Archive of Talks

This Sunday, Michael guided our reflections, centering them around a talk by Toni Packer, the revolutionary teacher who centered her work on the natural practice of open awareness.  Can something so simple cultivate insights of depth equal to traditional Buddhist practice?  The talk by Toni that was played is not available on the internet, but… Read more

Keenan led our reflections this Sunday, anchoring them with a recorded dharma talk by Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei, the head of the Mountains and Rivers Order.  Using a traditional Zen approach to studying the subtleties and implications of a koan, Shugen probed the ways in which our daily lives can be awakened by “Knowing How to… Read more

Payton engaged the sangha with Tea Ceremony today,and offers these comments by way of perspective. Making tea, like anything, can be used as a target of meditation. There is a certain ritual nature in making and drinking tea (especially loose tea) that we can use to focus our minds on the present. Honor this moment… Read more

Joey guided us today, with questions posed in advance and a recorded dharma talk by Norman Fischer, as we explored the way that Not Knowing functions in our experience. the questions to contemplate are    Much of our fear arises from uncertainty, having to tolerate the mysterious unpredictability and surprise of life’s turns.  Often I… Read more

Michael led the sangha in exploring Sensory Awareness — a variety of mindfulness of body, which consists of simple, gentle experiments to open up clear, fresh contact with our own selves and the world around us.  As we engage ever more deeply with ordinary activities – standing up or sitting down, coming into contact with… Read more

Rebecca guided our reflections today, using a talk by Joseph Goldstein from last year’s three month retreat at IMS, titled Working with Fear, which systematically and in detail explores physical and emotional fears, their origins and ways to meet them. http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/96/talk/17678/ Read more