dhamma talk

Hindrances can be viewed as distortions, obstacles, or demons.  They distort consciousness but show us where there's imbalance that hides wisdom.  Tension, aversion, and yearning distort our perception, but we don't need to look at these hindrances as a problem.  We can see them as crossed intentions, spiritual trainers, and split between self and other.   Recognizing, allowing, and returning to uplifted qualities then help clear perception and the mind-heart. 

Meditation is remembering to see the movements of the mind's attention.  We don't need to change ourselves; we release and get out of the way.  The Buddha left instructions on how to do this.  The paradox is that we don't turn away from anything.  Instead, we turn toward the mind-heart and relax into it.  This is the process of learning how to rest in the waves of life.  We see how mind operates, turn toward that realization, and release.  Seeing clearly enough will free us.  
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded as introduction to a meditation retreat. 

Stages of meditative understanding, jhanas, are based on direct experience that unfolds into nibbana.  In meditation, jhanas provide arbitrary markers for gradual transitions to nibbana.  With uplifted qualities and softening in meditation, we can be clear about the quality of awareness that we cultivate.   What liberates is seeing with clear, open, and sensitive awareness.
This episode with Doug Kraft is a dhamma talk recorded with the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group in Sacramento, California. 

Clear awareness is possible when the attitude of mind is clear and light.  If our minds are full of grasping and aversion, what we see is distorted.   We tend not to notice distortion because we look through our attitudes instead of at them.   By observing tightness in body and thought, we can discover the mind's distortion.  

This workshop is based on going deeply into the question “What are you?” and responding from a place that is deeper than concept and story lines.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in November 2016, at a retreat given in Hawaii. 

The so-called Four Noble Truths are the core of the Buddha’s teaching. They are not capital “T” truths, but simple meditation instructions. The first three could be translated as turning toward, relaxing into, and savoring. And they are powerful.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in November 2016, at a retreat given in Hawaii. 

Reconstructing the historical Buddha — who he was, the culture and traditions that shaped him, and how he would have been perceived by his contemporaries — helps give insights into how he thought and what he taught.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in November 2016, at a retreat given in Hawaii. 

The essence of what the Buddha taught is universal; it shows up in other places, including contemporary poetry and lyrics.  He discovered wisdom deep in human experience. Buddhist practice starts with the notion that nothing needs to be fixed. When we get ourselves out of the way, we turn toward difficulties and then relax into them.  There's love, wisdom, clarity, and flow with us already.  

Most of humanities problems arise from a hyper-developed sense of self. Yet do we really have a self? A century from now, will my existence have made any difference? What matters? How can we lighten up a sense of self and be nothing?
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in November 2016, at a retreat given in Hawaii.

Dhamma gifts reflect the ways we are already enlightened and the ways we are most vulnerable. Through them we connect with the core of life itself.  Ahimsaka’s story illustrates how our natural sensitivities can be both gifts and hindrances.

The jhanas are the Buddha’s map of how the mind-heart unfolds from quiet joy to the edge of enlightenment. Each stage includes and transcends its predecessors. This talk describes how to recognize and work this map and beyond.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in 2017 at a retreat given in San Juan Bautista, CA.  

When faced with difficulty, we instinctively tighten up. The tension focuses our attention onto the world around us to go after something we want or get away from something threatening. But sometimes there is no solution out there: There are no other jobs. The disease has no cure. The relationship strain is unresolvable. The friend who died just isn’t returning. These are the truly difficult times. To thrive during truly difficult times we have to turn our attention inward and learn how to be with the instinctual tightening in a relaxed and open way.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded at a service given by the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento.  

 This three-part talk is a 3-way conversation between our direct experience, the Buddha’s comments on experience, and science. It explores the components of phenomena (khandas), how to work with them, and ways to skillfully alleviate suffering. This episode is part 2 of 2.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in 2017 at a retreat given in San Juan Bautista, CA. 

This three-part talk is a 3-way conversation between our direct experience, the Buddha’s comments on experience, and science. It explores the components of phenomena (khandas), how to work with them, and ways to skillfully alleviate suffering. This episode is part 1 of 2.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in 2017 at a retreat given in San Juan Bautista, CA.

We will never fully overcome the hindrances that obstruct our meditation until we can view them as genuine friends rather than foes to be vanquished. This presentation uses story and dialog to explore how hindrances can help strengthen awareness.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in 2017 at a retreat given in San Juan Bautista, CA.

This discussion uses the Four Noble Truths as the core of four ennobling questions to be explored in dialog. They are: • How does life rub you the wrong way? • How do you relate to difficulty? • Where do you find contentment? • What helps?
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in 2017 at a retreat given in San Juan Bautista, CA.

Everything has a cause, and that cause has a cause. Like following a string of dominoes, Dependent Origination traces suffering to its roots. This talk shows how to recognize and work with these links. It’s the Buddha’s core teaching.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in 2017 at a retreat given in San Juan Bautista, CA.

The awareness jhānas are the Buddha’s map that leads from ordinary awareness to freedom from a self, from joy to profound peace, from effort to ease. This talk provides a general orientation to the jhānas as well as the specific stages.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in 2016 at a retreat given in San Juan Bautista, CA.