Archive of Talks

As we progress with our practice, we may discover that there are moments, or even long periods of peaceful concentration. And these moments may occur even outside of formal meditation; we may be focused on a work task, a family task, even a beautiful song or a cup of tea. When such states are present,… Read more

The Buddha taught that Three Refuges support us in our practice:  the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.  In the sangha, the “Third Jewel”, we can reflect and find inspiration.  In sangha, our minds become harmonized, our bodies are invigorated, and our hearts are warmed. This week, Stephanie brought to our group the investigation of what makes a sangha… Read more

The world is messier than we would like, so we live in delusion, trying to make it the way we would like it to be. We tend to interact with our ideas about people and things, rather than with people and things as they really are. This leads to alienation and to suffering. In Part… Read more

Intentions and motivations. Why do we do what we do? The Buddha highlighted this impulse that connects body and mind calling it “intention” [Pali “cetena”] — the urge that gives rise to all we do. Every action of body, speech, and even every thought, is preceded by this impulse.  Attending to this factor and investigating it… Read more

It is a commonplace among Buddhists that the suffering which the dharma may help us avoid is self-generated psychological suffering, the kind of ruminative thinking that can get us in so much trouble. But the Buddha himself was well aware of physical pain; he listed sickness, old age, and death as major causes of suffering, and… Read more

Last week we discussed the ways in which our illusory sense of self is reinforced by papanca, the mind’s tendency to proliferate thought unceasingly.  To anchor this week’s reflections, Eveline has chosen a talk by Mark Nunberg on ‘Establishing and Trusting Awareness.’         Awareness can reveal the ever-shifting conditions from which all experience unfolds,… Read more