00:34 Q1 I've recently run across "meditation teachers" who claim that some other creative activities that they're involved in are better than meditation. What can you say about this? 20:56 Q2 I'm not good with emotional language like spiritual poetry but have a longing for the divine. What can you say about this? 22:54 Q3 I'm already seeking some professional help for trauma but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the Buddhist way to heal trauma. 26:22 Q4 How can you not make letting go into another sankara project? How can we let go of concepts like achieving stream entry? 35:42 Q5 I've heard a teacher say when the mind is quiet and we experience things as they are, the self and the observing or knowing mind will distinctly be two separate entities. Can you speak to this please? 44:06 Q6 I find myself alone and isolated. There are no Buddhist centres near me nor do I have a group of family or friends I can share with. I meditate and go for long walks but the need to be a part of the community is a longing and I feel sometimes I have no meaning in my life and I panic. What is your advice?

00:10 Q1 Can you say something about handling concerns about people quarreling, people sick, family members? 08:40 Q2 I get a vibration in my body that progresses up through the body. It produces a peaceful and equanimous feeling. Why is this happening and what should I do next? 13:27 Q3 I get warmed when I engage in standing meditation. What's happening? 13:43 Q4 During one meditation when one attains full concentration and calmness, how does one feel in mind? What does one hear? What is the colour when one closes one's eyes? Do we still feel breathing? What's happening? 16:16 Q5 When I sit I get a sudden jolt. Is this sloth and torpor. 16:41 Q6 Why does thinking about revenge although unwholesome, feel good?

Q1 In sitting meditation I have much less distraction but I feel a sense of torpor. Where does this come from and how can I deal with it? 07:10 Q2 I spend the majority of my life trying to ignore my difficult emotions. Since I began meditation I’ve tried to welcome them all but they take a lot of space. Will it be like this the rest of my life? [A similar one:] I find myself in a deep groove of negativity which is hard to shift. After a couple of decades of practice I am embarrassed by this and find myself more and more isolated from family and friends. [A similar one:] I was bullied as a young teenager which destroyed my self-esteem. How can I secure my heart? 17:20 Q3 Can you explain the difference between citta and consciousness? [A similar one:] How can citta be experienced best? Is it only through phenomena? Can citta be satisfied by internal content and does this help to ease the thirst for sensual gratification? 28:18 Q4 I find it very difficult to do chanting because of difficulty with my throat feeling clogged. 30:20 Q5 My son has had long covid for 4 years and started getting panic attacks. Can you comment please. 33:30 Q5 My question is about violence – not just corporeal violence but also including gossip, jealousy etc. Can you speak to these please?

Overview of the last 12 months, Conditions that help engagement: 1. contentment and appreciation; Dr Luke Kemp, his study on civilizational collapse and the value of happiness; contentment and burnout; 2. Anger as being pivotal, types of anger; recent world changes related to anger; tempus nullius; risks and care in relation to anger; Aristotle on the value of anger; Mahakala as a helpful image; 3. An inclusive way of looking; Mother Theresa and one’s family circle; Analyo Bhikkhu and the question of what can one do; 4. Equanimity: perspective of John Gray on the myth of progress in the field of ethics and politics - with examples; Philip Blom on a view of homo sapiens and the comedy of homo sapiens seeing itself as the ruler of nature; 5. A sense of duty and the soulful quality that can come with that; 6. Stories and images: Ursula Le Guin and the Ones who Walk Away from Omelas - with an interpretation; James Hillman and Michael Ventura; Kuan Yin as an image and how she is seen by some in a large Buddhist charity.

Given at the Spirit Rock Family Retreat, this talk addresses the importance of love in a world filled with hatred. We explore how choosing love over hate directly relates to our parenting as well as to the larger suffering in the world. Some of the points include: hatred hurts, love feels great; hatred is uncurious, love seeks to understand; hatred clouds the mind, love brings wisdom. A helpful talk for any of us struggling to bring our practice to these current times.

A lot of us are insecure in our parenting, but when we come back to the basics of practice, we find that just being ourselves and loving ourselves is just what we've been needing; both to heal and to be the kind of parents we want to be. This talk was given to parents at the Spirit Rock Family retreat.

This is a meditation will help you connect, regulate, repair, and soothe parts of yourself during difficult times. It includes principles from Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Metta (lovingkindness).

This talk explores dāna (generosity) as both a foundational practice and natural expression of awakening. Devon describes how generosity creates conditions for happiness while requiring wisdom about our boundaries and capacities. Using personal examples about balancing family obligations with self-care, she illustrates how true generosity requires knowing ourselves well. The talk emphasizes that generosity is already present in awareness itself—in our natural capacity to receive and release each moment. It concludes that belonging and interconnection are our true nature, and that letting go paradoxically requires feeling held in the refuge of community.

There is no more relevant exploration than how we awaken to our connection as family, as belonging to this precious web of life. In their talks, Tara and Roshi Joan look at the cause of divides and their healing through wise contemplation, courageous engagement and the power of imagination. Each lead short reflections that help us bring our own hearts and spirit into this sacred work.

Metta for a close friend or family member.

In session 2 of this series, Donald Rothberg and Ronya Banks will engage in dialogue around their Jewish and Palestinian identities, their family histories, and their own experiences of being Buddhist teachers navigating the complexities of the conflict in Palestine/Israel. During the course of the conversation, they will offer reflections on what has been most helpful to each of them in dealing with painful truths, strong emotions, and difficult conversations. In the last part of the session, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and offer reflections.

Q1 Can it be that Qi Gong releases long forgotten memories? 06:40 Q2 If everything is empty, who or what dies and what is reborn if rebirth is not only a concept? 16:19 Q3 Does the Buddhist path result in the loss of loved ones because they're not on that path. For example partner, family, friends? Is there a way to have both? I feel that one side goes at the cost of the other. 20:14 Q4 I've been feeling quite bored sometimes today. How do you recommend to deal with this phenomenon? How could it be explained from a Buddhist point of view? 27:13 Q5 When I'm meditating sitting down, I sometimes feel that I'm losing the perception of a three-dimensional space. I can still feel my body but I don't feel like there's an up or a down or left or right. Is this something common?

Most of the Buddha's disciples whose names we are familiar with, such as Ananda and Sariputta, are men. The Buddha also had women disciples who were wise and profound practitioners like Mahapajapati, the Buddha's aunt/foster mother, responsible for the establishment of the order of nuns or Patacara, revered teacher, who tragically lost her family and eventually became fully enlightened. “If the measure of a human life is a chance to have significance that extends beyond itself, then we’ve hit the jackpot. We are alive at game time on the planet, when everything we value is genuinely threatened, when it’s time for all hands on deck.” —Terry Patten, A New Republic of the Heart

Starting retreat with honoring ancestors of land, lineage, and family of origin. Grounding and embodied sense of taking refuge.

Questions are précised and read into the file: 00:10 Q1 Is there a Buddhist perspective on the soul and how that might relate to citta. 09:08 Q2 I am wondering about the teachings of the trikayas in terms of the territory of the soul or the devas. 11:38 Q3 You were saying there is no me and no not me; there is no soul. But then, what gets passed on? 20:42 Q4 When I think about what gets passed on I tend to think more of the role of genetics. To me, Buddhism doesn’t seem to give enough weight to the social or family element in our development. 22:39 Q5 Regarding the concept of qi (chi), does that life force come with intelligence imbued in it? 23:02 Q6 I so appreciated your comments about the beauty of freedom the Buddha had was to choose to teach out of compassion. So his enlightenment was not the end point but it was the responsive space that resulted that was so beautiful. 33:01 Q7 Can you elaborate please? Is the most basic link in the dependent origination is the I am singularity? Is there an asava independent of the I am?34:26 Q8 Earlier you talked about the four areas of crystallization of clinging: sense pleasures, becoming and principles / ethics. What was the fourth?

Gathering the mind - making use of the IFS (Internal Family Systems) framework, inner parts and unblending

00.36 Q1 I'm very new to meditation. Could you say more about sitting, about posture. 8.12 Q2 If I compare my practice to an elevator I seem to spend a lot of time at the top and would like to go deeper but I'm always going back up to the top again, up and down. 14.36 Q3 Having projects and things that I want to do that require determination, is that incompatible with a meditation practice? 18.35 Q4 My family have been football fans and have supported the Tottenham Hotspurs club for ages. What can you say about this? 21.32 Q5 What guidance can you give on engaging with conflict? 28.47 Q5 What can I do if the values of my friends and acquaintances don't fit with mine? 30.42 Q6 Regarding stream entry, do path and fruit happen simultaneously or does one come after the other?

The family retreat 2023 at Spirit Rock focused on the Eightfold Path. This talk was on Samadhi-- or Wise Cultivation through Mindfulness and Meditation and was specifically geared to parents. How can parents practice mindfulness right in the heat of in daily life? Can we practice when we’re getting kids ready for school or putting them to bed, or fighting with our teen or when we're worried about them? Mindfulness can offer incredible tools to support parents in staying present, connected, awake, and in right relationship with our children, partners, and self.

Questions précised - 00:16 Q1 Is it possible to start waking up and still have a mind that is clinging or fixating at times? What are the characteristics of awakening? 14:27 Q2 Sometimes there are moments where everything is gone or stops, with no thoughts or awareness f an outside world. Time seems to be gone as well. Can you say something about this?16:21 Q3 It seems the heart needs to be allowed to know itself. When with family and partner there seems to be no possibility for this. This is desperately uncomfortable which doesn’t resolve and is filled with fear. Can you offer some guidance. 22:54 Q4(a) I feel parts of the body frozen in anxiety. Spacious awareness and reclining help. What else would help? Patience? (b) I get feelings of joy, gratitude then contentment. When contentment arises I feel the desire to move on rather than stay with it. What can I do about this? (c) What can I do if the energy flow gets overwhelming say with sickness? 34:46 Q5 What would you say to a teenager who seems to have ill will in the family? 36:44 Q6 No matter how good meditation is in the previous evening, there will come sleep and with it the end of awareness. Next morning we have to start again.

04:57 Q1 How to work with jealousy at others’ good fortune. 21:15 Q2 Living through old age, sickness and death is really highlighting my dread of being unreasonable and fitting in with familyWhat to do? 23:33 Q3 How can we use grief after the loss of a loved one? 27:36 Q4 Two similar questions: (a) I have experienced a loss of direction and feel no zest for living and insecurity overwhelms me. (b) Angry thoughts / emotional intensity lead to self admonishment. What can I do?

04:57 Q1 How to work with jealousy at others’ good fortune. 21:15 Q2 Living through old age, sickness and death is really highlighting my dread of being unreasonable and fitting in with family. What to do? 23:33 Q3 How can we use grief after the loss of a loved one? 27:36 Q4 Two similar questions: (a) I have experienced a loss of direction and feel no zest for living and insecurity overwhelms me. (b) Angry thoughts / emotional intensity lead to self admonishment. What can I do? 32:25 Q5 Can you expand your ideas about the connections between citta and cetena. 37:37 Q6 What is meant by the unconditioned? 42:56 Q7 What are the kasinas? 46:24 Q8 Can you speak about hiriottappa?

Sharing the story of Patacara who lost her whole family, within a few hours, then lost her mind. Meeting the Buddha, she regains her senses and breaks through to stream entry, and later - Nibbana

00:53 Please explain the idea of the pāramī; 04:59 Letting go of thinking/expectation; 07:44 Using the sound of silence in practice; 15:58 How Qigong connects to practice; 24:47 Tension in tongue and jaw; 25:03 Remaining “upright and joyful”; 29:23 Family does not agree with my practice; 34:13 Dealing with pain; 38:10 Experience of a deep horrific fear; 43:45 Out of body experiences while meditating; 45:19 Relationship between release of somatic knots and releasing the citta; 48:55 Regrets and resentment; 50:13 Can you speak about the āsava? 53:37 Difference between peace, serenity and tranquility? Pīti and sukha?