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Donald Rothberg's Dharma Talks
Donald Rothberg
Donald Rothberg, PhD, has practiced Insight Meditation since 1976, and has also received training in Tibetan Dzogchen and Mahamudra practice and the Hakomi approach to body-based psychotherapy. Formerly on the faculties of the University of Kentucky, Kenyon College, and Saybrook Graduate School, he currently writes and teaches classes, groups and retreats on meditation, daily life practice, spirituality and psychology, and socially engaged Buddhism. An organizer, teacher, and former board member for the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Donald has helped to guide three six-month to two-year training programs in socially engaged spirituality through Buddhist Peace Fellowship (the BASE Program), Saybrook (the Socially Engaged Spirituality Program), and Spirit Rock (the Path of Engagement Program). He is the author of The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World and the co-editor of Ken Wilber in Dialogue: Conversations with Leading Transpersonal Thinkers.
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2020-10-08 Cultivating Equanimity 41:15
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We examine both the nature of equanimity and how to develop more equanimity, both in formal meditation and in the flow of our lives, including in the context of multiple contemporary crises. Equanimity has qualities of balance, evenness, unshakability, understanding and wisdom, faith, joy, and responsiveness. It can be cultivated in our basic mindfulness practice, as we develop more balance, particularly by learning from tends to unbalance us, including difficult emotions, thoughts, and body-states. We can also particularly focus on the teaching of the "Eight Worldly Winds" (or Conditions): pleasure and pain, gain and loss, fame and disrepute, praise and blame.
Insight Meditation Tucson
2020-10-07 Deepening Our Practice in the Pandemic 9--Wise Speech 6--Practicing with Difficult Speech Situations 4 49:00
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We focus, in the context of difficult or challenging communication, on the integration of individual, inner practice and skillful speaking. After a review of eight general guidelines for skillful speech and how we do inner practice related to, but separate from, such challenging communication, we look at ways to bring inner practice in speaking and relating. We also focus on several more "outer" skillful ways of speaking to bring about mutual understanding, including using relatively neutral observations free of interpretations, and cultivating the practice of empathy. We then look at how to integrate more inner and more outer dimensions of practice in the context of several challenging situations.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Monday and Wednesday Talks
2020-10-02 Practicing with Fear (with Syra Smith) 55:17
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We explore the nature of fear and how to practice with fear. Syra speaks first; Donald speaks second, starting at 17:00. Discussion, including questions, starts at 34:43.
East Bay Meditation Center
2020-09-30 Deepening Our Practice in the Pandemic 8: The Foundations of Wise Speech 5: Becoming More Skillful with Difficult Speech Situations 3 1:11:01
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We review eight important capacities that help us to be skillful in difficult and challenging situations involving speech and communication. We then continue to explore how we might combine more "inner" and more "outer" responses, here focusing especially on "inner work" with difficult emotions (we look at working with anger and fear), thoughts and narratives (we look particularly at those connected with the judgmental mind), and body states. A discussion follows the talk.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Monday and Wednesday Talks
2020-09-23 Deepening Our Practice in the Pandemic 7: The Foundations of Wise Speech 4: Becoming More Skillful with Difficult Speech Situations 2 1:10:06
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After a brief review of the foundations of wise speech and the eight guidelines for skillful speech when there are difficult or challenging situations, we explore the connection of inner practices with such situations. We look at two dimensions of such practice: (1) looking at and transforming conditioning that makes it hard to engage in such situations, such as related to negative views about conflict and anger, and discerning when there is spiritual bypassing in relationship to difficulties; and (2) bringing mindfulness, inquiry, and investigation to difficult emotions such as anger, fear, sadness, etc.,and to thoughts and narratives (especially generated by the judgmental mind). We will continue this exploration, including of difficult body states, next time..
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Monday and Wednesday Talks
2020-09-17 Buddhist Practice and Nonviolent Action: Transforming Inner and Outer Reactivity, Cultivating Love in Action 45:21
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We explore the deep resonance between Buddhist practice and nonviolent action (in the tradition of Mohandas Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, and others). We first examine the core of Buddhist practice as expressed in the Buddha's statement: "I teach dukkha and the end of dukkha; we explicate dukkha as "reactivity." We then show how the nonviolence of Dr. King follows the same core understanding of developing non-reactive and nonviolent responses--for him especially to the institutionalized reactivity of greed and hatred. We identify six basic themes of such nonviolent action, which, in the words of John Lewis, is ultimately "love in action."
Insight Meditation Tucson
2020-09-16 Deepening Our Practice in the Pandemic 6: Wise Speech 3: Practicing with Difficult Speech Situations 68:21
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After reviewing three foundations of Wise Speech--the four ethical guidelines for skillful speech, presence and mindfulness during speech, and the practice of empathy--we explore, on the basis of these foundations, how to be skillful during difficult or challenging situations of speech and communication, whether involving two individuals, a group, or a larger society. We identify eight perspectives, practices, and capacities that support skillful speech during such difficult situations.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Monday and Wednesday Talks
2020-09-06 Practicing Dukkha and the End of Dukkha in a Time of Crisis 67:21
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The Buddha said, “I have taught dukkha [usually translated as “suffering”] and the end of dukkha.” This teaching is the heart of our practice, yet it is often misunderstood or even confusing to people, primarily because there are at least four different understandings of dukkha in the teachings. We’ll explore the nature of the teaching, emphasizing particularly the interpretation of dukkha as "reactivity" (particularly linked to the teaching of the Two Arrows or Two Darts), which comes in two forms--grasping or greed, and compulsive pushing away or aversion. We'll point to how we might practice with the teaching at this time of crisis--in our formal practice, in our practice in daily life, and in our work, service, and/or activism.
White Heron Sangha
2020-08-26 Deepening Our Practice in the Pandemic 5: The Foundations of Wise Speech 2: Empathy (continued) and the Buddha's Ethical Guidelines for Skillful Speech 1:11:13
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After a brief review of the previous talks in this series, and a clarification of the different dimensions of our practice, we continue to explore the foundation given last time--empathy practice and the intention to understand and connect with another. We work with two brief exercises which point to ways of practicing empathy. Then we examine the four guidelines for wise or skillful speech given by the Buddha--for our speech and communication to be truthful, helpful, kind and loving (even when saying difficult things), and timely.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Monday and Wednesday Talks
2020-08-19 Deepening Our Practice in the Pandemic 4: The Foundations of Wise Speech 1: Cultivating Empathy 66:30
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We start with a brief review of the three previous talks on deepening practice during the pandemic (and other crises), including clarifying three broad areas of practice: Formal meditation practice, daily life practice, and work, service, and/or activism as practice. In this session, we explore the foundations of Wise Speech as practice, mentioning three foundations. The first two include (1) the ethical guidelines given by the Buddha regarding skillful speech, and (2) developing presence and mindfulness during speech (including listening). We focus most of the time on the third foundation of cultivating empathic connection with another, clarifying the difference between empathy and compassion, giving some of the findings of studies in neuroscience about empathy, and examining what blocks empathy. We then work with a simple (yet powerful) empathy practice of tuning into (1) emotions, and (2) what matters, and move into a period of discussion.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Monday and Wednesday Talks

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