Listen to Dharma Talks – Orlando Insight Meditation Group
731 episodes - English - Latest episode: 14 days ago - ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsA Contemporary Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation Community For Central Florida
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Episodes
Buddhist Personality Theory, Part One
June 27, 2024 22:35 - 1 hour - 62.8 MBThe Five Aggregates can be considered as perhaps the first personality theory in human history. During this talk and one the following week, Peter reviews the Mind Conditioning Factors Aggregate with a focus on the cetasikas, a comprehensive listing of the multitude of “filters” in the mind that work to create each moment of consciousness. […]
Reviewing The Six Sense Bases
June 13, 2024 13:23 - 1 hour - 29.7 MBA subtitle for this talk might be “How What Is Seen Becomes The Self”. During the talk, Peter describes the functions of the mind that create a self out of what is seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched and remembered through what are called “fetters”–the effect of craving and clinging that binds awareness into “myself”. The […]
Lezlie Laws’ Five Hindrances Review
June 06, 2024 20:00 - 53.7 MBReviewing and setting aside the five aggregates is described as the first of the contemplations found within the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness. Lezlie provides quotes and comments that explain the characteristics of these obstacles to a mind that is alert and serene enough to support insights that liberate the mind from craving and clinging. Here […]
Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness Overview
May 30, 2024 19:23 - 44.1 MBConsidering the Third Foundation of Mindfulness as if it were a sheet of paper, and the First as a pen, then the Second as ink; the Fourth Foundation, mindfulness of mental phenomena, is what is written on the paper, creating our experience of being an enduring/autonomous self. During this talk, Peter reviews the categories of […]
Reviewing Mindfulness of the Mind
May 23, 2024 19:38 - 49.6 MBThe Third Foundation of Mindfulness focuses attention on investigating the characteristics of a person’s consciousness–alert or dull, filled with desire or free from desire, among other categories. During this talk, Peter reviews the various categories, supplemented by current neurological research that supports the views developed by Buddhist practitioners and scholars over a thousand years ago. […]
Skillfully Managing Feelings
May 16, 2024 21:35 - 1 hour - 57.5 MBMindfulness of Feelings is the Second Foundation of Mindfulness, and during this talk, Peter provides a review of the various categories of feelings, which are not emotions, but rather the impulsive reactivity we all experience that precedes craving and clinging. Managing feelings skillfully is key for developing the process of Awakening. Some of the current […]
Guided Contemplating Feelings Meditation
May 16, 2024 21:13 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBThis recording provides supportive suggestions for recognizing the various manifestations of feelings–pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, both worldly and unworldly. The goal of this meditation is to learn how to let go of unwholesome feeling tones–impulsive reactivity in the mind–to skillfully develop insight into the transitory and impersonal nature of subjective experience. This meditation is intended […]
Emptiness or Fullness?
May 09, 2024 18:17 - 1 hour - 62 MBThis talk focuses on cultivating a deeper and more useful understanding of two important Buddhist concepts: Non-self and Emptiness. The concepts don’t translate well into English from the original Pali teachings, so Peter uses various contemporary scientific and psychological research results to clarify the terms. Non-self is a way to understand what contemporary neuroscience calls […]
Working With The Four Elements Contemplations
May 02, 2024 18:58 - 58 minutes - 53.8 MBMindfully contemplating the subjective experience of the Four Elements: Earth, Wind,Fire, and Water is mentioned in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse as part of the category “Mindfulness of the Body”. During the talk, Peter describes the characteristics of each Element, along with how they can be useful for interrupting internal “selfing stories”. This talk […]
Guided Four Elements Contemplation
May 02, 2024 18:44 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBThis guided meditation provides suggestions for contemplating what are called the Four Elements: Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. These contemplations are embedded within the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse. Peter describes the subjective characteristics of each of the Elements and suggests different areas of the body to mindfully investigate their nature. This guided meditation is […]
Short Moments, Many Times A Day
May 01, 2024 02:31 - 1 hour - 80.1 MBShort Moments, Many Times a Day. In this meeting of our sangha, we learn a variety of ways to incorporate moments of meditation throughout the day. This is not a substitute for our daily sitting practice, but a way to extend that practice throughout our daily activities. The format of the session will veer from our usual […]
Right Mindfulness
May 01, 2024 02:26 - 1 hour - 48.7 MBThis week’s dharma talk explores the 7th step in the teaching of the Buddha called “The Noble Eightfold-Path.” This 7th step is Right Mindfulness. We will explore this key practice that has been described as the watch guard of the mind and an aid to recognize, prevent and release craving and clinging that causes suffering. We […]
Right Effort
May 01, 2024 02:11 - 1 hour - 48.4 MBThis week’s dharma talk explores the 6th step in the teaching of the Buddha called “The Noble Eightfold-Path.” This 6th step takes us into the “discipline aggregate” of the eight steps. Here we learn how to cultivate beneficial qualities of mind and how to disarm unbeneficial qualities of mind. The talk this week was given by Lezlie Laws.
Right Livelihood As Right Lifestyle
April 04, 2024 18:28 - 1 hour - 63.2 MBThe traditional rendering of samma ajiva in english is Right Livelihood; during this talk, Peter revises this part of the Noble Eightfold Path as Right Lifestyle, as life is more complex and more stressful psychologically in contemporary American culture. He describes the demands of work, finances, societal conflict, physical well-being, and environmental disruption through the […]
Reviewing Right Action
March 28, 2024 20:50 - 57 minutes - 52.5 MBThis talk continues a thorough review of the Four Noble Truths, focusing on the second attribute of the Fourth Truth, within the Virtue Aggregate of the Noble Eightfold Path–Right Action. During the talk, Lili describes the characteristics of the Precepts, which are the ethical guidelines to be understood and acted upon to further the path […]
Reviewing the Value of Virtue and Right Speech
March 21, 2024 17:39 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBDuring this talk, Peter provides an overview of Sila, the Buddhist Virtue Aggregate, which is found within the Noble Eightfold Path, with an emphasis on the importance of mindfully recognizing the non-virtuous elements of contemporary cultural conditioning, which create disharmony and dysfunction with significant negative consequences for social cohesion and the environment, renouncing them, and […]
Reviewing Right Intention
March 14, 2024 18:30 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBThis talk by Allie Vaknin continues an ongoing review of the Four Noble Truths, specifically focusing on a function of the Wisdom Aggregate of the Noble Eightfold Path, Right Intention. Allie describes different manifestations of Right Intention: Renunciation of unwholesomeness, Kindness, and Compassion. This recording includes several comments and questions posed by those participating in […]
Reviewing Right Understanding
March 07, 2024 17:21 - 1 hour - 60.1 MBDuring this talk, April continues the ongoing review of the Noble Eightfold Path by sharing her research about the Wisdom Aggregate, specifically Samma Ditthi, translated as Right View or Right Understanding. This part of the Path provides the conceptual basis for understanding the law of Karma–cause and effect. Her presentation includes several questions and comments […]
Overview Of The Noble Eightfold Path
February 29, 2024 19:46 - 57 minutes - 52.3 MBThis talk continues an ongoing review of the Four Noble Truths, with emphasis on the Fourth Noble Truth, the Noble Eightfold Path. This overview describes the general structure of the Path categories, which represent the ways and means for realizing the spiritual aspirations developed in the first three Noble Truths. Peter describes a more contemporary […]
Guided Basic Mindfulness Of Breathing Meditation
February 29, 2024 19:31 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBThis is intended to be a resource for cultivating mindfulness of breathing meditation, providing several suggestions during the experience to support developing more skill and confidence in the practice of a fundamental Buddhist training for self-awareness and self-discipline.
Third Noble Truth Review
February 22, 2024 21:10 - 56 minutes - 52 MBDuring this talk, Allie Vaknin provides insights regarding the four stages of Nirvana experience: Stream Entry, Once-Returner, Non-returner, and Arahant. The recording includes comments from various participants in the meeting. Next week’s talk will provide an overview of the Fourth Noble Truth, The Noble Eightfold Path; subsequent talks will address each element of the Noble […]
How To Change Your Karma
February 15, 2024 19:58 - 1 hour - 63 MBThis is the second presentation regarding the processes that create dukkha. The talk recorded on February 14, 2024 reviewed the characteristics of craving and clinging. This talk provides a review of a key concept of Buddhist psychology, paticca samuppada, translated as dependent origination. Peter explains how ignorance and unwholesome karmic influences generate craving and clinging […]
Guided Dependent Origination Contemplation
February 15, 2024 19:41 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBThis guided meditation is intended to accompany the Dharma talk of February 14, 2024 that focuses on the important Buddhist concept of paticca samuppada, dependent origination. During the meditation, it is suggested the meditator investigate how the mind is drawn away from the neutral feeling tone associated with breath sensations by craving and clinging, creating […]
The Second Noble Truth, Part 1, Craving and Clinging
February 08, 2024 20:10 - 1 hour - 58.3 MBThis talk focuses on the factors that produce dukkha–craving and clinging. Peter describes the traditional Buddhist terms for craving and clinging, along with how contemporary neurological research supports the validity of this understanding of the human condition. After his descriptions, participants in the group asked questions and shared observations about the topic. Here are the […]
Mindful Parenting and Dukkha
February 01, 2024 19:37 - 58 minutes - 53.6 MBDuring this talk, Lili, the mother of two young boys, reviews her Buddhist studies and practices for addressing the dukkha–distress and confusion–that occurs while parenting, along with effective ways of cultivating mindfulness, kindness, compassion, and patience during daily interactions with her boys. She describes the three different types of dukkha and the importance of compassionate […]
Dukkha, The First Noble Truth
January 25, 2024 17:14 - 57 minutes - 52.5 MBThis presentation by April Koester, one of our cadre of teachers, begins an extensive review of the Four Noble Truths, focusing on the inevitability of dukkha, the physical and mental suffering that comes with being alive. During the talk, several participants share their questions and observations regarding this important and basic point of study and […]
Overview of the Four Noble Truths
January 18, 2024 19:08 - 1 hour - 30.3 MBThis talk presents a broad review of a core concept within all the Buddhist traditions, the Four Noble Truths. Peter talks about how the concepts of dukkha, craving and clinging, freedom from dukkha and the Noble Eightfold Path provide an an integrated way to understand the human condition, along with the ways and means to […]
Peter’s Jhana Retreat Report
November 09, 2023 19:15 - 1 hour - 60.2 MBAfter a significant retreat experience, participants have the opportunity to review what they learned during one of our meetings. Peter describes the retreat he just completed as one of the most significant of the more than 40 residential retreats he has attended. Shaila Catherine, the teacher, is internationally known and respected for her knowledge regarding […]
Cultivating Jhana
October 19, 2023 17:56 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBPeter Carlson will be participating in a 10-day retreat soon that focuses on concentrating the mind to the level of experiencing jhana, an extraordinarily focused level of attention that is frequently described in the earliest Buddhist teachings. He talks about previous jhana experience, the characteristics of jhana states and his preparation for this immersive experience. […]
Dependent Origination And Emptiness
October 12, 2023 16:53 - 1 hour - 59.2 MBDuring this talk, Peter Carlson reviews the key Buddhist teaching on dependent origination as it is associated with another important concept, emptiness, which has frequently been misunderstood. During the discussion, contemporary scientific and psychological information that fosters more clarity about the topics are presented. Here are the notes prepared for this talk, which provide a […]
Realizing The Four Noble Truths
October 05, 2023 18:23 - 1 hour - 58.8 MBThis talk by Peter Carlson thoroughly summarizes the last verse of the Satipatthana Sutta, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse, which describes how the Four Noble Truths are transformed by the effective coordinated functioning of the Seven Awakening Factors from a conceptual understanding to direct knowledge of the transient and impersonal nature of subjective experience. […]
Reviewing The Equanimity Awakening Factor
September 28, 2023 18:24 - 1 hour - 59.6 MBDuring this talk, Lezlie Laws reviews the seventh Awakening Factor, Equanimity, beginning with a very well-written essay by her describing the poise and dedication of a hawk living in New York City and raising chicks in the middle of the busy metropolis. She speaks of how viewing a video about this hawk stirred her emotionally […]
Retreat Review By Andy Quinn
September 21, 2023 18:51 - 50 minutes - 45.9 MBIt is customary for our Sangha meetings to provide an opportunity for someone who has participated in a recent residential retreat to “think out loud” about their experience. Much of the benefit of a retreat occurs outside of awareness, and an opportunity to talk about what happened during the retreat can bring new insights to […]
Reviewing the Joy Awakening Factor
September 15, 2023 20:08 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBAllie Vaknin provides a review of the Joy Awakening Factor during this talk, clarifying the various ways that joy can arise as an internally generated phenomena, not dependent upon external circumstances.
Reviewing Tranquility and Concentration
September 15, 2023 19:57 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBThis talk provides a review of two of seven Awakening Factors, Tranquility and Concentration, which are so integrated in their functioning that their manifestation is called samatha (syah-mah-tah) in Pali. Peter Carlson provides a review of each of the two, including skillful means for cultivating them, both while meditating and in the context of lifestyle […]
Guided Tranquility And Concentration Contemplation
September 15, 2023 19:43 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBThis guided meditation combines the functions of Tranquility and Concentration, two of the seven Awakening Factors. This contemplation is intended to supplement the talk ” Tranquility and Insight”, presented the same evening and posted in the archives.
Reviewing The Investigation of Mental Phenomena
September 15, 2023 19:25 - 57 minutes - 52.8 MBDuring this talk, Peter Carlson reviews Dhamma Vicaya Bojjhanga, the Investigation of Mental Phenomena Awakening Factor. This quality of investigative curiosity, in coordination with the Mindfulness and Energy Awakening Factors, provides a primary support for the development of the other four Awakening Factors. Peter describes how investigation builds from the simple practice of aiming attention […]
Reviewing The Seven Awakening Factors, Part 2
October 13, 2022 20:49 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBThis talk reviews the Awakening Factors Joy and Tranquility. The understanding of the review is that the first three Awakening Factors, Mindfulness, Investigation Of Mental Phenomena and Energy/Effort/Persistence, which were reviewed during the talk of October 5, 2022, support the development of the remaining Awakening Factors. The traditional understanding of these two factors is reviewed, […]
Reviewing The Seven Awakening Factors, Part 1
October 06, 2022 20:45 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBOnce the mind has settled because the Five Hindrances have been conditionally disabled, the full realization of Awakening becomes possible because of the effect of the Seven Awakening Factors: Mindfulness, Investigation of Mental Phenomena, Energy/Effort/ Persistence, Joy/Engaged Interest, Tranquility, Concentration/Unification and Equanimity/Balance. This talk focuses on a review of the first three of the factors, […]
Six Beautiful Pairs of Wholesome Mind Conditioners
September 22, 2022 17:00 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MBThe Six Beautiful Pairs of Wholesome Cetasikas represent the fulfillment of wholesomeness in the mind. The integrated and unified functions of the Universal, Particular and seven Wholesome mind conditioning factors manifests as 12 integrated characteristics–six factors being among various aggregations of the wholesome factors and six representing their beneficial effects on consciousness. The value of […]
Reviewing The Wholesome Mind Conditioners, Part 1
September 15, 2022 17:54 - 1 hour - 55.3 MBThere are 25 wholesome mind conditioners described in Buddhist psychology; this talk reviews the first 7 of these functions. They are present in each moment of consciousness, operating to free the mind from distress and confusion. The value in reviewing them comes from first being able to identify them conceptually, then to recognize their operation […]
Reviewing The Mind Conditioners–Part 2
September 08, 2022 16:30 - 1 hour - 60.1 MBThis talk reviews the 14 Unwholesome Cetasikas, categories of mind conditioning functions that create dukkha, the distress and confusion that constitute the “default mode” of one’s personality. The core functions are ignorance regarding karma, desire for pleasurable experience and aversion to unpleasant experience. The talk begins with a quick review of the Universal and Particular […]
Reviewing The Mind Conditioners–Part 1
September 01, 2022 13:25 - 58 minutes - 53.2 MBThis is a first of a series of talks that review the cetasikas, “Those factors that condition the mind”. There are 52 mind conditioners in Theravada Buddhist doctrine, and this review focuses on the first two subsections, the Universal and Particular cetasikas. The remaining subsections, the Unwholesome and Wholesome cetasikas will be covered in future […]
Reviewing Dependent Origination
August 25, 2022 17:53 - 1 hour - 59.7 MBThis talk provides a view of a core Buddhist concept that describes how karma is formed that differs from the traditional Theravaden understanding–instead of the terminology of Dependent Origination, a case is made for an alternative rendering, Contingent Provisional Emergence, which includes more contemporary concepts and research regarding the formative drives that create our personality […]
Contemplating the Five Aggregates of Clinging
August 19, 2022 13:05 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBThis talk continues an extensive review of the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, focusing on a Buddhist theory of personality, the Five Aggregates of Clinging. This concept provides a way to investigate the impersonal nature of one’s subjective experience, leading to insight regarding anatta, the absence of an enduring and autonomous self. The concept does not […]
Guided Five Aggregates Contemplation
August 19, 2022 12:47 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBThis guided meditation provides an experiential review of the characteristic elements found in the section of the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness dedicated to contemplating what is regarded as a Buddhist theory of personality. it is intended to supplement the talk of October 18, 2022 titled “Reviewing the Five Aggregates of Clinging”.
The Fourth Foundation–Reviewing the Five Hindrances
August 11, 2022 15:07 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBThis talk begins an extensive review of Dhammanupassana, the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, first with an analysis of Mindfulness of Mental Phenomena, followed by a review of the Five Hindrances. Cultivating insight into the way these factors condition the mind is a core practice that fosters the process of Awakening. Future talks will review the […]
Reviewing Mindfulness of Feelings
July 28, 2022 15:22 - 1 hour - 59.7 MBMindfulness of Feelings is the second area of focus within the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse. During this review, the importance of understanding the way pleasant or unpleasant feelings drive thoughts and behaviors through direct observation is emphasized. Contemporary psychological research uses the terms affect approach to describe pleasant feeling and affect avoidance in describing […]
Reviewing Mindfulness of the Body
July 21, 2022 19:38 - 1 hour - 59.2 MBIn the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse, Mindfulness of the Body is the first of the four foundations. This talk reviews important elements of this teaching, including mindfulness of breathing meditation, mindfulness while involved in everyday activities and mindfulness of breathing integrated with whole body awareness. The fundamental value of cultivating mindfulness of the body […]
What Is Satipatthana?
July 14, 2022 19:37 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBThis talk provides an overview of what most Buddhist practitioners consider to be the most comprehensive teaching, the Satipatthana Sutta, typically translated as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse. During the talk, the history of this discourse is reviewed, along with various key conceptual elements that are embedded within the context of the sutta. It […]