Archive of Talks

This week, Matt continued our exploration of the Middle Way focusing on a few points about choice from the Yuka Nakamura dharma talk played last week by Ellen. We heard an excerpt from another talk by Dhammadipa. You can listen to the talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/80514/ Read more

The middle way is often taught generally as  neither seeking or holding on to pleasure, nor seeking to avoid what is unpleasant. When this generalization is applied to particular situations, it can help us to negotiate our lives more consciously.   This week after we sat together, Ellen gave a few introductory remarks and then shared a recorded… Read more

Dharma practice can seem paradoxical. Or at the very least, the instructions can be contradictory.  But maybe that paradox arises because we are attached to a certainty about what our practice should be.   As with everything else, our practice is impermanent.  What practice requires from us changes with time because conditions change with time.   Should we be… Read more

Having been reintroduced to the term “Choiceless Awareness” on a recent retreat with Carol Wilson, Sam guided our reflections this Sunday.      The choiceless practice of being with whatever arises is used with differing shades of meaning by many teachers, such as Krishnamurti, Ken Wilber, Osho, Chogyam Trungpa, and Mahasi Sayadaw).        In preparation for our discussion,… Read more

Steve guided our sangha’s reflections this Sunday in the topic of Hope. Buddhists often have diverging attitudes about Hope, some finding it a wishful undercutting of the clear-eyed perspective that grounds practice, others finding in it the energy to take on almost impossible tasks. We heard a talk by Gil Fronsdal which you listen to here: https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/24781… Read more

There is a widespread feeling that we in this country are under constant assault, from the media and politicians, from faith and educational constituencies, from neighbors and strangers as well. This can raise an array of responses from us: we act and think more from old fears, we may feel ‘triggered,’ and we resonate more… Read more