Akincano Marc Weber (Switzerland) is a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist. He learned to sit still in the early eighties as a Zen practitioner and later joined monastic life in Ajahn Chah’s tradition where he studied and practiced for 20 years in the Forest monasteries of Thailand and Europe. He has studied Pali and scriptures, holds a a degree in Buddhist psychotherapy and lives with his wife in Cologne, Germany from where he teaches Dhamma and meditation internationally.
Teaching is essentially translation. It means ferrying an authentic contemplative tradition across choppy waters into our psychological and cultural realities, losing neither the vision nor the truth of what we know to be our immediate experience.
On having a relationship with one’s mind: About the necessity and the limitations of technique, the role of skill and attitude in the meditative process. The (false) myth of "now“ and the difference between 'the present moment' and a 'presently arisen state‘. (Verses of M 131-134)
The "bases of power“ or the 4 paths to empowerment a) in the context of the suttas and b) in the context of everyday life. A non-canonical detour that maps the pattern of the "empowerment won by ardency, perseverance and concentration of desire / energy / mind / discernment“ with the archetypes; a and a possible reflection on the pattern of seeking success and empowerment in our own life.
(A) Short exposition of S 53,3 / S v 112: When to practice which particular awakening factors.
(B) Exposition of S 51,1 / S v 102-105: a look at a terse text and a commentary’s helpful suggestions.
Structural difference of the 4th satipaṭṭhāna in comparison to the other three. Focusing on the nivāraṇa (hindrances) and bojjhaṅga (awakening factors) as possibilities for inquiry and investigation.
Last night’s talk in a nutshell with a few added practical reflections. A brief interpretation of a somewhat enigmatic passage that occurs many times in the Suttas together with the Awakening-Factors and the 8-fold Path.
On dukkha and what it means, on sati and its seed quality in the development of stillness, wisdom, brahmavihāra and ethics. 3 specific ways in which mindfulness transforms the experience of dukkha.
Follow-up on Contemplation of mind from previous week. Need to clarify the "how“ of being mindful rather than habitually resort to a – possibly unconscious – way of doing so. (Examples) How to find an entry to Contemplations of mind-states and learning to understand them rather than marinate in them.
