Dharma Talks

Find ease and release in this gentle, guided mindful movement sequence led by Phillip Moffitt. All the movements are practiced lying on the floor.

You practice forgiveness for your own sake, to not be locked in anger, fear, and resentment.

It’s easy to confuse mindfulness and “navel gazing.” Mindfulness is contemplation, inquiry, and self-reflection.

As best you can, are you able to let go in this very moment?

Trust your capacity to practice and find liberation for your mind/heart. Commitment collects and unifies the mind.

The practice of letting go is very effective for minds obsessed by compulsive thinking. You simplify your meditation practice down to two words: let go.—Ajahn Sumedho

Equanimity is a key concept in vipassana practice. When the mind has equanimity and something pleasant arises, you experience the moment without trying to hold onto it and creating tension.

In this audio talk, Phillip Moffitt explains the meaning of the term “dharma wisdom.” Dharma means “truth” or “the way things are” and also refers to the teachings of the Buddha.

How can we live with disappointment? Moffitt details how the dharma is helpful when we are experiencing the three fields of disappointment: when we anticipate disappointment, when it has arisen, and when we are living with the after-effects of disappointment.

Doubt is the fifth of the Five Hindrances, which the Buddha taught. Moffitt considers doubt to be the most devastating of the hindrances because when it arises and overwhelms the mind, the mind ceases to work to understand itself.

The Hindrances are mental states that obstruct our ability to practice. In various distinct ways, they disrupt concentration and distort awareness so that when they occur we are unable to see things as they are.

At the start of a new year, an appropriate question is: how should we view the desire for change in the context of a mindfulness practice? Is this desire for change legitimate, or is this just another form of grasping?

What is forgiveness? Can one cease to feel resentment? When we are unable to forgive we create a self that suffers.

Karuna, or compassion, is a state of mind/heart that can be cultivated as a practice. Compassion is an intuitive response to someone else’s suffering, or your own. In this talk, Phillip introduces how to do compassion practice.

We may not recognize doubt’s presence because it is so interwoven into our experience. If it is so strong that we’re caught in it, we are frozen in place.

In the Theravada tradition, papanca mind refers to proliferation of thought or reactions, or the expansion of thoughts, reactions, and diffuseness. While papanca is neutral (impersonal), its effect on us is unwholesome.

We may not recognize doubt’s presence because it is so interwoven into our experience. If it is so strong that we’re caught in it, we are frozen in place.

Right intention is the foundation for right action, right livelihood, and right speech.

Right intention is the foundation for right action, right livelihood, and right speech.

Reconciliation is a beginning point in a process, not the end point. While we may not be able to shift our view, we can have the intent to reconcile. We begin by noticing the differences and saying, “Despite these differences, may we be reconciled.”

Easter was the impetus for this talk in which Moffitt defines different types of martyrdom and uses the Christ story as a way for us to look at martyrdom in ourselves.

This talk specifically looks at personal defeat in your life. This could be a past or present situation in which you had the capacity to bring about a desired outcome but were unable to do so.

Life contains suffering, which is caused by our clinging and grasping. However, we are free in each moment to change our relationship to suffering.

Having to start over is often viewed as defeat. Under the eye of mindfulness, however, it is a profound practice in itself.

The body offers many ways for increasing our awareness, thus becoming a vehicle for transformation. Through the body we get to know our breath and learn to feel it in many locations. The body also affords us a chance to practice compassion for ourselves and others.

In this talk on discovering the “felt sense” of mindfulness in the body, Moffitt likens the body to a storehouse. The idea behind mindfulness of the body is not to fix the body but rather to develop deep acceptance.

How can we deal with difficulty when it manifests in our lives? Possible responses include collapse, denial, restlessness, worry, fear, and self-blaming.

Learning how to relax the attention in meditation can be challenging for many people. Using the language of “softening into the moment,” Phillip explains how to fully receive and investigate experience without immediately interpreting it and reacting.

The Buddha identified three kinds of happiness: dukkha-sukkha, or happiness that’s dependent on the conditions of your life; anicca-sukkha, or happiness that is based on our mind state; and sukkha-sukkha, happiness that’s independent of the conditions of your life or your mind state.

Why is it so difficult to change in relationship something that is causing us to suffer? This talk focuses on nama rupa (mind-body) as the basis for inquiry into why it is so difficult to make a change in our lives.

Moffitt describes three types of “selfing” that undermine our integrity: selfishness, self-centeredness, and self-referencing. Selfishness is when you focus on your own advantage at the expense of others.

When you’re caught in personality view (sakkaya-ditthi), your life is harder because you get caught in wanting things to be other than they are. The antidote is surrendering your “view” to what is true right now.

Practicing renunciation can change our relationship to fear, enhance our clarity, offer relief, and empower us by freeing us from the tyranny of the ego.

Authenticity is about the lived experience in the moment rather than a concept.

This meditation increases our embodied awareness — knowing self through the experience of being in the body.

Every moment offers an opportunity for practice. We can notice the pleasant and unpleasant in every moment as well as whether our minds are being reactive or responsive when we are stressed.

When making a transition, it is important to examine clinging: What are we clinging to? Is it the right time to make the transition?

We sometimes project admirable traits onto others that we can’t yet claim for ourselves. The Jungian psychologist Robert Johnson refers to these admirable traits as “inner gold.”

Presence of mind is required for us to clearly comprehend our intuitive awareness, or wise understanding, which can arise through any sense gate.

According to the Buddha, wisdom is a kind of knowledge that is insight-based and frees the mind. Dharma study provides knowledge and teaches us how to apply that knowledge, which is wisdom. There are ways by which we can cultivate wisdom.

It takes courage to be happy, to accept the way things are. We tend to forget that dukkha, or suffering, is an unavoidable part of conscious existence.

Ambivalence can arise whenever desire is present, but it is not problematic unless it becomes the predominant experience. Then ambivalence paralyzes us. It has myriad causes and can manifest in many ways.

Our inability to comprehend clearly the way things are can cause suffering for ourselves and others. It can show up in our communications, in our relationships, and in our spiritual practice.

The Buddha taught that Three Refuges support us in our practice: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. In the sangha, the Third Jewel of these Three Refuges, we can reflect and find inspiration. In sangha, our minds become harmonized, our bodies are invigorated, and our hearts are warmed.

We, as a sangha, support one another in our own practice. And, we reside, as a community, through our commonality of the dharma.

Equanimity 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.

Practicing forgiveness is not about being able to forgive in the moment; it is about having the intention to forgive, even if our ability to forgive right now is lacking. Why do we resist forgiveness?

Mindfulness practice helps us develop resiliency, the capacity to recover from loss and trauma. By cultivating panna or wisdom, and by practicing compassion, loving-kindness, and reflection, we develop an attitude that supports our physical and emotional resilience.