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During this talk, Allie Vaknin provides a review of the second of the four foundations of mindfulness, vedanupassana, traditionally translated as mindfulness of feelings.  Her comments include references to how feelings can be understood not only as emotions, but also as craving pleasant experiences orexperiencing unpleasant feelings with aversion.  The goal of practice is to directly know a feeling as just a feeling, not a person, without impulsive reactivity. Here is the Emotion Wheel illustration she refers to in the talk:  Feeling Wheel

This talk, presented by Susan Baxter, focuses on the first of the four foundations of mindfulness, which contemplates how the mind makes meaning and responses to physical stimuli.  She describes how she learned how to skillfully use various mindfulness practices to cope with chronic pain.

During this first of a series of talks reviewing the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse, a key teaching in all the Buddhist traditions.  Peter describes the repetitive passages in each of the foundations were required for centuries in a pre-literate culture.  He reviews how some of those passages have profound importance for understanding and practicing what is in the discourse. Here are the notes prepared for the talk:  Overview of the Satipatthana Sutta Here is an excellent translation of the Sutta:  Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta by Thanissaro

Periodically, Peter will be available to answer questions about Buddhist concepts and practices.  During this talk, he focuses on how consistent meditation practice develops internal awareness skills in the same way that consistent practice with a musical instrument develops musical skills.

During this talk, Susan Baxter contributes to an ongoing review of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse, focusing on the first foundation, mindfulness of the body.  Susan provides a personalized view of the benefits of scanning attention through the body when confronted by a chronically painful medical condition.  This review includes comments by those participating in the meeting.

This is the first of several Dharma talks that review what many believe is the most important teaching of early Buddhism, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse.  Peter reviews the general history and overall structure of the teaching, emphasizing various repetitive phrases and providing explanations of the archaic wording to make the teaching more accessible for a contemporary student.  Next week, Susan Baxter will review the first Foundation, Mindfulness of the Body, including how the Sutta describes the practice of anapanasati, mindfulness of breathing meditation. Here are the notes prepared for this talk:  Overview of the Satipatthana Sutta Here is a translation of the Sutta, as rendered by Bhikkhu Analayo, a preeminent Buddhist scholar and teacher:  ANALAYO TRANSLATES THE SATIPATTHÃNA SUTTA

Occasionally, Peter provides an opportunity for open questions or comments about Buddhist doctrine or practice experiences.  During this talk there are comments about retreat experiences, specifically one organized through the teachings of S. N. Goenka.  There are also questions about practices such as full body scans.  Peter responds to a question regarding any similarities between Buddhist Madhyamaka concepts and Advaita Vedanta, a Hindu view on non-self.

During this talk, Allie Vaknin continues reviewing the Paramis, a grouping of mind conditioning functions that, when developed to full potential, cooperatively liberate the mind from distress and confusion.  Energy is described as the driver of Right Effort in the mind and body, and must be freed up from attachment to unwholesome views to be purified.

This talk is part of a series reviewing the Four Noble Truths by April Koester, specifically focused on Right Mindfulness.  During the talk she reads sections of the Satipatthana Sutta, which translates as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness a key teaching within Buddhism.  Her comments are followed up by questions and comments from those attending the meeting. Here are the notes April prepared for the presentation, including access references regarding important articles and books that are organized around the Satipatthana Sutta:  Talk Notes_ Right Mindfulness as Strategic Agency (1)

We provide an opportunity for those among us who have completed a significant retreat to “think out loud” about the experience, as this helps the person integrate the retreat more fully into their understanding of the Dharma.  Additionally, the talk and questions from the other participants may inspire others to participate in the immersive experience that a retreat provides. Here are the notes Peter prepared for this review, which includes a review of how the retreat supports deeper understanding of the Seven Awakening Factors:  Peter December 2025 Self Retreat Review

During this talk, Allie Vaknin continues to review the Paramis, qualities of consciousness that, when perfected, support the realization of Nirvana, the Unconditioned.   The topic focuses on the cultivation of the Parami of Wisdom from a Buddhist perspective.

R.A.I.N. (Recognize Accept Investigate Non-Identification) is an acronym which has been useful for meditators, and during this talk, Lezlie Laws provides a review of how two meditators can work as a team with this to understand how the mind can get trapped in an unwholesome self-identity and how to effectively create a more wholesome self-identity.  This talk is meant to be supported by the  “Guided RAIN Contemplation” recording that can be accessed through the Guided Meditation section of the website.

R.A.I.N. is described as a useful approach to cultivating insight.  During this guided contemplation, Lezlie Laws provides suggestions for inner reflection that supports including  R.A.I.N. in one’s meditation practice.  It is intended to support “Working With Rain”, the Dharma talk that follows this meditation, and which has been posted within the website archive.

During this talk, Peter responds to various questions regarding Buddhist concepts and coaching regarding meditation practice.  One topic frequently questioned about involves his current meditation practice and intentions regarding his annual self-retreat.

During this talk on Thanksgiving Eve, Peter describes how the cultivation of mindfulness of breathing meditation frees energy from being bound up by the Hindrances, creating the buoyantly engaged interest characteristic of the Awakening Factor of Joy, which provides the foundation for the experience of gratitude.  Gratitude often involves a reciprocal interpersonal manifestation of generosity.  He describes how different areas of brain/body interactions create the subjective experience of joy, gratitude and generosity.  The explanation is followed by questions and comments from those participating in the meeting. Here are the notes prepared for this talk:  Thoughts On Gratitude This talk was preceded by a guided meditation:  Contemplating Joy, Gratitude, and Generosity, which is posted in the guided meditation archive of the website.

During a meeting on Thanksgiving Eve, Peter leads a guided contemplation describing the progression from mindfulness of breathing meditation to joy and then through gratitude to generosity.  Concentrating the mind frees up energy normally bound up by the Hindrances, and when that energy is available, the experience of joy occurs.  Joy provides the heart/mind conditions for nurturing gratitude, which leads to generosity.  This contemplation precedes a Dharma talk presented by Peter that describes the various conditioning factors of the mind that make manifest joy, gratitude and generosity.

During this talk, Lezlie Laws describes the acronym RAIN: Recognize, Accept, Investigate, Non-Self as a way to approach the challenges of everyday life.  She is a proponent of spiritual journaling, and shares an excerpt from her personal journal entry to demonstrate how mindfulness, investigation and acknowledging the impersonal nature of our internal selfing process brings insight into our intrapersonal conflicts. Here are two  URL’s that provide descriptive content regarding RAIN: https://www.tarabrach.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/TaraBrach_RAIN_A-Practice-of-Radical-Compassion.pdf Here's a link of Michele McDonald's version of RAIN, including the second half – DROP.  https://vipassanahawaii.org/resources/raindrop/

During this talk, April continues her review of the Noble Eightfold Path, focusing on Right Effort, describing the Four Noble Efforts and how to develop them skillfully.  Her review includes questions and comments from those participating in the meeting. Here are the notes prepared for the talk:  Right effort notes

This talk continues a series of reviews presented by Allie Vaknin focusing on the paramis, those wholesome conditions of the mind that, when cultivated to their greatest potential, create the conditions for Awakening, the direct realization of Nirvana.  Allie emphasizes the importance of direct subjective awareness of unwholesome conditions and the intentional “letting go” of […]

Each generation must understand the principles found in the Noble Eightfold Path in the context of the culture of that time.  During this talk, April Koester continues to review the Virtue component of the path, specifically how current developments such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the pressures of contemporary life can be associated with Right […]

During this talk, Lezlie Laws continues her review of the Five Hindrances, emphasizing how various teachers such as Joseph Goldstein, Shaila Catherine, and Gil Fronsdal approach effectively setting them aside.

It is our custom to provide an opportunity for someone who has recently completed a significant retreat to “think out loud” about the experience, as sharing important insights helps that person integrate what was learned and informs those listening about the benefits of the immersive training experience.  Mitch attended a Black Heritage Retreat at the […]

During this talk, Allie provides a review of the Five Clinging Aggregates–form, feeling, perception, mental conditioning factors, and consciousness–as a way to understand how personality operates from a Buddhist perspective.  She relates this self-creating process to another fundamental Buddhist concept, Dependent Origination, which provides us with a way to understand how to reduce and eventually […]

This talk continues to review how contemporary neuroscientific research supports the validity of important Buddhist concepts and practices, focusing on the first three of the Four Noble Truths.  Peter refers to a previous talk titled “Neuroplasticity and Non-Self”, posted September 4, 2025 as a precursor to this review.  A future talk will focus on reviewing […]

During this talk, Lezlie reviews the characteristics and effects of the five hindrances–desire, aversion, sloth and torpor, restlessness and doubt–and several approaches to setting them aside.  She intends to devote future talks to these different meditative skills, as described in “Unhindered” by Gil Fronsdal and “Beyond Distraction” by Shaila Catherine, among others.

During this talk, April describes real life occurrences to emphasize the unwholesome consequences of actions shaped by what are called “the three poisons”, greed, hatred and delusion. She associates this with the uncertainties associated with the current actions being taken through the medium of Artificial Intelligence.  She then reviews the relevant ethical values that shape […]

This talk, presented by Allie Vaknin, is the second of a series of reviews during which she focuses on the Perfection of what are called Paramis, qualities of consciousness that, when fulfilled in their potential, nurture the realization of Nirvana.  Tonight's talk focuses on the Parami of Sila, virtuous thoughts and deeds, reflected in what […]

During this talk, Peter describes his research and contemplation regarding how contemporary neuroscientific research can increase understanding of anatta, the principle that asserts the absence of an enduring and autonomous self.  He explains the processes of neuroplasticity and long-term potentiation during the interactions between various networks of neuronal connection as supportive of insights regarding the […]

During this talk, Allie begins a series of reviews she will provide focusing on the Paramis, the skills and virtues to be perfected on the path to Awakening.  The topic for this talk is generosity, both material and non-material, as a way to cultivate kindness and renunciation of greed and miserliness.  She responds to questions […]

During this talk, April provides a review of Right Speech as a basic element of the Noble Eightfold Path, cultivating a clear conscience as the platform from which the process of Awakening develops.  An element of Right Speech, truthfulness, is associated with the challenges presented by media disinformation and Artificial Intelligence in contemporary life.  This […]

We often provide an opportunity for those among us who have just completed a significant retreat to “think out loud” about the experience.  This can be beneficial for that person and perhaps inspiring for those listening.  This was the first retreat for Lezlie that involved the intense training provided by the teaching of S. N. […]

During this talk, Peter responds to questions from those attending, focusing on the importance of establishing mindfulness of breathing as a stabilizing reference point, because the intention to remain aware of the sensations experienced while breathing as other mental phenomena occur provides a “distancing” effect, enabling us to be less affected as craving and clinging […]

During this talk, Peter focuses on the relationship between the Buddhist concept of Voidness (Sunnata) and neuroplasticity, the inherent complex and impersonal way the function of the brain creates a person's self experience.  Using an excerpt from “Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree–the Buddha's Teaching on Voidness”, by Buddhadasa, he reviews how important the cultivation of […]

During this Dharma talk, Peter describes the intersection between empathy and compassion.  Empathy is hardwired into our bodies and can be misunderstood and produce regrettable self-states and behaviors when not monitored by mindfulness.  He describes how we are all subjected to marketing tactics based on studies of empathy to negatively affect ourselves and others.  Skillful […]

This guided meditation provides suggestions for recognizing the subjective characteristics of empathy with support from mindfulness of breathing for a non-reactive perspective of the experience.  It is intended to provide practice support for the Dharma talk that followed: “Empathy And Compassion”, posted on this website.

During this second of a series of reviews of women who are influential among contemporary meditators, Allie Vaknin begins by inquiring among participants who might have familiarity with Pema Chodron's books, and then goes on to briefly recounting Chodron's life: she was born in New York City as Deidre Blomfeld-Brown and was inspired to become […]

During this first of several Dharma talks about important female teachers, April reviews the life and teachings of Upasika Lee Nanayon, a lay teacher in Thailand.  First she describes the determination of a person whose teaching comes from a simple lifestyle and deep meditation practice dedicated to providing women with unbiased access to the Dharma.  […]

During this talk, Peter responds to questions about the concepts described in “Seeing That Frees”, by Rob Burbea.  The concepts of “the fading of perception”, “awareness”, and “emptiness” were discussed, derived from these questions.

The Paramis are categories of intentionally cultivated virtuous mind-states that promote the process of Awakening.  With this talk, Lezlie describes the Parami of Generosity, both materially and interpersonally being unselfish regarding others.  She intends to periodically provide commentaries about the various Paramis, using “Creating a Life of Integrity–A Conversation With Joseph Goldstein”, by Gail Anderson […]

Once a month, Peter provides an opportunity during the meeting for those participating to ask questions regarding Buddhist concepts and practices.  The questions posed during this meeting focus on the “Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse”, for example the “noting” method for cultivating insight, compared to practices that first emphasize the cultivation of high levels of […]

Our community finds value in providing opportunities for those among us who have recently experienced a significant retreat to “think out loud” about the experience.  The benefits of these reviews are associated with the support of informed listeners, along with information about retreat sites and teachers.  The descriptions of the experience might inspire those listening […]

During this talk, April describes how our inability to investigate and effectively manage our resistance to using mindfulness to beneficially apply the principles and practices from a Buddhist creates suffering, using various quotes from Buddhist teachings.  Her review is followed by questions and comments about this topic from those participating in the meeting. Here are […]

During this talk, Allie Vaknin reviews Buddhist concepts regarding mortality, referring frequently to the Bardo, a descriptive term for the states of birth, death and rebirth from a Tibetan Buddhist perspective.  Her report is followed by comments from participants regarding their views of mortality, often referring to the impact after witnessing their witnessing of the […]

During this meeting, Peter responds to questions posed by those participating, such as describing the “Middle Way” as a dynamic balancing of mental energy–not too energized or too tranquil–along with mental acuity–not too rigid or too “sloppy”.  He also commented on the benefits of deciding to cultivate equanimity when confronted with very noisy and variable […]

During this talk, Lezlie reviews four key liberating functions in the mind: diligence, mindfulness. clearly knowing what is emerging into awareness, supported by the integrative and unifying function of concentration–the persistent operation of the three qualities already mentioned.  She describes how these qualities help her investigate and deny unwholesome views of herself and others left […]

During this talk, Peter reviews the characteristics of intention, suggesting that this function of the mind emerges from the complex interactions between various neurological networks in the brain, not attributable to the existence of a self.  This contemporary view of how intentions form and operate describes two functions of consciousness–cognitive intentions and behavioral intentions.  We […]

The mindful investigation and effective management of intention is considered to be a primary goal of meditation practice, beginning with the intention to aim attention on the changing sensations occurring while practicing mindfulness of breathing meditation.  During this guided contemplation Peter suggests various ways to cultivate mindfulness of two ways that intention manifests, focused on […]

During this talk, Lili reviews how her studies and meditation practices have helped her effectively manage migraine headaches and the pain of sciatica.  She invited participants to ask questions or share their experience regarding pain, and several people provided reports about how their meditation practice was helpful for managing incidental or chronic pain effectively. There […]

This guided meditation provides suggestions for integrating mindfulness, investigation and letting go of impulsive reactivity while practicing body scanning, in order to cultivate more equanimity regarding pain as well as intrusive/demanding uncomfortable thoughts and moods.  it is intended to accompany the Dharma talk following the meditation titled “Mindfulness Based Pain Management”.

During this talk, April describes how important it is to integrate the benefits of formal mindfulness meditation with walking, particularly while outdoors in nature.  She shares her own experience and insights that emerge in a variety of settings during normal daily routines from this practice and invites others participating in the meeting to share their […]

One time per month, Peter provides the opportunity for those participating in the meeting to ask questions about Buddhist concepts and meditation practice. He also provides a brief review of the relationship between each of the Four Noble Truths, emphasizing that different subjective experiences require different focusing on each of the Truths.  During the meeting, […]