Pariyatti podcasts@pariyatti.org

A Journey into Buddhism by Elizabeth J. A. Harris . "The themes of the talks are rooted in my journey, as a Christian, into Buddhism. In the mid-1980s I felt the need to ’let go’ of my own religious conditioning to enter the world of another faith. It grew from a conviction that people with an interest in religion should not remain imprisoned within one framework but should explore others. The choice of Buddhism and Sri Lanka was a natural one for me. Buddhism’s emphasis on meditation and non-violence touched my own interests as a Christian, and a visit to Sri Lanka in 1984 had left me with the feeling that my link with the island was not finished. I originally intended to be in Sri Lanka for one year. One year, however, became seven and a half, from 1986 until 1993. My aim throughout was not only to study Buddhism but to practise it. I did not consider myself involved in ’interfaith dialogue’ although I’m sure some perceived my actions in this way. I wanted to enter Buddhism on its own terms, as a human being rather than as a Christian." narrated by Ethan Christy 2024 34 minutes 56 seconds Listen to Streaming Audio Your browser does not support the audio element. Download Audio (25MB) Audio copyright, 2024 Pariyatti Available at Pariyatti: https://store.pariyatti.org/journey-into-buddhism-audiobook. More by Elizabeth Harris. View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Deconstructing Constructions: The Role of Saṅkhārā in the Buddha’s Discourses by Bhikkhu Bodhi . In this paper I intend to explore the Pāli term saṅkhārā, one of the pivotal concepts in the Buddha’s discourses. The Pāli word has such a rich gamut of meanings that merely to draw them out into the open sheds a flood of light on the Buddha’s understanding of reality. The word occurs in a variety of contexts that are subtly and intricately interwoven. To explore their contextual meanings and track down their interconnections will reveal the rigor of the Buddha’s philosophical vision and the coherence of his teaching in expressing that vision in language and concepts. narrated by Jonathan Nelson 2024 50 minutes 48 seconds Listen to Streaming Audio Your browser does not support the audio element. Download Audio (25MB) Audio copyright, 2024 Pariyatti Investigating the Dhamma as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/investigating-the-dhamma. More by Bhikkhu Bodhi. View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Your Best Friend: And Other Essays by M. B. Werapitiya. "To understand ourselves, we must live with ourselves and know all about ourselves. The mind for that matter is flickering, fickle, difficult to guard and control and flutters like a fish taken out of its watery abode and thrown upon the land. Somebody causes you hurt and although the aggressor has disappeared from sight, the hurt grows within you and every so often keeps surfacing with an overpowering intensity to give you a warp. Then again, you see something that has captured your attention and your mind has instantly photographed it from every conceivable angle with a see-through lens, developed it in your mental dark-room, brought out the prints and enlargements with the skill of an expert cameraman and processor rolled into one. Similarly, all the sense faculties and the mind are of high sensitivity and respond to anything and everything exciting. If the degree of excitement is not sufficiently satisfying, you step it up with the use of drugs, intoxicants and poisons. This activity goes on unabated and makes of you a human derelict. A wise person living in his mind protects himself holding himself dear. Such a person whose senses are subdued, whose pride is destroyed and is free from corruptions, is calm of mind, speech and action and rightly knows, and is perfectly peaceful and equipoised." narrated by Tejendra Patel 2024 38 minutes 45 seconds Listen to Streaming Audio Your browser does not support the audio element. Download Audio (19MB) Audio copyright, 2024 Pariyatti View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Part 6 - Expanding Into New Frontiers from 'What Does Mindfulness Really Mean' by Bhikkhu Bodhi . Mindfulness has traveled a long way from its homeland in northeast India. It has journeyed to the island of Sri Lanka, the river basins of southeast Asia, the mountain monasteries of China, Korea, and Japan, and the hermitages of the Himalayan kingdoms. But the last lap of its journey is without parallel. Today Buddhist meditation has been lifted from its traditional setting in Buddhist doctrine and faith and transplanted in a secularized culture bent on pragmatic results. Here it is finding new accommodations in urban meditation centers and even in busy hospitals, pain clinics, and treatment centers. Its teachers and practitioners are more likely to wear street clothing or white coats than ochre robes; they are more likely to hold degrees in medicine and psychology than in Buddhist philosophy and scripture. Meditation is being taught to help people obtain release, not from the cycle of birth and death, but from the strains of financial pressures, psychological disorders, and stressful relationships. narrated by Jonathan Nelson 2023 6 minutes 58 seconds Listen to Streaming Audio Your browser does not support the audio element. Download Audio (3.5MB) Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti 'Investigating the Dhamma' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/investigating-the-dhamma. More by Bhikkhu Bodhi. View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Part 5 - Clear Comprehension from 'What Does Mindfulness Really Mean' by Bhikkhu Bodhi . While I said just before that clear comprehension plays a more prominent role in the contemplation of experiential phenomena, the refrain on right mindfulness shows that clear comprehension has been present to some degree all along. The formula describes clear comprehension as a constant entering each exercise virtually from the start. Whether contemplating the body, feelings, states of mind, or experiential phenomena, the meditator dwells “ardent, clearly comprehending, and mindful.” narrated by Jonathan Nelson 2023 5 minutes 55 seconds Listen to Streaming Audio Your browser does not support the audio element. Download Audio (3MB) Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti 'Investigating the Dhamma' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/investigating-the-dhamma. More by Bhikkhu Bodhi. View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Part 4 - What the Suttas Say from 'What Does Mindfulness Really Mean' by Bhikkhu Bodhi . Nevertheless, despite my reservations about the use of “bare attention” as an alternative expression for sati, if we consider how mindfulness is to be practiced in the system laid down in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, we can find considerable support for the idea that the initial task of sati is to “keep to a bare registering of the facts observed” as free as possible from distorting conceptual elaborations. The problem, as I see it, is not with conceptualization itself, but with conceptualization that ascribes erroneous attributes to the objects and the experiential act itself. An experiential event can be viewed as a field distributed between two poles, the objective datum and the subjective act that cognizes it. Ordinarily, on account of the spontaneous functioning of unenlightened consciousness, this polarity is reified into a sharp duality of subject and object. The subjective pole seems to coalesce into a substantially existent “I,” an ego-self that hovers in the background as an autonomous and independent entity. The objective pole presents itself as an object that is there “for me,” ready to serve or oppose my purposes; thus it becomes a potential object of craving or aversion. This process is what the suttas refer to as “I-making” and “mine-making” (ahaṃkāra mamaṃkāra). It is the task of meditation to dismantle this structure by penetrating the selfless nature of all phenomena, whether pertaining to the objective or subjective poles of the experience. narrated by Jonathan Nelson 2023 9 minutes 10 seconds Listen to Streaming Audio Your browser does not support the audio element. Download Audio (4.6MB) Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti 'Investigating the Dhamma' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/investigating-the-dhamma. More by Bhikkhu Bodhi. View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.