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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
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Dharma Talks
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2020-07-23
Buddhist Practice and the Transformation of Racism 3: Ethical Commitment and Action (Talk)
40:56
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Donald Rothberg
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We explore the nature of ethical commitment and how our commitment not to harm also implies, following some of the teachings and actions of the Buddha and of other teachers, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, a commitment not to let others harm (or kill). On this basis, we then outline a number of possible ways to act to address the harm of racism, clarifying an important aspect of such action--that our actions to address harm as much as possible not cause further harm themselves. We end by remembering that we need perspectives and capacities, inner and outer, that help us to be engaged for the "long haul."
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Insight Meditation Tucson
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Buddhist Practice and the Transformation of Racism
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2020-07-22
Love and Fear During Times of War: An Interview with Lama Rod Owens
49:38
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Tara Brach
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The world is having a difficult moment. Each day we learn of a different conflict or crisis, which threatens the lives of so may people. It is easy to live with a lot of fear right now and it is even easier to react out of that fear was well. When we react out of fear we tend to create much more harm in the world.
This is a time of darkness and war and fear lies at the heart of much of the violence we are experiencing. How do we befriend our fear and offer it permission to teach us how to move through it into a state of freedom? How do we use our fear to connect to the fear so many other people are experiencing? Ultimately, how do we begin to love what is unlovable, especially our fear?
During their time together, Tara and Lama Rod call on the teachings of Buddhadharma as well as their own intrinsic wisdom to lean into fear with love.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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2020-07-22
Deepening Our Daily Life Practice in the Pandemic 2
67:09
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Donald Rothberg
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We begin with a brief review of the previous week's talk and discussion, in which we explored a number of ways to deepen (1) our formal practice; (2) our informal (daily life) practice; and (3) our service, work, and/or activism as practice. This exploration points to a broadened sense of practice.
We then examine in some depth three inter-related foundational areas for deepening practice in all three areas: (1) developing mindfulness of the body; (2) working to transform reactivity (here as a translation of "dukkha"), including as it manifests in challenging or difficult experiences; and (3) pausing and setting intentions. Our discussion particularly goes into being skillful with challenging experiences.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2020-07-19
The Pervasiveness of Citta
8:19
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Ajahn Sucitto
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When citta is released from its obstructions, its nature is to saturate clarity and well-being into whatever it comes into contact with. It’s not something you do, it’s something that happens when the unskillful and stressful are released.
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-19
Q&A
67:04
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Clarifying what is citta; what is felt sense; focusing as an alternative to meditation; is citta the same as self; stuck energy in neck and head; causes and conditions and personal responsibility; unbinding vs. education of citta; how to accept our history; advice for approach to conflict; working with separation and loss; how to practice with space around myself; anatta
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-19
Cultivating Tolerant and Kindly Space
38:49
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Ajahn Sucitto
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The theme of restraint in Dhamma practice helps keep energy collected rather than running out. This moderating of saṇkhārā is how one begins to turn away from the aggregates, from the assumptions and habitual grasping that cause suffering. A more flexible and beautiful state becomes available to meet what arises.
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-19
Accepting without Adopting
5:12
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Exploring the experience of transitioning between postures, notice the space and what arises within it. What counts is not what arises but how your awareness responds without resisting, contracting or adopting.
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-19
Listening Space
10:22
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Embarrassing and unwanted moods and perceptions can arise and pass through space. They don’t get stuck by the reactions of the personality. We practice to sense space around the body so that we can eventually generate space around mental content.
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-19
Handling Difficult Feeling
48:26
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Ajahn Sucitto
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The unawakened citta always reacts and tries to interpret what’s happening. Rather than interpret experience, notice the stress building up. Hover over the difficult feeling and equanimity, compassion, goodwill gradually comes in.
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-18
Q&A
41:50
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Working with feeling foggy in meditation; firmness and openness in walking meditation; relationship between emotions and bodily tension; working with doubt; releasing energy through hands, feet and head; cultivating generosity triggers constriction.
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-18
Tending to Body Energy
5:04
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Everything that affects us comes into our bodies, so a lot of stress can accumulate. Sympathize with what the body energy requires so it can come out of its pressurized jumbled state.
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-18
The Open and Unrestricted Heart
41:09
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Attention is generally driven by self-interest, to seek what is pleasant. The possibilities of what one receives are then restricted by the “self program”. Unrestricted means changing the baseline from that of the person to something impersonal that can yet be subjectively experienced – clarity, lovingkindness, letting go. Mindfulness of body acts as a platform for steady open awareness.
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-18
Secure Connection, Free Roaming
23:03
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Removing our harness to the world, we really detach and make the intention in the mind to stop. Having moved inwardly into this now moment, we pause and secure our internal connection to truth. This work requires our faith, vigilance, sustained attention, care and perseverance. We long for freedom and it will arise, releasing us to roam free in the vast space of the mind – empty and awake. A guided meditation and Dhamma talk.
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Ottawa Buddhist Society
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2020-07-18
Practise Like the Barley Reaper
25:32
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Ayya Medhanandi
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In a dialogue between King Milinda and Venerable Nagasena, we hear the Buddha’s instruction on mental training and how to apply our allies of mindfulness, restraint and wisdom. Devoted to the training, we can overcome ignorance, take hold of the mind and cut off the defilements just as the barley reaper cuts his barley. Our mission is to lean towards Nibbāna, not believing the self-making stories, and gradually, patiently, wrestle free from ignorance, waking up right in the middle of any storm we may face.
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Ottawa Buddhist Society
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2020-07-18
Unrestricted Awareness
37:48
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Ajahn Sucitto
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We try to maintain order in a chaotic world, but our attempts tend to constrict and isolate. Clear the obscurations and restrictions by recognizing what is really causing stress and pressure – it’s not the external conditions but what the mind is making of them.
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Sunyata Buddhist Centre
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Unrestricted Awareness
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2020-07-17
We Are What we Think
54:12
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James Baraz
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The Buddha taught: "We are what we think. With our thoughts we make the world." We will explore mana or "the conceit of I am" and how we construct a sense of self with our mind. Based on how we see ourselves or how we compare with others, mana or the conceit of “I am” is born. This tendency leads to "The Three Conceits: I am superior, I am inferior, I am equal to." If we're not mindful, we then erroneously proceed to make a permanent, solid entity of self. We explore how not seeing this clearly creates suffering and how we can free ourselves of this self-constructed suffering.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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IMCB Regular Talks
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2020-07-17
We’re Not Separate At All
32:43
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Ayya Medhanandi
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During times of global pandemic, it’s easier to see how deeply connected we are in our vulnerability to disease. Meditating and touching the silent space of the heart, we see how deeply connected we are at all times – connected in dis-ease – in fear, in sorrow, in suffering; and also in our potential for joy. And we discover the well-spring of goodness within us from which that joy arises. A guided meditation and Dhamma reflections.
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Ottawa Buddhist Society
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2020-07-17
Four Astounding Things
24:36
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Four astounding things happen when the Buddha teaches the Dhamma. When he teaches about non-attachment, people want to listen and to understand how to give up attachment. When he teaches about the removal of conceit, people lend ear and try to understand it. People delight in excitement, but when he teaches the way to peace, people want to lend ear and understand it. And when he teaches how to remove ignorance, people want to listen and follow the Way.
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Ottawa Buddhist Society
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2020-07-16
Buddhist Practice and the Transformation of Racism 2: -Meditation and Inner Work
1:19:17
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Donald Rothberg
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In this second talk in the series, we first review the main "wisdom" perspectives presented last week, that give us some orientation toward understanding and transforming racism. Then we explore the second area of training: meditation and inner work, identifying four main themes and practices, the first three of which are supported significantly by working in small groups: (1) understanding and working with "implicit bias"; (2) cultivating mindfulness of our racial conditioning and the experiences which arise in investigating race and racism; (3) heart practices like compassion and empathy; and (4) the importance of continuing to access, as best we can, deeper experiences of our being.
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Insight Meditation Tucson
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Buddhist Practice and the Transformation of Racism
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2020-07-15
Meditation: Listening to Life
48:41
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Tara Brach
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The attitude of meditation is one of engaged listening – a relaxed, receptive yet intimate attention. This meditation explores how we can listen to sounds, listen to and feel sensations, and then relax back into the ocean of awareness that includes and perceives the changing waves. In this relaxing back, we realize the peace and freedom of inhabiting our wholeness and essence.
This meditation ends with a tribute to Thich Nhat Hanh’s life and a reading from his writings on death and life.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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2020-07-15
The Sacred Art of Listening
48:41
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Tara Brach
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Just as presence is the heart of meditation, so deep listening is at the center of all conscious, loving relationships. This talk explores how our wants and fears block listening, ways we can deepen our capacity for listening, and the healing that unfolds when we truly feel heard by another (a special talk from the archives).
What happens when you’re really listening?
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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2020-07-10
How Not to Be a Hot Mess
63:15
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James Baraz,
Craig Hase,
Devon Hase,
Eve Decker
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Devon and Craig Hase join James in sharing about their new book How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Survival Guide for Modern Life. The book offers a playful exploration of living a life of Integrity based on the teachings of the Buddha.
Devon and Craig lead meditation retreats throughout North America and Europe. Devon teaches at the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock. Craig spent six years in a Zen monastery and teaches mindfulness meditation, and dharma full time.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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IMCB Regular Talks
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2020-07-09
Buddhist Practice and the Transformation of Racism 1: Training in Wisdom and Developing Wise Perspectives on Racism
1:14:35
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Donald Rothberg
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In this first talk in a three-part series, we work with the traditional model of a threefold training in wisdom, meditation, and ethics, beginning with identifying three perspectives that can guide our understanding and practice. The first is to remember the Buddha's rejection of the caste system and its core claims, and the welcoming of all, from any caste or from no caste, into his community. The second is to understand how greed, hatred, and delusion, the transformation of which is at the center of our practice, are not just individual but also institutional and systemic in nature. The third is to see how race, in terms of blackness and whiteness, is a social construction without biological reality, appearing in history at a certain point a little over three centuries ago (we look in some detail at how whiteness appeared in colonial Virginia at the end of the 17th century); it is a construction very clearly connected with divide-and-conquer strategies by the wealthy elite, which then has terrible consequences.
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Insight Meditation Tucson
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Buddhist Practice and the Transformation of Racism
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2020-07-08
Talk: the role of perceptions and formations in creating identity
32:39
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Jill Shepherd
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An overview of how the clinging-aggregates of perception and formations can create a fixed identity for oneself and others, then touching in to this process in relation to racial identity.
Includes a quote from Shakil Choudhury's work on racial and social justice education and psychological literacy:
https://deepdiversity.animaleadership.com/2018/11/28/the-hole-in-racial-justice-a-love-letter/
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Bellingham Insight Meditation Society
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