dedicated to a peaceful & just society
grounded in contemplative & spiritual practice
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Midwestern Dhamma dedicated to a peaceful & just society grounded in contemplative & spiritual practice |
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Oak Park, ILWhat guides our meditation & daily practice of Dhamma? Right Understanding guides the path and itself arises from study & reflection. Consequently, Liberation Park encourages wise study of the Buddha's teaching as found in the Pali Suttas.
We meet almost monthly, usually on a Sunday, when Santikaro comes down from Liberation Park's new home in Norwalk, WI. We begin with a 30 minute meditation, followed by a talk on the topic, a short break and a discussion. Prior reading of the material is required for attendance at the class.
Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, p. 934ff. [This translation is preferred; on-line translation is adequate.]
Path (following the last session on four noble truths). This wonderful sutta reframes the path in terms of Noble Right Concentration, then explains how all path factors are guided by right understanding, powered by right effort, and watched over by right mindfulness. Further, each factor of the path is discussed on ordinary (mundane) and transcendent levels. This noble path matures into right knowledge and right liberation.
Available from Wisdom. Please focus on the four lessons covering mindfulness of the body - chapters 3 & 4.
Available from Windhorse. Please focus on the chapters covering mindfulness of the body - chapter 6.
Available from Wisdom. Please focus on the second four lessons covering mindfulness of vedana (feeling) - chapter 5.
Available from Windhorse. Please focus on the chapters covering mindfulness of vedana - chapter 7.
Available from Wisdom. Please focus on the chapters covering vedana (feeling) & citta (mind) - chapters 5 & 6.
Available from Windhorse. Please focus on the chapters covering vedana & citta - chapters 7 & 8.
Available from Wisdom. Please focus on the chapters covering citta - chapter 6.
Available from Windhorse. Please focus on the chapters covering citta - chapter 8.
Available from Wisdom. Please focus on the four lessons covering mindfulness of Dhammas (chapter 7 & 8).
Available from Windhorse. Please focus on the chapters covering mindfulness of Dhammas (chapters 9-13).
An FAQ item on Sangha which addresses both the Sutta usage & the common modern usage, which is fairly different.
Worthy qualities & behavior of a bhikkhu (that is, of a sangha member, in one sense of the word)
Importance of kalyanamitta (spiritual friend) (that is, Sangha role in guiding practice)
Guidelines for living in harmony within community
As new forms of "lay sangha" to some degree take the role traditionally provided by monastics, serious lay practitioners need to also develop a fitting Vinaya (code of behavior, ethics, and lifestyle)
If folks would like to delve into Sangha in the more modern sense of the word:
Friends on the Path: Living Spiritual Communities
Joyfully Together: The Art of Building a Harmonious Community
"Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent, Master Gotama! The Dhamma has been made clear in many ways by Master Gotama, as though he were turning upright what had been overthrown, revealing the hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, holding up a lamp in the darkness for those with eyes to see forms. We go to Master Gotama for refuge, and to the Dhamma, and to the Sangha of bhikkhus. From today let Master Gotama accept us as followers who have gone to him for refuge for life."
Transcription of talk by Venerable Sister Sundara
"Insight Surpasses All" (AN 9:20, abridged; PDF scanned, apologies for large size)
The Triple Gem in Buddhism (March 1989): Part 1 | Part 2
SUNY Press, 1991, p. 236. Please focus on Chapters two, three, six & seven
