing mindfulness of views, inquiring when there is a charge related to another's view, and developing careful listening. This review is followed by bringing in several further ways to understand and practice with views, including working with a specific teaching and letting the "view [coming from the teaching] be the meditation," exploring how sometimes to rest in a kind of unknowing, and then how awakening lies beyond views and concepts. The talk is followed by discussion.
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2024-07-03
Toward Freedom and Awakening--Individually and as a Society: A Fourth of July Talk
62:10
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Donald Rothberg
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A day before the Fourth of July and two days after Canada Day, commemorating establishing Canada, we explore the possibility of connecting the vision of individual awakening and freedom and the vision of social freedom and justice. We look at the "shadows" of these visions, of how greed, hatred, and delusion, whether individual or collective, as well as other factors, stand in the way of realizing these visions. We point to the importance of staying connected to these two visions in difficult and challenging times, and of how they can be brought together. After the talk, we have a group discussion.
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