Fall 2018 Retreat Session 1: Introduction, Ngara and Loka Suttas

This is a recording of the first session from our Becoming Buddha Foundations Of Mindfulness And Meditation Fall 2018 Retreat at Won Dharma Center on September 20, 2018.

This talk includes my introduction to our reatet including an outline of the most skillful use of time spent on retreat. Retreats based on a clear understanding of the  scope and purpose of the Buddha’s Dhamma avoid the extreme view that would result in denial of the senses necessary for skillful mindfulness such as the common practice of forced silence which leaves no opportunity learn or to engage directly in the Eightfold Path.

Retreat is a time to disentangle from worldly events through the investigation and integration of the Eightfold Path. One of the Seven Factors of Awakening is investigation of the Dhamma as taught in the Satipatthana and Anapanasati Suttas, and many others. Forced silence is not a factor of awakening for obvious reasons.

Direct investigation of the Buddha’s Dhamma first requires listening to the Dhamma from a teacher who has actually studied the Dhamma as preserved in the Sutta Pitaka, the second book of the Pali Canon. This teacher would then avoid adapting, accommodating, or embellishing the Dhamma from their knowledge gained from studying and integrating the Dhamma. Once the Dhamma is heard then it becomes possible integrate what is learned through the use of the Six-Sense Base generating the immediate visceral experience of the Dhamma during retreat.

By engaging in any extreme practice such as forced silence there is no opportunity for direct investigation of the Dhamma. Integrating the Buddha’s Dhamma requires the actual experience of mindfully engaging in all factors of the Dhamma through the use of the Six-Sense Base.

My talks and our Sangha discussions are on the Nagara Sutta and the Loka Sutta. In the Nagara Sutta the Buddha's tells of his awakening experience and the clear path for all to awaken. The Loka Sutta describes his view of the condition of the world, then and now, and what must be done to “leave the world behind.”

There are videos of our Spring 2018 retreat sessions available here:
https://becoming-buddha.com/becoming-buddha-2018-retreats/

Information on our future retreats is available at Becoming-Buddha.com.

All of these talks are based on the suttas included in my book Becoming Buddha, Becoming Awakened.

If you find benefit from this recording, and to support future recordings, please consider a donation at Becoming-Buddha.com

Thank You. Peace.