Seattle Insight Meditation Society

Phillip Moffitt visits SIMS and offers a dharma talk. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/600/Default.aspx

Many of us do not realize the accessibility of the heart. We think it is distant and attainable only through hard work.  But it is as close as a pause in our thoughts, a hesitation in our busyness, and is the natural response of awareness to life.  Our thoughts cover the heart with a foggy distraction, but when we interrupt the stream of our thinking the heart response with a gentle appreciation for living. In that moment life is acknowledging itself with gratitude. During this season of Thanksgiving, look deeply and silently to call forth this natural appreciation for living. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/598/Default.aspx

Guest teacher Tim Geil speaks of gratitude on the week of Thanksgiving. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/597/Default.aspx

Fear is the dominating emotion controlling the world of formations and forms the edge between the ideas that hold us together as a formed entity and the ever-present universe of mystery and wonder.  Inevitably consciousness will be confronted by the fears it harbors. Fear is fear of something and that something has been conditioned into our minds as a threat. The threat is held within a narrative and the narrative warns us that if we do not contract back on ourselves a tragedy will occur.  We take this narrative as a literal truth and find ourselves avoiding the feared event. All of this maneuvering keeps us formed as a person and separated from all internal and external objects that are potential threats. By avoiding the threats we never grow beyond ourselves as a formed entity, and thus we perpetuate fear. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/596/Default.aspx

Love throws many of us off a little. Some of us would like our path free of tenderness and caring because love involves a part of us that is not logical or rational. Love puts the world together in a way that can’t be calculated or reasoned. The mind wants everything organized and direct, nothing cloudy or confused, but the spiritual journey is intuitive and not mentally derived. At some point we must leave the crisp edges and clear surfaces of the mind and move into the wonders and mysteries of the heart, and love is the path that does just that. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/584/Default.aspx

As a practice of insight, joy restores the heart. Talk 4 of 7. Muditā (Altruistic Joy)

Cultivating the conditions, in every moment of our lives, to make room for joy to arise. Talk 5 of 7. Muditā (Altruistic Joy)

The quality of equanimity is pervaded with all the noble qualities of the heart. It is unshakable liberation. As a practice of insight, equanimity is a heart that can't be shattered. Talk 7 of 7. Upekkhā (Equanimity)

The quality of equanimity is pervaded with all the noble qualities of the heart. It is unshakable liberation. As a practice of insight, equanimity is a heart that can't be shattered. Talk 6 of 7. Upekkhā (Equanimity)

These highly esteemed qualities are threads that run through all of the teachings of the Buddha. The brahma viharas of mettā, karuṇā, muditā, and upekkhā are described in the teachings as the deepest potential we have as human beings for psychological and emotional freedom. Talk 1 of 7.

It is metta that enables all of the other brahma viharas, compassion, joy, and equanimity. As a practice of insight, mettā cultiviates the capacity to meet all things with a sense of friendliness. Talk 2 of 7. Mettā (to befriend)

As a practice of insight, compassion expresses the deepest motivation that inspires responsiveness. Talk 3 of 7. Karuṇā (Compassion)

This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/585/Default.aspx

One of the more common emotional responses to practice is that at times we feel like we are failing in meditation. Nothing seems to be going according to the instructions. We try diligently and then hear that striving will not get us anywhere. We want to like ourselves but are full of self-contempt. We would like to wish everyone lovingkindness, but we do not feel that in our hearts. All of this has us feeling like a spiritual failure. One way to sidestep the thought that our practice is not going well is to remember that our practice is about self-knowledge, and self-knowledge is always working. Like a mirror that always reflects what it sees, it may not be showing us what we want to see, but it is always reflecting back what it sees. The practice is to accommodate what we see, no matter what is reflected back. Just let the reflection show us the state of affairs. Now comes the hard part. Do not attempt to change, judge, or get over what we see. If we want to do something, relax with what we see. Let the built up tension be dispelled. If we try to get over a problem before we understand what the nature of the problem is, we will further complicate our struggle. Much of our struggle is arising from the sense of being a personal failure. In a culture built upon evaluations and comparisons, many of us feel like we are defeated before we begin. We lead with self-uncertainty and for a Dharma practitioner that is the worst possible assumption. Awakening needs everything from us, and self-uncertainty holds us back in timidity. We have to address this assumption head on to end its tyrannical rule. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/583/Default.aspx

Relax, observe, allow, and respond are the quiet R-O-A-R of the Dharma. These words place us in the proper orientation to life so that life can affect us. Notice this is not passivity, since responding is essential. These words set us up so that we are aligned with our spiritual intentions, each word offering a perspective on the ease and observation needed for our spiritual fulfillment. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/581/Default.aspx