29 January 2008: Bahiya of the Bark-Cloth

29/04/08 00:26
“In the seeing there is just the seen …” A radical teaching given to Bahiya Darucirya that sums up our practice. Podcast

28 January 2008: Ethics and understanding

28/04/08 22:59
On the relationship between insight (vipassana), wisdom, understanding (pañña) on the one hand, and ethics or morality (sila) on the other. The dynamics between our way of seeing and the way we live. Podcast

27 January 2008: The six sense fields

28/04/08 10:38
Beginning with a sense of the oral quality of the dharma, we explore our relationship with experience as it is mediated through the six sense fields. We begin with the story of Anathapinkika and the park named after him. Podcast

26 January 2008: On moving through dukkha

27/04/08 11:44
The second of the three universal characteristics of experience is dukkha, “suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness, dis-ease.” Our journey through this characteristic begins with an understanding of impermanence (aniccata), and matures into a felt understanding of not-self (anatta). Podcast

25 January 2008: Dharma and desire

27/04/08 11:03
Where does desire fit into our practice? If desire is bad, then what motivates me to practise in the first place? Or is there something about desire that we are missing? Podcast

24 January 2008: Seeing and understanding

24/04/08 13:07
The two basic movements of insight meditation are seeing (dassana) and understanding (nana). “Seeing” denotes our direct engagement with present experience. “Understanding” involves an opening out into the universal patterns of experience. Podcast

22 January 2008: Exploring mindfulness

24/04/08 12:22
This style of meditation practice revolves around the concept of “mindfulness,” which is the usual translation of the Pali word sati. But sati literally means “memory.” What is the relationship between memory, awareness and awakening? Podcast

21 January 2008: Contemplating impermanence

31/03/08 17:06
Looking at the “perception of impermanence” (anicca-sañña) from the perspective of its felt quality. Perceiving impermanence stimulates the anxiety that precedes non-attachment. Podcast

20 January 2008: Contemplating hindrances

31/03/08 15:05
Investigating the nature of the five hindrances, and how to bring them into our practice. Podcast

19 January 2008: The sweet essence

31/03/08 14:12
Examining the teaching given in Madhupindika Sutta, which examines the ethics and depth psychology of delusion – and so of awakening. What moves us, and how? Podcast

18 January 2008: On view and action

31/03/08 13:26
The nature of “right view” (samma ditthi) and its relationship to the way we live – our ethics (sila). For what we take to be real, and possible, conditions how we choose to live. Podcast

17 January 2008: Faith and understanding

30/03/08 18:41
Looking at the nature of “faith” (saddha) and “understanding” (pañña), and the relationship between them. This is done in the context of the five “faculties” (indriya) of faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration and understanding. Podcast

15 January 2008: The first refuge

30/03/08 17:52
We take refuge in the three treasures of Buddha, dharma and sangha. Who or what is the Buddha? And what is our relationship to him? Podcast

14 January 2008: Cultivating generosity

30/03/08 16:21
Looking at giving and the gift (dana), and the virtue of generosity (caga), from the perspective of the economy of gift, rather than from our usual perspective of the economy of the market.
Podcast

13 January 2008: Impermanence and time

30/03/08 13:20
Understanding impermanence, particularly its relationship to the problem of time and what we take to be real. Learning to abandon the past – and the future. Podcast

12 January 2008: Entering emptiness

30/03/08 11:34
Examining the concept of “emptiness” (suññata) in the Buddha’s teaching, and seeing how it relates to our practice. In particular, how emptiness relates to the problem of time and progress. Podcast

11 January 2008: The four satipatthanas (Part 2)

30/03/08 10:49
Continuing our exploration of the domains of mindfulness, focusing on the fourth – dharma or dharmas. “Dharma” refers to how we create meaning from our experience; “dharmas” refers to understanding the emptiness of phenomena. Podcast

10 January 2008: The four satipatthanas (Part 1)

29/03/08 11:21
Exploring the four “domains” or “foundations” (patthana) of mindfulness (sati). Our relationship to the body, to our feelings, and to our heart-mind. Podcast

8 January 2008 (Evening): Kalama Sutta (Part 2)

28/03/08 15:28
Continuing the teaching given to the Kalamas. Given our delusion, how can we choose the wholesome (kusala)? Podcast

8 January 2008 (Morning): Contemplating the thought-stream

28/03/08 14:25
Transforming thought from a distraction to a meditation object – and so coming to understand the thinking mind. Podcast

7 January 2008 (Evening): Kalama Sutta (Part 1)

28/03/08 13:21
Examining the teaching given to the Kalamas, a sophisticated but non-Buddhist people who want to understand the nature of truth. The Buddha investigates the nature of experience, in both its individual and community aspects. Podcast

7 January 2008 (Morning): Contemplating feeling

28/03/08 12:19
Using “feeling” (vedana) as meditation object – and as a mode of experiencing, as distinct from “watching” or “witnessing” a meditation object. Podcast

6 January 2008 (Evening): Contemplating not-self

28/03/08 11:14
A look at Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta, the second formal teaching of the Buddha. Here we focus on the Buddha’s teaching of “not self” (anatta). Podcast

6 January 2008 (Morning): Contemplating breathing

28/03/08 09:43
Using “breathing” as a meditation object, by tuning into its elemental quality of “air element” (vayo dhatu).
Podcast

5 January 2008 (Evening): Mindfulness-&-clear understanding

27/03/08 11:43
Cultivating presence and the intelligence associated with presence, in particular in terms of our relationship with the body. Podcast

5 January 2008 (Morning): Contemplating elements

25/03/08 09:04
Using the elemental qualities of the body as meditation object. Podcast

4 January 2008 (Evening): Turning the dharma wheel

24/03/08 22:54
A look at Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the first formal teaching of the Buddha. In particular, examining the four truths, which in turn centre on the problem of dukkha. Podcast

4 January 2008 (Morning): Introducing Mahasi method

23/03/08 20:17
An introduction to the method of satipatthana vipassana (insight meditation) developed by Mahasi Sayadaw. Podcast

3 January 2008 (Evening): Cultivating presence

23/03/08 01:25
An introduction to the opening of the Satipatthana Sutta, which guides the practice of what we call “insight meditation.” Podcast

3 January 2008 (Morning): Contemplating the five aggregates

19/03/08 21:20
Watching how awareness moves between the physical world to that of the mind, and learning how to read those moves. (WARNING: Please note that this recording cuts out suddenly during the contemplation of the fourth aggregate, formations.) Podcast