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Dharma Talks
given at Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-03-18
Honeyball Sutta: The Buddha's Teaching on Papanća
56:36
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James Baraz
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Have you ever wondered how your mind can move from one thought to getting lost in a complex story without you knowing how you got there? The Buddha describes this process in his Honeyball Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya #19) where he explains the phenomenon of papanća or proliferation of thought. The more we understand this porcess and work with it as practice, the less we get caught up in the stories the mind creates.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-02-25
Gratitude
52:46
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James Baraz
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In the Mangala Sutta, the Discourse on Blessings, the Buddha teaches: "To be content and grateful is a blessing supreme." Gratitude is a particularly potent ally in awakening true happiness because it helps expand the mind as well as the heart. With a grateful heart we have a larger container and more space to hold the difficulties we encounter. When we pause to notice what we usually take for granted a new world of possibilities opens up. It's as if we've changed the station instead of being stuck on our own little "drama channel."
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-01-28
Anatta and Self-Forgiveness
49:00
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James Baraz
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Do you ever give yourself a hard time if you've made an embarrassing mistake or have done something you regret? This talk explores how we can truly forgive ourselves with a thorough understanding of the Buddha's teaching on the selfless nature of who we are, otherwise known as Anatta, the selfless nature of experience.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2020-12-03
Three Pillars of Dharma
52:14
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James Baraz
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This is a continuation of the theme of the process of purification that leads to awakening. An exploration of what Joseph Goldstein calls "Three Pillars of Dharma." These are three spheres that we can cultivate which lead to supportive conditions for us to practice and then realize the fruits of practice. Includes Eve Decker offers a song on the theme.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2020-11-19
Transformation is Possible
50:20
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James Baraz
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When we start the spiritual journey we see that our mind is filled with unskillful habits of thought, colored by attachment, aversion and confusion. The Buddha described the process of purification that enables us to purify and transform first our outward conduct, then our thoughts and finally our subtle spiritual aspirations. This purification process leads ultimately to full awakening. The talk includes the Buddha's teaching of how this process works through the simile of the "Refinement of Mind."
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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