These words are excerpted from a dharma talk given at BCBS on January 18, 1997 as part of the Nalanda Program's weekend retreat. Mindfulness (sati) reveals to us the nature of reality, of our own mind and body in each moment of our experience. When we apprehend any aspect of our experience with mindfulness, we find that experience to be fleeting. Seeing the fleeting nature of all our experiences over a period of time, we become grounded in the wisdom or insight that we cannot rely on any … [Read more...]
The Five Spiritual Powers
Sarah Doering has had a long association with the Insight Meditation Society and with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. On both boards for many years, she has been a devoted practitioner of insight meditation, and has been teaching at IMS for the past several years. Sarah is currently one of the resident teachers at the newly opened Forest Refuge. Three Month Retreat October 1999 For forty-five years after his enlightenment, the Buddha wandered about northern India teaching. … [Read more...]
Seeing the Truth of Freedom
Sharda Rogell has been teaching retreats at IMS for more than ten years. After living in England for the last three years, she will soon be moving back to the US. People have come to the practice by many different paths. What brought you to meditation, Sharda? When I was about 27 I was going through a very difficult time in my life and was experiencing an extreme amount of dukkha [suffering]. I was living in North Carolina at the time and was at a point where I really didn't have any … [Read more...]
Practicing for Awakening
These remarks have been excerpted from a day-long program given by Jack Engler at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies on November 1, 1997. Jack has had a long association with Dharma study and practice. He studied Pali language and Abhidhamma at the Post-Graduate Institute of Buddhist Studies in Nalanda, Bihar, and practiced meditation for several years in India with Anagarika Munindraji and Dipa Ma. He also studied with the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma. He is co-author of Transformations of … [Read more...]
Getting Out of the Romantic Gate
Ajaan Thanissaro--whom many of our readers know well either from his courses at BCBS and/or from his prolific translations, commentaries, and transcribed Dhamma talks--has been studying and writing about how Romantic and Transcendentalist thought have affected Western understanding of Buddhadhamma for some time. He has deep familiarity with the relevant Western philosophical traditions, and this, combined with his first-hand understanding of Dhamma texts and practices, makes him an extremely … [Read more...]