Archive of Talks

During the Thanksgiving holiday season, we might be contemplating the role of gratitude in our lives, and wondering how Buddhism can help us navigate the experience of pleasure. Guided by Sarah, this week’s sangha discussion included a recent talk by Jill Shepherd on Muditā, or gladness, as a way of exploring of samādhi, unification of mind, and… Read more

In this time of ongoing uncertainty and perpetual transitions, it would be no surprise to notice the fifth Hindrance of “doubt” creeping its way into our lives. With Andrea guiding the session, this week’s sangha discussion centered around talks by Sharon Salzberg and Tara Brach to explore the presence of doubt in our practice and… Read more

How do we listen to the pulse of the world?  How do we listen to one another?  Our capacity for deep listening can be the source of healing, for others, and for ourselves. This week Stephanie shared with us the reflections of Jack Kornfield as he explored the path to healing, especially through the deep listening that… Read more

This Sunday Jeff H guided our Sangha as we listened to a very powerful talk by James Baraz titled “Seeing Beyond the Mask: Looking Past Our Assumptions”. In his teaching on the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha describes in the Second Noble Truth four kinds of attachments that cause suffering. One of these is attachment… Read more

The meaning of “faith” is complex and, for many of us, strongly colored by past experience. In Buddhist philosophy, the word is sometimes translated as “trust” and is based solely on our own experience. We have “faith”, after all, that the sun will rise because we’ve seen it happen so many times. It is not… Read more

Our perceptions shape our lives. Fortunately, with a little practice, we can perceive how we shape our own perceptions, and realize we are making our situations better or worse by how we perceive them. Then our whole understanding can be stood on its head, transformed: “Here in the dragon’s jaws—many exquisite jewels,” says the Blue… Read more