dharma.org.au audio
2010 visit of Stephen and Martine
Batchleor
The Secular
Buddha - Stephen Batchelor, Byron Bay Community Centre, 22nd
October 2010, 52 minutes
Creative
Engagement - Martine Batchelor, 24th October 2010, Sine Cera,
Border Ranges, 45 minutes.
The
Field of Awakening - Stephen Batchelor, 25th October 2010,
Sine Cera, Border Ranges, 52 minutes. The Buddha's awakening
as an existential shift from a place to a ground; reflections
of this ground as conditioned arising; a sketch of the evolution
of life on Earth as a contemporary illustration of conditioned
arising; my own contingency upon the sperm and ovum of my parents;
consciousness is likewise contingent upon the interaction between
an organism and its environment; the Buddha is reluctant to teach
this because it "goes against the stream".
The Four
Great Efforts - Martine Batchelor, 26th October 2010, Sine
Cera, Border Ranges, 43 minutes.
Four
Ennobling Truths - Stephen Batchelor, 27th October 2010,
Sine Cera, Border Ranges, 60 minutes. After hesitating, the Buddha
is inspired to teach; how he translated the principle of conditioned
arising into a way of life through the four noble truths; following
the Buddha's first discourse, a reflection on how each truth
is a task to be performed: suffering to be fully known, craving
to be let go of, cessation to be experienced, the path to be
brought into being; the four truths describe an ongoing process
of living fully in the world.
The
Ten Ox-Herding Pictures - Martine Batchelor, 28th October
2010, Sine Cera, Border Ranges, 61 minutes.
For
Love of this World Stephen Batchelor, 29th October 2010,
Sine Cera, Border Ranges, 60 minutes. The parable of the ancient
city; the four noble truths as a template for another kind of
civilisation or culture; who is the person who practices the
8-fold path and participates in rebuilding the city? the self
as a project to be realised (Dhammapada 80); the middle way between
a permanent self and no self; the foundations of morality: "no
one is more dear than oneself"; the Buddha and the sick
monk; how to respond to a "sick," "burning"
world? towards a secular Buddhism concerned entirely with the
dukkha of this world.
Meditation Instructions
Mindfulness
of Breathing - Stephen Batchelor, 24th October 2010, Sine
Cera, Border Ranges, 26 minutes. Meditation instructions and
reflections on the practice of mindful awareness based on the
Satipatthana Sutta.
Listening
- Stephen Batchelor, 26th October 2010, Sine Cera, Border Ranges,
26 minutes. Instructions for meditating on sounds; listening
v. seeing as an inner "posture" and meditative attitude;
listening in Zen; Kuan Yin as the one who hears the cries of
the world; listening as a reflection on impermanence and non-duality.
What is
this? - Stephen Batchelor, 28th October 2010, Sine Cera,
Border Ranges, 28 minutes. Instruction on the Zen practice of
questioning; the encounter between Huai-jang and Hui-neng; returning
to the existential questions that drove the Buddha to seek awakening;
asking with body and mind; "great questioning/great awakening";
"this" as the totality of what is happening now.