Are we a secular group part 2?
Dharma talk
12 October 2017
Auckland Insight Meditation Group, Auckland, New Zealand
Recording plus recommended reading list
Awakening our Natural Wisdom 1
One-week insight meditation retreat co-taught with Greg Scharf
23-30 September 2017
Te Moata Retreat Centre, Tairua, New Zealand
Vipassana or insight meditation is the simple direct practice of moment-to-moment observation of the mind/body process with relaxed, open and careful attention. Awareness infused with clear seeing reveals that whatever arises in our experience, is simply the natural display of impersonal conditions. As we learn to observe our experience from a place of stillness and balance supported by wise view, reality is accurately seen and liberating insight arises as a natural result. Loving-kindness or Metta meditation develops the heart’s capacity for patience, acceptance, and forgiveness as we connect with and care for ourselves and others.
Awakening our Natural Wisdom 2
Two-week insight meditation retreat co-taught with Greg Scharf
1-15 September 2017
Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre, NSW, Australia
Vipassana or insight meditation is the simple direct practice of moment-to-moment observation of the mind/body process with relaxed, open and careful attention. Awareness infused with clear seeing reveals that whatever arises in our experience, is simply the natural display of impersonal conditions. As we learn to observe our experience from a place of stillness and balance supported by wise view, reality is accurately seen and liberating insight arises as a natural result. Loving-kindness or Metta meditation develops the heart’s capacity for patience, acceptance, and forgiveness as we connect with and care for ourselves and others.
Are we a secular group?
Dharma talk
10 August 2017
Auckland Insight Meditation Group, Auckland, New Zealand
Recording plus recommended reading list
Befriending the mind
One-day insight meditation workshop
15 July 2017 Wellington, New Zealand
One common misperception of meditation is that it aims to stop thinking. However, the aim of insight meditation is to develop a more skilful relationship to every aspect of our experience, including our thoughts and emotions. This one-day workshop explores ways to befriend the mind, to let go of unhelpful mental habits, and to cultivate helpful ones: states of heart and mind that lead in the direction of greater ease, happiness, and freedom.
Strengthening the Heart, Cultivating Kindness
Five-day Metta meditation retreat co-taught with Oren Sofer
17-22 March 2017
Insight Meditation Society, Barre, Massachusetts
Metta, sometimes translated as unconditional kindness or universal friendliness, grows from our capacity for basic human warmth. It is the first of four sublime states that can be cultivated as a powerful support for well-being, concentration and the deepening of insight practice.
Noble Eightfold Path insight meditation retreat
Seven-day insight meditation retreat
19-26 February 2017
Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre, NSW Australia
A seven-day insight meditation retreat exploring the Satipatthana Sutta (Four Foundations of Mindfulness) in conjunction with the Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.
Noble Eightfold Path study course
Six-week study course
15 January – 19 February 2017
Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre, NSW Australia
The path to freedom laid out by the Buddha is a very holistic one, comprising ethical action, meditative development and wisdom. Although the Buddha emphasised the importance of developing all three of these aspects together, meditation practice is often given the most importance and the other two aspects are sometimes overlooked.
During this six-week course, we explored the Noble Eightfold Path as a comprehensive training to integrate dharma understanding into our daily lives. This integration then supports the deepening of insight and wisdom, which in turn, refines our capacity to live skillfully in the world, with greater ease and freedom.
Recordings plus recommended reading list
Intro to Insight Meditation
One-day insight meditation workshop for beginners
20 November 2016
Newcastle, NSW Australia
Please support Dharma Seed
If having access to these talks was helpful, please consider supporting Dharma Seed, the website which hosts most of these recordings.
As a nonprofit, Dharma Seed also relies completely on the support of donations to keep things running. Your contributions are used to support the cost of staffing, web servers, storage and distribution and digitization. Your generosity is deeply appreciated.
http://www.dharmaseed.org/about/donation/
Support Jill Shepherd
To offer dana* to Jill Shepherd, please click here:
(Please note: you can change the donation currency on this link. I can accept donations in Australian or US dollars. To make donations in other currencies, please contact me for other payment options)
* Dana is the Buddhist word for offering generosity. Traditionally, the Buddha’s teachings are given freely, and people are invited to contribute to the teacher and/or meditation centre to help support the continuation of the teachings.
