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What do we notice and what do we not notice?
When was the last time you listened to the sound of the wind in the trees? How about watching the gentle movements of a leaf or a pine needle? When our senses meet an experience, a complex chain of events occurs nearly instantly including the “feeling tone” of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral and leading all… Read more
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Maintaining and Deepening our Practice
To begin to practice the dharma is a huge, significant step – and some of us can date the time of our beginning. What we don’t usually mark with anniversaries is the ways in which we discover to deepen and strengthen our practice, though this is what keeps us going year after year, and what truly transforms… Read more
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The Five Daily Recollections
Ever seeking to keep practitioners on the path, The Buddha offered to his followers in ancient times, and to us today, Five Recollections. Calling these to mind every day can keep us alert to the difference practice can make. Three may seem obvious, one shocking, and the last deeply reaffirming. This week, Sam guided our… Read more
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Finding our own nature in Nature itself
In Pali, the language of the Buddhist scriptures, Dhamma means both the teaching of the Buddha and the laws of Nature. And from the beginning, those training in the Dhamma were encouraged to spend significant time in out of doors. Today too, immersing ourselves in Nature, we encounter vast treasures of teachings and inspiration that regenerate… Read more
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Take a Chance with Chanting
The world feels especially noisy right now, so let’s investigate sacred sound. Trina guided us this week in looking at how chanting and mantra are used in many spiritual practices, including Buddhism, and why it might be better than you think. Trina writes: I was unable to find a tidy 30-minute talk about this, so… Read more
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Non-Dualism and Buddhism meet
In recent times, different branches of Buddhism have been reinvigorated by the ideas and practices of ancient and modern non-dualism. In the process, Advaita Vedanta has entered often-fruitful conversations with Buddhists. Michael guided our reflections this week as we explored several ways in which Buddhists augment their practice in light of non-dual perspectives. Read more
