Short Reflection & Guided Meditation including 'Invocation of Beings of the Three Times' based on Joanna Macy's text | Earthworm Practice for the Anthropocene III | Online Wednesday-Morning

Sometimes people interpret the Buddha's teachings as suggesting giving up all wanting of the pleasant and all not wanting the unpleasant, and that equanimity has no wanting or not wanting; there are some passages in the teachings which seem to suggest this approach. However, the Buddha in a number of ways pointed to what we might call "skillful desire." We explore this in several ways. First, we go back to the teaching on Dependent Origination and the sequence from contact to grasping. We can identify that sequence as illustrating unskillful desire (or wanting) followed by grasping (as well as unskillful aversion). Secondly, we explore the Buddha's teachings on chanda, which could be translated as "skillful desire." Thirdly, we look at the role of experiences of pleasure, joy, and happiness in different practice contexts, and ask more generally about the nature of skillful desire (and some on "skillful aversion") in everyday life. What characterizes desire being unskillful or skillful? The talk is followed by discussion.

We start with settling for about 7-8 minutes followed by about the same time with basic mindfulness practice. Then we explore "moderate" experiences of pleasant or unpleasant when they occur, whether a bodily experience, an emotion, or a thought (or a mix), experiencing pleasant or unpleasant and seeing whether there follows wanting (or not wanting) and grasping (or pushing away). We close with some reflection on what we explored: Was some of the wanting or not wanting skillful? Unskillful. This exploration is related to the talk given a short time later.

This dhamma talk, guided meditation, questions and responses was offered on December 6, 2025 for “How do I apply the Dhamma to THIS!?!” 00:00 - DHAMMA TALK 24:39 - QUESTIONS & RESPONSES 1:03:50 - GUIDED MEDITATION

The capacity to be touched by and love goodness is, in some sense, the heart of spiritual practice. Something in us loves the truth and is drawn to goodness around us. It makes us yearn to activate the good inside. It requires commitment to choosing wholesome qualities as our default instead of being drawn to the forces of attachment, aversion and ignorance within us.

Short Reflection & Guided Meditation | Earthworm Practice for the Anthropocene III | Online Wednesday-Morning