Meditation practice is a process of cultivating healthy, skillful qualities in the mind. This talk explores two essential factors for the practice: balanced energy, and wise effort through the lens of the “Four Great Efforts.” How we practice is often more important than what technique we use. What qualities are you bringing to bear on your experience as you practice?

We communicate with ourselves and others all day long. By adopting a few principles we can use this activity to allow ourselves to grow.

Oren Jay Sofer presents the second talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist. Here he speaks on our practice off the cushion, pointing out that we spend the vast majority of our days communicating in one way or another. He describes three practices to improve our relationships with others: leading with presence, cultivating the intention to understand the other, and training our focus.

Meditation instructions are sometimes misinterpreted to imply that one should disengage from activity and suspend all judgment. Buddhist advice on “letting go” can be misunderstood to suggest that problems in the world can or should be ignored. Yet the Pali canon shows that the Buddha taught practical social and economic remedies, and urged monks to travel so they could benefit the largest number of people. Thích Nhất Hạnh coined the term “engaged Buddhism” to describe efforts to respond to the suffering in his country during the Vietnam war, work he saw as part of meditation and mindfulness practice rather than something apart from it. In this series, some local “engaged Buddhists” will share how they personally apply Buddhist wisdom to engage with the suffering around us, in areas such as social action, prison ministry, and environmentalism.

(Part 2) This Monday Night Dharma Talk explores the role of energy on the path as well as in our daily lives. In what ways do we waste energy? How do we cultivate and sustain energy? And how we can learn how to steward energy more wisely?

(Part 1) This Monday Night Dharma Talk explores five foundations for spiritual practice: safety, groundedness, friendship, kindness and interest. Without these factors in place, it's difficult to engage in meditation.

Mindfulness practice provides a powerful support for clear, kind, and effective conversations. Join author and meditation teacher Oren Jay Sofer for this exploration of how our contemplative practice provides a foundation for bringing more compassion, clarity, and connection into our speech and relationships. In these polarized times, how can we speak and listen in a way that is aligned with our values? How can we hear others with divergent views? Oren will be offering teachings from his new book, Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.

Mindfulness practice provides a powerful support for clear, kind, and effective conversations. Join author and meditation teacher Oren Jay Sofer for this exploration of how our contemplative practice provides a foundation for bringing more compassion, clarity, and connection into our speech and relationships. In these polarized times, how can we speak and listen in a way that is aligned with our values? How can we hear others with divergent views? Oren will be offering teachings from his new book, Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.