Discourse on the Four Kinds of Nutriments - Sense Impressions (2018) (2 of 5)

March-December 2018 

In this talk, Dharma teacher Fred Eppsteiner discusses the nutriment of sense impressions. The Buddha taught that as human beings, we consume four basic types of nutriments: Edible Foods, Sense Impressions, Volition and Consciousness. What we choose to consume in each of these areas greatly affects the wellbeing of our bodies and our minds. This talk is on the second of these four nutriments, and further talks will elaborate on the other three nutriments. Fred explains that just as what we put into our bodies affects its well-being, so to do the sensory experiences we take into our minds affect its well-being. He encourages us all to cultivate a mindfulness that helps us to discern between sensory experiences that support a wholesome, healthy mind, and those which nurture unwholesome mind-states. He also emphasizes the importance of this training in the context of our modern world where we have the capacity to have sensory experiences all day long through our digital devices.