Audio: Toni Packer 1992

The following talks by Toni Packer are available on audio tape only.

January 1992 Retreat

Day 1	Seeing one's mind set. Becoming free to listen openly.
Day 2	How should a beginner practice? A moment of attention.
Day 3	Healing. Beyond the self circuit. Do we need discipline?
Day 4	Caring deeply for someone. Insight & finding one's livelihood.
Day 5	Description not available.
Day 6	Listening with the intellect. The end of wanting. Love and the heart.

February 1992 Retreat

Day 1	Listening and talking. Seeing old programs. Is openness a goal?
Day 2	Attention and effort. Just listening. The lightness of seeing.
Day 3	Effort and awareness. Concentration and division. The shift to awareness.
Day 4	What is happiness? Expectations. Becoming used to what we have.
Day 5	What is security? What makes us crave security and meaning in our lives?
Day 6	Enlightenment in Zen. Feeling we need a challenge. Being used to our lives.

April 1992 Retreat

Day 1	Listening & speaking without authority. Our relationship with each other.
Day 2	Feeling the need for an anchor. "Pushing" in sitting. Wanting. Repressing thought.
Day 3	The burden of guilt. Technique and awareness.
Day 4	Does one need faith in this work. Is it selfish to take care of oneself? What is the observer?
Day 5	Can one look at a part in a whole way? Where is the energy to look at the inner dis-ease?
Day 6	Is it possible to live vulnerably, openly talking about this work.

May-June 1992 Retreat at Gaia House in England

Day 1	Authority. What does it mean to listen? What is our relationship?
Day 2	Watching the mind without judgment. Resistance and change. Is there value to reading scriptures? Stillness.
Day 3	Sitting without structure. What is the meaning of sitting quietly? Resisting quiet time. Activity.
Day 4	Distractions, blaming oneself and others. What is the essence of Toni's teaching?
Day 5	Fear of losing one's personality. Rebirth. What is our consciousness? Does Toni pray?

June 1992 Retreat at Sharpham House in England

Day 1	Listening, awareness and thinking. Conditioning.
Day 2	Seeking advice and authority. Panic and self blame. Questions and answers about tradition.

June 1992 Retreat

Day 1	Authority, listening, and looking. Our relationship to each other.
Day 2	What am I to do with all this observation? What is going on in the world? What is my responsibility to it?
Day 3	Working compulsively, no time for oneself. Dis-ease over nothing to do. Lethargy. What is selfishness?
Day 4	What do you mean that we are not separate from each other - that we all share the same human consciousness?
Day 5	Are you saying we shouldn't do anything? Is self-defence based on image? Why do I want to continue as me? Karma.
Day 6	On healing energies. Precepts. Interaction in retreat. A narrow enclosure versus openness.

July 1992 Retreat

Day 1	Listening, authority. What is open listening?
Day 2	Memory. Danger of imagery. Anger. What are we defending?
Day 3	The need for position. Self-importance. Personality and identity.
Day 4	Can I survive without a self-image? Is there an absolute truth? Compulsion. Faith.
Day 5	Expressing one's feelings - is it an escape from being with them? Stillness, quiet.
Day 6	What is the role of precepts? Is it possible to see oneself without judgment? Children.

August 1992 Retreat

Day 1	Relationship. Authority. Pain of loss. Numbness. Prejudice.
Day 2	Inner troubles and outer troubles. Wanting mystical experiences.
Day 3	Motives for speaking out. Wanting. Having ideals.
Day 4	Listening to talks on wanting, the self, etc. Values and ideals.
Day 5	What is the use of this work? What is love?
Day 6	How does one look at a flower? Can there be direct awareness of thought?

September 1992 Retreat

Day 1	Can everything be part of a wholesome listening? Is one making Toni into an authority?
Day 2	What prevents one from feeling alive this moment. The burden of obligation; feeling trapped in one's life.
Day 3	What is "my life"? What does it mean to become more real? Can we be more compassionate to ourselves?
Day 4	Why do I get hurt by criticism? Can I say what needs to be said without hurting?
Day 5	What is separation? Thought Is there a thinker? Is it possible not to get used to things?
Day 6	Boredom Attention and ardor. Relaxation. Openness as a goal to attain.

November 1992 Retreat

Day 5	Is it possible to come upon a different state of being? What is self-confidence?
Day 6	How can I get out of separation? Why is it so difficult to simply be with what is? Fear.
Day 7	Will sitting over time manifest something in our daily lives? Self motive in helping others.

December 1992 - January 1993 Retreat in California

Day 1	Creating authority in others. Are there expectations? Is there a meeting ground between us that is free from opinion? The play of thought. The absence of division.
Day 2	Can our problems be solved through thought? Worry, fear. How can I be free from self-consciousness. Can I bring retreat life and daily life together? Thought and fear.
Day 3	How can you tell if you've dropped an image? Getting nervous in the meeting line. Annoyance with others, being with pain. Does Toni recommend sitting long hours? Boredom and withdrawal.
Day 4	Is what Toni is saying just from her point of view? The sense of failure and insufficiency. Yearning for a state of no separation. Looking for results in spiritual practice. Right effort.
Day 5	Is a spiritual life incompatible with one's business. How does one explore anger in oneself. How does one explore one's reaction to anger in another. Who is awake?
Day 6	Opening the talks up to questions. Comparing shikan-taza with open listening. Inquiring into dreams. Is it useful to try to understand symbolic language. Keeping a journal reinforcing the sense of self - storyline. Getting my "fair share". God.

Other Talks in 1992

Feb. 16	On communication [a short talk followed by discussion].
Apr. 5	Are we accountable and responsible for what we are doing? Worry, fear. How can I be free from self-consciousness. Can I bring retreat life and daily life together? Thought and fear.
Sep. 6	Why talk? How do we talk and listen to each other?