Archive of Talks

This week, Payton guided our Sangha on the wide topic of Exhaustion. What is it to be exhausted? I think we all know the feeling. Physical exhaustion is a fairly gross sensation, where the body just doesn’t quite operate the way we want it to, and we may find it actively seeking rest. Exhaustion of… Read more

Typically, we approach the Buddha Dharma with the intention of gaining something: a quiet mind, a lofty insight, a new sense of identity.  With luck and a supple frame of mind, we can learn to observe what is actually currently happening in this mind of ours, which is both vast and tranquil and leaping from… Read more

“Remove the veil, so that I may see what is really happening here, and not be intoxicated, by my stories and my fears” Elizabeth Lesser Teaching through stories and a deep understanding of human psychology, Tara Brach describes how our brains are wired to turn away from what is truly happening and fixate on anything… Read more

Practice “off of the cushion” is every bit as instructive as quiet sitting.  So for this week’s discussion, Andrea presented one aspect of the eightfold path that’s a clear call to apply mindfulness in our daily lives: right speech (also sometimes translated a “wise” speech).  We also broke into pairs in which members of the sangha were… Read more

At first or even second look, Buddhism is not quickly associated with Faith.  In fact many look upon it as free of that which was least appealing in their religious upbringing, the insistence on things unseen, accessible only by belief.  But it turns out that Saddha, usually translated “Faith”, is one of the five most important… Read more

Much of the time, as we see life through a lens of our perceptions and thoughts, we are so caught up in our mind’s stories and made-up reality, that we can’t see things as they really are. There is great freedom in being able to let go of long held, distorted views; and there is… Read more