Audio Dharma Talks
From 1998 until the end of 2013, Phillip Moffitt gave a dharma talk to the Marin Sangha nearly every Sunday evening. Many of those talks, as well as some that were recorded at Spirit Rock are available for downloading from the dharmawisdom.org audio library. New talks are posted frequently, so check back often to hear recent ones.
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Audio Dharma Talks
When we are on the threshold of something new--whether it’s a new year, a new job, a new relationship, or any other new endeavor--there are three questions I have found to be very useful for sorting myself out. These three questions help me be interested in, available for, and reflective about understanding where I currently am, what's next, and how I can be current with the me that’s here now. These questions address who’s present now rather than the old version of me or the me in the future I’m about to step into.
Being mindful of your fear allows it to become your teacher and gives purpose to what is otherwise meaningless suffering.
In this talk from the Spirit Rock Meditation Center Fall 2019 retreat, Phillip explores the unfolding of the path in the context of the origin story of the Buddha. When we have a clear understanding of what the Buddha set out to do, then we can have a clearer orientation to how and why we practice.
One key understanding is that the Buddha did not seek to cure all afflictions of the mind. Therefore we can help ourselves on the path by not getting into any kind of perfectionism. Phillip emphasizes that what we need is “good enough commitment to the path" and to be realistic with ourselves about the fact that at times, we each choose suffering. Instead of perfectionism, we clean things up in our lives enough and use the rest as stimulus, as teachers, and as purification as we go along the path.
In studying the dharma, we are often instructed to surrender to the present, but what does it mean really? When we surrender, we are relinquishing our demand that the present be something other than it actually is and we are fostering a willingness to be present with what is. Surrendering to the present entails surrendering to our current limitations, both internal and external. The ability to surrender is essential not only for practicing the dharma, it is equally critical for living skillfully in daily life.
Phillip talks about learning from all our experiences and understanding the nature of conditioned reality.
The one constant in our lives is change. How well we navigate change has a direct impact on the degree of well-being, purpose, and satisfaction we experience on a day-to-day basis. At the beginning of each year we often consider making changes but do we have clarity of purpose? It's important to identify our values and intentions so we have a basis for making wise decisions.
The Four Noble Truths was the Buddha’s first teaching after he found freedom from his own suffering. Understanding the meaning of these Noble Truths—that your life contains moments of dukkha; that the cause of your dukkha is clinging to desired objects and states of being; that you can release dukkha
by letting go of clinging to those desires; and that there is an Eightfold Path to freedom from dukkha that you can follow in order to accomplish all this—is the foundation of Buddhist wisdom. If you give yourself the chance to investigate your suffering more deeply, you will discover that being “with” your pain can lead to wisdom and happiness. But without compassion one can fall into judgment. Phillip explains the difference between "penetrative wisdom" (the path to freedom) vs "vast wisdom" (the compassionate response to what is).
How do we free ourselves from an attitude, a misperception, that time has so much power that it can be a tyrant in a human life? In this moment, do you wish to be available? What's born into time, dies into time.
Discover Sri Swami Balyogi Premvarni's teachings on the Nine Bodies system of wisdom which explores the wholeness of a human being—mind, consciousness, body, spirit, and more. This system is based in ancient Tantric and yoga traditions combined with Balyogi's own understandings.
Learn more by reading my book, Awakening through the Nine Bodies and visiting www.ninebodies.com. The book constitutes my own insights regarding consciousness that have arisen from so many years of exploring these teachings. In it, I describe how it is possible to move beyond ordinary mind states into a new direct awareness of the nature of consciousness itself. I offer a detailed description of the nature of consciousness and how to explore the various qualities and energies of consciousness in meditation. In addition to this in-depth investigation of the nature of consciousness, the book also includes a series of teachings in the form of 20 beautiful, mysterious illustrations that reveal the subtle aspects of consciousness along with instructions in how to use the illustrations in your meditation practice. Balyogi says he created these illustrations during a period of intense Samadhi when he had a series of revelations and visions about the structure of consciousness. I offer detailed interpretations of each illustration along with precise meditation instructions intended to guide one toward a particular state of consciousness.
Equanimity (Upekkha) is a balanced state of mind that is characterized by a benevolent attitude toward all beings as well as an accepting attitude toward the ever changing conditions of life. You may not be distinguishing between calm and equanimity in your practice. It’s skillful to be calm in your practice, and you certainly want to cultivate the ability to be calm. However, equanimity is a steady quality of the mind that can receive any experience without being overcome by it, even such emotions as anger, anxiety, or fear. It is through equanimity that you are able stay with and examine difficult mind states and learn to release them.
