Archive of Talks

     This Sunday’s In-person Meeting of the Sangha featured Tea and Cookies to accompany the discussion circle around the coffee table, all provided by Stephanie, our presenter.        In a world in which our media and politics often deploy Fear as a primary motivator, Stephanie will share a talk by The recorded talk… Read more

     Each of us knows the experience of having our minds hijacked by extraneous thoughts that whisk us far away from the present.  Among the ways we seek to correct course is to draw upon the capacities of our individual minds, by trying to ‘concentrate harder.’        We rarely seek balance outside ourselves.   But… Read more

     It is sometimes noted that the Early Buddhist teaching tradition, in which our sangha mainly operates, is not entirely intuitively persuasive about anatta, non-self.        Other related traditions can provide experiential and intellectual support for the context out of which anatta arises.  This week, Eric brings to us a guided meditation from Richard Lang and a… Read more

Some may be familiar with the poet Matsuo Basho’s haikus, each a literary snapshot of a moment in time.  One of his most famous is “The old pond,” here translated by Robert Hass: The old pond– a frog jumps in, sound of water. The more we look into it, the more remarkable it becomes. Artistic expression… Read more

The year’s beginning is a good time to renew our practice – and going back to basics with a fresh perspective can be a good way to do that. Jackie guided our session this Sunday, drawing on the approaches taught by dharma teacher Tuere Sala, known for her emphasis on meeting overwhelm and stress with… Read more

Doubt is the fifth of the Five Hindrances, which the Buddha taught. Phillip Moffitt considers doubt to be the most devastating of the hindrances because when it arises and overwhelms the mind, the mind ceases to work to understand itself. Doubt also undermines effort. In this talk, Moffitt deconstructs doubt and suggests ways of applying… Read more