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Hurricane Ranch 2009 - Dharma Discussion

In February of 2009 Daniel Ingram invited several people to his house in Alabama--what he calls Hurricane Ranch--for a long weekend of discussion, sharing, and practice. Included in this group were several members of the Dharma Overground, as well as some of his older dharma buddies. Check out this thread, Sharing like back in the day , for more information about the specifics of the...
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The Arupa (immaterial) Jhanas

The traditional instruction for entering the fifth jhana, the jhana of infinite space , is to visualize infinite space until the jhana arises. A simple instruction, to be sure, but effective. As I like to say, the jhanas perform as advertised. They arise in order, just as they are supposed to, feel like they are said to feel, and jhanas five through eight, in particular, are very well named....
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Deeper into Jhana

Jhana for vipassana yogis: diagnosis and prescription So you want to experience jhana. You have been up and down through various states of concentration for years. Why, then, do you experience concentration as a seamless flow of states with no "hard edges," as opposed to the discrete states of jhana that people seem to be talking about? Diagnosis: You are practicing vipassana,...
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The Progress of Insight (part one)

One way to think of the Progress of Insight would be to plot it on a graph. It might look like this: /\ ___/ \___ It starts out flat, rises to a climax, reaches a peak event, descends to a trough, stabilizes, then resolves. In order to better show the resolution, we could add an upright bar at the end, like this: /\ ___/ \___| The first time through the complete...
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Jhana and Ñana

Five phases of concentration Concentration means different things to different people. I'll first explain what I mean by concentration, then talk about current western Buddhist ideas and misconceptions about it, misconceptions that I believe have contributed greatly to the glass ceiling effect. By concentration, I mean the focusing of the mind. This can be a very tight focus or a very...
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What is an arahat? (A letter to a friend)

Dear David, Yes to all of that! I'd love to talk with you about my practice, your practice, and practice in general. And I could definitely use some help birthing the book that has been gestating inside me for some time. Meanwhile, the Western Buddhist mushroom factory continues to operate (keep 'em in the dark and feed 'em s--t). I lay most of the blame for the mushroom phenomenon at the...
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Places to Practice: Spirit Rock Meditation Center (SRMC)

Name of the Center: Spirit Rock Meditation Center Address: 5000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd Woodacre, CA 94973 Website: www.spiritrock.org Phone Number: (415) 488-0164 Tradition(s): Insight Meditation / Theravada Technique(s): Insight Meditation, metta, concentration practice, more formless practices, and occasional yoga and qi-gong in addition to the above. Teacher(s): ...
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Places to Practice: Southern Dharma Retreat Center

Address: 1661 West Road Host Springs, NC 28743 (located near Asheville, NC near the border of North Carolina and Tennessee) Phone Number: 828-622-7112 Website: www.southerndharma.org Contact Email: southerndharma@earthlink.net Tradition(s): Eclectic, but includes retreats in the: Zen, Theravada, Tibetan, Thich Naht Hahn, Christian, & Sufi traditions. Several...
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Places to Practice: The Forest Refuge

Address: 97 Lockwood Rd. Barre, MA 01005 Website: http://www.dharma.org/ims/fr_general_i.html Phone Number: (978) 355-2063 Tradition(s): Mostly Theravada Technique(s): A range of techniques taught in the Theravada including the Mahasi noting technique, choiceless awareness practices, other various insight practices, and jhana practice. Teacher(s): Various...
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Book Review: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

Title: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism Author: Chögyam Trungpa Publisher: Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boston Tradition/Influence(s): Tibetan slant, but general enough in tone and content that it applies to any spiritual path Overview of Content: Recognize how content-centered we are. Strengths: really drives this one point home constantly ...
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