Archive of Talks

In a recent sangha conversation, one of the Buddha’s starkest reflections came up. After the three familiar reminders of the universality of sickness, old age and death, he adds: “Everything I love and hold dear, I will be separated from.”   Then the sequence closes with this final reflection: “I am the owner of my actions, heir to my… Read more

A core teaching,  briefly touched upon by Christina Feldman a few weeks ago, is how the self arises (and passes away) moment by moment and how understanding this leads to liberating insight.  With Sam’s guidance, this week we continued on this theme, with excerpts of dharma talks by Christina Feldman and Joseph Goldstein.  Links to the talks are… Read more

What does it mean to say that renunciation lies at the core of Buddhist practice in the quality of our relationship to living experience? How are peace, happiness and fulfillment to be found through renunciation, letting go, or non-grasping? This Sunday, Jane presented a talk given by Orin Jay Sofer at a month-long retreat held… Read more

Distraction – a fresh approach – was our topic this past Sunday as we met for our monthly in-person gathering. Michel guided our reflections, drawing upon on the Non-Dual tradition exemplified by John Astin’s teachings and guided meditations for a fresh and revealing perspective to the question of the meaning and value of distraction in meditation and ordinary living. Read more

Patience is one of the ten paramis, or perfections of character. Patience is also something lacking in our society. Symptoms of impatience include same day delivery on everything and the expectation that everybody will instantly reply to our messages. Patience is a powerful antidote to negative emotions, including anger. Jeff facilitated this week’s exploration of patience.… Read more

In the beauty and poignancy of spring we can become deeply aware of the beauty of the changes around us. Can we take in this beauty in a way that helps us accept the natural changes of our mind-body and the mind-bodies around us as another deeply beautiful process? One that could bring us to… Read more