Archive - Sean Feit Oakeshttps://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/Tue, 07 Apr 2026 23:54:15 +0000en-USSite-Server v@build.version@ (http://www.squarespace.com)Healing Cultural Saṇkhāras: Part 2, the Collective BodyaudiotalkvideoSean OakesWed, 01 Apr 2026 03:00:30 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/healing-cultural-sakhras-part-2-the-collective-body677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69d5988260195a5a2bf35d4eMore on recognizing Dhamma practice in the cultural body, and fleshing out the parallel between individual practice and culture-level practice, particularly inshaping our understanding of authoritarian and fascistic impulses in the current moment.

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, March 31, 2026

]]>Healing Cultural Saṇkhāras: Part 2, the Collective BodyMeditation: Breath as Gentle Anchor for Open AwarenessaudiomeditationvideoSean OakesWed, 01 Apr 2026 02:00:48 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/meditation-breath-as-gentle-anchor-for-open-awareness677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69d597e0ab3d8260e8024086Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, March 31, 2026]]>Meditation: Breath as Gentle Anchor for Open AwarenessHealing Cultural Saṇkhāras: Tyranny, Oppression... Fascism, part 1audiotalkvideoSean OakesWed, 25 Mar 2026 03:00:47 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/healing-cultural-sakhras-tyranny-oppression-fascism-part-1677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69c97de745cfcd291de37aa0We've been talking about healing unhealthy patterns (saṇkhāra) as the meaning of "letting go." But how do we think about letting go of craving and changing old unhealthy patterns when the unhealthy pattern is sociopolitical? (Or anything "outside" of our felt individuality, like rooted in family, community, cultural, or species history.) We'll think tonight about these larger systems as behaving in similar ways to our seemingly individual ones, and so look at how the guidelines of the Noble Truths might support us in thinking about strategies for responding to the intense dukkha of our larger world and communities at the moment.

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, March 24, 2026

]]>Healing Cultural Saṇkhāras: Tyranny, Oppression... Fascism, part 1Meditation: Awareness of the Senses Through the Whole BodyaudiomeditationvideoSean OakesWed, 25 Mar 2026 02:00:56 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/meditation-awareness-of-the-senses-through-the-whole-body677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69c97c4cbcefc343fb1f39a1Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, March 24, 2026]]>Meditation: Awareness of the Senses Through the Whole BodyMoment to Moment Letting GoaudiotalkvideoSean OakesSat, 14 Mar 2026 01:52:17 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/just-stop-already-3rd-noble-truth-cessation-drb7a677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69b4be6cd90c774547d9ff5eContinuing with the 3rd Noble Truth, and looking at letting go as the process of mindfully coming into intimacy with unhealthy patterns—in the musculature, the heart, the mind—and deepening the intention for release, relaxing, letting go.

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, March 10, 2026

]]>Moment to Moment Letting GoMeditation: Letting Go is EverythingaudiomeditationvideoSean OakesWed, 11 Mar 2026 02:00:58 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/meditation-letting-go-is-everything677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69b4bd2230fde47f7311fcc0Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, March 10, 2026]]>Meditation: Letting Go is EverythingJust Stop, Already! (3rd Noble Truth: Cessation)audiotalkvideoSean OakesWed, 04 Mar 2026 04:00:50 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/just-stop-already-3rd-noble-truth-cessation677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69aa538ec550c663028f2ac7The relationship between the first and second noble truths—craving causes suffering—is about how we relate to our emotions. The Dhamma describes the natural reactions we have to life, in which some things are pleasant, some painful, and many neutral, and how those natural reactions habitually, but not inevitably, lead to unpleasant complex emotional experience. Things are painful, we fear them and get angry at them. Things are pleasant, we want more, and do whatever we can to keep what we have. Things are boring, and we desperately fill ourselves with stimulation and entertainment.

In modern versions of the Buddha's prescription, we can wrestle with the dissonance between the Stoic-seeming meditative practice (notice feeling without reactivity) and our impulse for the healing that comes with embracing and processing strong emotion. How do we make sense of this difference?

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, March 3, 2026

]]>Just Stop, Already! (3rd Noble Truth: Cessation)Meditation: Still Body, Still MindaudiomeditationvideoSean OakesWed, 04 Mar 2026 03:01:42 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/meditation-still-body-still-mind-2677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69aa51a68b8fca7c9b249682Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, March 3, 2026]]>Meditation: Still Body, Still MindDo We Crave On Purpose? Agency, Karma, and Intending the GoodaudiotalkvideoSean OakesWed, 25 Feb 2026 04:00:20 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/do-we-crave-on-purpose-agency-karma-and-intending-the-good677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:699fac042864f063803aeaf7The relationship between the first and second noble truths—craving causes suffering—is about how we relate to our emotions. The Dhamma describes the natural reactions we have to life, in which some things are pleasant, some painful, and many neutral, and how those natural reactions habitually, but not inevitably, lead to unpleasant complex emotional experience. Things are painful, we fear them and get angry at them. Things are pleasant, we want more, and do whatever we can to keep what we have. Things are boring, and we desperately fill ourselves with stimulation and entertainment.

In modern versions of the Buddha's prescription, we can wrestle with the dissonance between the Stoic-seeming meditative practice (notice feeling without reactivity) and our impulse for the healing that comes with embracing and processing strong emotion. How do we make sense of this difference?

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, February 24, 2026

]]>How to Feel (Better)Meditation: Spacious Open Awareness audiomeditationvideoSean OakesWed, 25 Feb 2026 03:00:44 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/meditation-spacious-open-awareness677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:699fa82ae847614956ae40aeRecorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, February 24, 2026]]>Meditation: Spacious Open Awareness How to Feel (Better)audiotalkvideoSean OakesWed, 18 Feb 2026 04:00:50 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/how-to-feel-better677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:699b5c3a8ab4035810cfafdfThe relationship between the first and second noble truths—craving causes suffering—is about how we relate to our emotions. The Dhamma describes the natural reactions we have to life, in which some things are pleasant, some painful, and many neutral, and how those natural reactions habitually, but not inevitably, lead to unpleasant complex emotional experience. Things are painful, we fear them and get angry at them. Things are pleasant, we want more, and do whatever we can to keep what we have. Things are boring, and we desperately fill ourselves with stimulation and entertainment.

In modern versions of the Buddha's prescription, we can wrestle with the dissonance between the Stoic-seeming meditative practice (notice feeling without reactivity) and our impulse for the healing that comes with embracing and processing strong emotion. How do we make sense of this difference?

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, February 17, 2026

]]>How to Feel (Better)Meditation: Intimacy with Affect & MoodaudiomeditationvideoSean OakesWed, 18 Feb 2026 03:00:12 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/meditation-intimacy-with-affect-mood677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:699b58cc7400373e8b7bfdcbRecorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, February 17, 2026]]>Meditation: Panoramic AwarenessHow to Not Be Overwhelmed by the NewsaudiotalkvideoSean OakesWed, 11 Feb 2026 04:00:07 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/how-to-not-be-overwhelmed-by-the-news677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69939e2f3c60f20ab90fe5f8How should we relate to and practice with the flood of information and stimulation coming to us through the media? We look at nervous system protective impulses, patterns of attention, the Buddha's clairvoyance with equanimity and compassion, and protecting our attention, energy, and hearts from overwhelm and saturation with high-intensity stimulation.

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, February 10, 2026

]]>How to Not Be Overwhelmed by the NewsMeditation: Panoramic AwarenessaudiomeditationvideoSean OakesWed, 11 Feb 2026 03:00:01 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/meditation-panoramic-awareness677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69939d5e93d75b34d8bb2d47Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, February 10, 2026]]>Meditation: Panoramic AwarenessFirst Two Noble Truths & Predictive ProcessingaudiotalkvideoSean OakesWed, 04 Feb 2026 04:00:08 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/first-two-noble-truths-predictive-processing677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69939c508c663876883b6c3cWe continue our look at the foundations of right view, exploring the first two Noble Truths. I talk about how the mind maps experience through what's called "predictive processing" and how we might see the sequence described in Dependent Origination (sensory contact, affect, grasping, clinging, becoming/reifying) as a parallel model of cognitive-emotional process.

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, February 3, 2026

]]>First Two Noble Truths & Predictive ProcessingMeditation: Open Awareness audiomeditationvideoSean OakesWed, 04 Feb 2026 03:00:57 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/meditation-open-awareness-2026677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69939399f13c8a27c92369b6Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, February 3, 2026]]>Meditation: Open Awareness Reflections in a Moment of Collective CalamityaudiotalkvideoSean OakesWed, 28 Jan 2026 04:00:29 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/reflections-in-a-moment-of-collective-calamity677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:697fdbfd2566d83dbe0470f0A short talk on bringing the wisdom of our practice to the moment we're in, grieving the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, January 27, 2026

]]>Reflections in a Moment of Collective CalamityMeditation: Feel, Relax, Feel—Body ScanaudiomeditationvideoSean OakesWed, 28 Jan 2026 03:00:48 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/meditation-feel-relax-feelbody-scan677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:697fdb5ca088a364dae1aacdRecorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, January 27, 2026]]>Meditation: Feel, Relax, Feel—Body ScanThe Noble Truths as the Middle WayaudiotalkvideoSean OakesWed, 21 Jan 2026 04:00:44 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/tthe-noble-truths-as-the-middle-way677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69769b38caaf9766deb4903dReflections on the first two Noble Truths as expressions of the Middle Way. Talked about the pervasiveness of comfort and fear of discomfort, especially in consumer-centered post-industrial societies, and how this can warp our ability to understand dukkha (suffering, pain, dissatisfaction), making it seem entirely psychological rather than an intervention into every moment of our sensory life.

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, January 20, 2026

]]>The Noble Truths as the Middle WayMeditation: Back to BuddhoaudiomeditationvideoSean OakesWed, 21 Jan 2026 03:00:09 +0000https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/archive/meditation-back-to-buddho677ef541008f8d092faa5bdc:677efe7208cacd61bf007211:69769a3e9eea2344fcfea95aRecorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, January 20, 20026]]>Meditation: Back to Buddho