Please join us!
Please join us!
and Annie Hoffman
Suffering and Release in Change and the Eight Worldly Conditions (8 Worldly Winds)
“Bhikkhus, these eight worldly conditions revolve around the world, and the world revolves around these eight worldly conditions. What eight? Gain and loss, disrepute and fame, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain. ”
‘This pain [of the worldly conditions] that I have met is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change.’ AN 8.6
This year, the Northeast Insight Dialogue Sangha is offering mini retreats on the The Three Characteristics of our human existence: Anicca: impermanence, Dukkha: suffering or stress, and Anatta: no inherent, unchanging self or other.
What is important about knowing the three characteristics of our human existence, seeing them deeply, practicing with them, navigating our lives with them, knowing the suffering of them, knowing the impermanence of them? What does it mean to know the truth of the impermanence of the worldly conditions, sometimes translated as the eight “worldly winds”. We will investigate the continuous challenge of meeting our reactivity to these very human experiences of gain and loss, disrepute and fame, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain.
Is there release in knowing ‘This pain [or pleasure] that I have met is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change.’?
In April, we will contemplate this teaching, practicing with the Insight Dialogue guidelines of Pause, Relax, Open, Attune to Emergence, Speak the Truth and Listen Deeply.
The framework of this investigation is the practice of Insight Dialogue, a relational practice developed by Gregory Kramer and the Insight Dialogue Community. We will practice together to explore the teachings based in the Pali Canon, the collection of suttas in the Theravada Buddhist tradition.