The Four Noble Truths, Re-examined

We have just started a new round of Dharma studies, having a fresh look at the Four Noble Truths. We have been taking a wider view of the First Noble Truth by looking at Dukkha of birth in terms of becoming. The following two audio pieces were used for this study. The first is a reading from Ted Hughes' poem based on his translation of the Bardo Thodol or Tibetan Book of the Dead.



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The second is The Conceit Of Self by Marcia Rose.



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For the Second Noble Truth we are concentrating on dependent origination. The following are a series of talks on this by Rodney Smith.

The the first talk in the series is entitled "Causality".



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Second Talk: Co-Dependent Arising



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Co-Dependent Arising 2



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The Four Noble Truths by the Dalai Lama

We have just started to re-examine the Four Noble Truths and I have found these two talks by the Dalai Lama as a primer, they are rather long.

Mindfulness by Rodney Smith

Fundamentals of the Dharma; Mindfulness by Rodney Smith

Mindfulness is the ability to generate attention toward oneself or an outside object. It is a step toward more conscious living. But mindfulness is coming from our exertion of will, that is, we are making ourselves mindful. When we relax our efforts, mindfulness goes away. As long as we are in control we will continue to believe in the truth of separation and will not see the end of the assumption-of-self. This is the spiritual fix we are in, either we let go of mindfulness into effortless awareness, or we stay bound to the person who is making herself conscious and thereby limit freedom.



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Mindfulness Meditation as a Buddhist Practice

- by Gil Fronsdal, February 2006
While mindfulness can be practiced quite well without Buddhism, Buddhism cannot be practiced without mindfulness. In its Buddhist context, mindfulness meditation has three overarching purposes: knowing the mind; training the mind; and freeing the mind.

Knowing the Mind

It is easy to spend an hour, a day, or even a lifetime so caught up with thoughts, concerns, and activities as to preclude understanding deeply what makes us operate the way we do. People can easily be clueless as to what motivates them, the nature of their reactions and feelings, and even, at times, what they are thinking about. The first step in mindfulness practice is to notice and take stock of who we are. What is going on in the body, in the mind, in our emotional life? What underlying dispositions are operating?

The Five Eyes of Buddhism

Here are the notes relating to our latest Mindfulness Exercise, "Loving Eyes".

THE FIVE EYES

Five Eyes
1) heavenly eye, 2) flesh-eye, 3) Dharma-eye, 4) wisdom-eye, 5) Buddha-eye.

Those five non-corporeal 'eyes' are possessed by Buddhas and other enlightened beings. They can also begin to function to varying degrees in people who are not enlightened but are cultivating or who have cultivated in past lives.

New "Study Tool"

I have just added a link to "THE BUDDHA AND HIS DHAMMA", by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar onto our "Study Tools" section. This is taken from Columbia University's South Asia study resources compiled by Prof. Frances Pritchett.

Right Action

Right or Skilful Action, the ethical response

Right Speech

Right or Skilful Speech, the first step in mitigating Dukkha.