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Donald Rothberg's Dharma Talks
Donald Rothberg
Donald Rothberg, PhD, has practiced Insight Meditation since 1976, and has also received training in Tibetan Dzogchen and Mahamudra practice and the Hakomi approach to body-based psychotherapy. Formerly on the faculties of the University of Kentucky, Kenyon College, and Saybrook Graduate School, he currently writes and teaches classes, groups and retreats on meditation, daily life practice, spirituality and psychology, and socially engaged Buddhism. An organizer, teacher, and former board member for the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Donald has helped to guide three six-month to two-year training programs in socially engaged spirituality through Buddhist Peace Fellowship (the BASE Program), Saybrook (the Socially Engaged Spirituality Program), and Spirit Rock (the Path of Engagement Program). He is the author of The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World and the co-editor of Ken Wilber in Dialogue: Conversations with Leading Transpersonal Thinkers.
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2010-04-08 Resources from the Teachings and Practice of the Buddha for Transforming Distressing States of Body, Heart and Mind 63:55
We examine the twin tracks of transformation - (1) going into what is difficult, into our suffering and wounds; and (2) cultivating awakened states. We explore the resources of (1) wisdom, through examining the the Four Truths and the arrows; (2) mindfulness as a central tool leading to wisdom; and (3) heart practices such as lovingkindness - all with an eye to their roles in helping us to transform distress.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Transforming Distressing States of Mind, Heart, and Body­-For Ourselves and Our World
2010-04-07 Deepening Our Practice II: Deepening in Three Domains of Our Life 58:42
We build from last week's identification of four broad ways of deepening formal practice: 1) developing simplicity, focus and a sense of clear priorities in one's life; 2) developing a strong support structure in various ways; 3) cultivating, in practice, qualities like mindfulness, metta, wisdom etc.; 4) developing a wise and compassionate sense of the path. We explore what these also mean in two other domains- everyday life (work relationships, family, community, the flow of our days); and our service and action in the larger world.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks
2010-03-31 Deepening Our Formal Meditation Practice 55:42
Through reflection on just having taught a month-long retreat and several poems, we explore a number of ways to deepen our formal meditation practice through simplicity, focus, building a strong "container", developing mindfulness and lovingkindness in relation to what happens, and increased invocation of the "wise parent" (or grandparent...aka "discipline").
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks
2010-03-24 The Heart of Wisdom: Connecting Loving Kindness and Equanimity 61:52
Heart practices and wisdom practices can appear to speak different languages and have different aims; for example, lovingkindness wishes well whereas equanimity says, "no matter what I wish for, things are as they are." We explore how the heart and wisdom connect through exploring (1) lovingkindness, (2) equanimity, and (3) how the two inform each other and are integrated.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center March 2010 Month Long
2010-03-17 Knowledge and Vision of Things as They Are (Liberative Dependent Arising 8) 59:52
We explore how "knowledge and vision of things as they are," supported by concentration and earlier factors, brings us insight into impermanence, suffering and the roots of suffering, and not-self. We examine some of the forces and structure that lead to delusion and a lack of clear seeing, as well as how to practice to cultivate these insights.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center March 2010 Month Long
2010-03-10 Delight in the Dharma (Liberative Dependent Arising 3) 56:46
Delight (or joy or gladness, pamojja) is the second factor that emerges as we shift away from repetitive cycles of suffering. We explore how delight manifests as delight in practice, in our integrity, the "bliss of blamelessness," and in other ways. We also look at how to cultivate delight, how delight or joy support the deepening of our practice, and what makes delight difficult to access.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center March 2010 Month Long
2010-03-03 Mindfulness of the Body and Why It Is So Important 60:28
Mindfulness of the body is absolutely fundamental for our practice and was for the Buddha, both a starting point and an end point. We explore (1) why mindfulness of the body is crucial both in the Buddha's teaching and especially in our highly mental culture; (2) how we practice mindfulness of breathing and mindfulness of postures and activities; and (3) how mindfulness of the body works to transform us.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center March 2010 Month Long
2010-02-24 Practicing with the Body- Part IV The Body-Mind-Heart Connection 59:43
We review briefly our previous practices and investigations of body practices in the last three weeks. We then focus on the body's connection with mind and heart, how we practice individually with each of them, how we explore the dynamic relationship of body, mind, heart. We end by focusing on heart practices for our bodies and those of others, and on opening to the further mysteries of bodies.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks
2010-02-17 Practicing with the Body Part 3: Cultivating Wisdom 59:37
After a brief review of the first two series, we focus on body practices to develop insight into 1) impermanence, 2) suffering and the roots of suffering, and 3)constructions of self. We suggest several concrete practices to develop wisdom through awareness of bodily experience.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks
2010-02-10 Practicing with the Body- Part 2 65:15
We review and expand the themes from last time- the importance of body practices for our times and lives, exploring our attitudes toward the body and developing basic body practices. Then we focus on mindfulness of the body, outlining several further practices and emphasizing especially how body practices help us practice more fully and critically in the flow of the daily life.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

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