The teachings of the Buddha (Dharma) and the practices of Insight Meditation (Vipassana) and loving-kindness meditation (metta) are at the heart of all the programs we offer at Spirit Rock. Practicing Insight Meditation develops mindfulness, the capacity to pay attention to each moment of life and to see clearly the truth of our experience. Studying the Dharma provides insights into the conditions that define and limit our experience of life. And cultivating an attitude of loving-kindness allows us to stay present to what's true and what's difficult in our lives with compassion for ourselves and others. Ultimately, our relationship to life is transformed as we learn to live more wisely and kindly.
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is immediately followed by a Dharma talk. (Group discussion has been omitted.)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Homage and Precepts in Pāli and English, using the Forest Sangha melody and translation.
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is immediately followed by a Dharma talk. (Group discussion has been omitted.)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is immediately followed by a Dharma talk. (Group discussion has been omitted.)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is immediately followed by a Dharma talk. (Group discussion has been omitted.)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is followed by a Dharma Talk
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In this talk, Gullu reviews prior week's teachings on Wise Effort, including what supports initiating effort, the middle way between extremes, and the four wise efforts using the acronym PACE: (P)reventing unwholesome states from arising, (A)bandoning unwholesome states that have arisen, (C)ultivating wholesome states, and (E)xtending (sustaining) those wholesome states. He then briefly discusses the Seven Factors of Awakening (Satta Bojjhaṅgā)—mindfulness, investigation of dhammas, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity—emphasizing that energy naturally arises from Mindfulness and investigation. He concludes with a quick overview of the Four Bases of Power (Cattāro Iddhipādā): chanda, viriya, citta, and vīmaṃsā. Particular attention is given to viriya as the engine of awakening and to vīmaṃsā as the spirit of ongoing discernment and refinement in practice. NOTE: Group discussion has been removed.
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Describing the Relationship Between Metta, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity.
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is followed by a Dharma Talk
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) A practical exploration of wise effort as a balanced, sustainable path: “not too tight and not too loose.” Gullu looks at the effort it takes to begin practice (and the conditions that can support and inspire that effort, including nibbidā and saṁvega), as well as how to cultivate the mind over time through the Four Wise Efforts, offered here with the acronym PACE: P — Preventing unwholesome states from arising A — Abandoning unwholesome states that have arisen C — Cultivating wholesome states E — Extending (sustaining) wholesome states
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is followed by a Dharma Talk
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In mettā (lovingkindness), as in so many kinds of spiritual practice, we are instructed to love our neighbor, excluding none: folks we like and don't like, appreciate, fear, or judge by their actions to be very difficult people. We often think of “difficult person practice” as a kind of emotional purification, where we work through our judgment and aversion. This is good, but there's more to enjoy about it than this! Difficult people are just a symptom, and the sickness is Saṃsāra, the wandering. We start by understanding difficult people as wounded people, and then as victims of the great poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion. Seeing with the eyes of compassion in this way, blame and hatred drain away. Sean Oakes supports movements for individual and collective liberation in our time of great trouble. He teaches and writes on somatics and philosophy in Buddhism, Yoga, and contemplative movement. Dr. Oakes practiced as a monk in Burma, received authorization in Insight Meditation from Jack Kornfield, wrote his PhD dissertation on extraordinary states of consciousness in Buddhist meditation and experimental dance, and lives in human and non-human community on a ridge near the ocean.
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Includes metta for self, metta for sangha, and metta for the 6 directions
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) This guided meditation shifts the subject of attention from objects to the awareness that knows.
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Letting go is the direct instruction to move from the Second Noble Truth (there is a cause of suffering) to the Third Noble Truth (there is an end to suffering), Letting go on many levels within practice and in our lives is explored..
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is followed by a Dharma Talk
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Dharma talk
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) By Incorporating intention in our practice we see the connection between mind and body. The body moves when the mind has an impulse. And the mind is affected by bodily needs and discomforts. This addition to practice leads to a deeper subtlety of awareness of the mind-body connection.
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Guided forgiveness practice beginning with ourselves- forgiveness towards our body, our mind, and our heart- then opening to include forgiveness for past actions, including extending and asking forgiveness.
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Begins with a 30m meditation and is followed by a Dharma Talk
(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
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