Archive of Talks

  • Buddhist practice and Nature

    Having conquered all temptations, Siddhartha touched the ground with one hand and asked the Earth to be witness to his awakening. ~ The Buddha was born under a tree, first meditated under a tree, became enlightened under a tree, and died under a tree. His relationship with nature was profound and intimate, and guided him on… Read more

  • Planning versus Living

    We often undermine our own possibility of happiness because we are living in future planning for it. This Sunday Wendy guided us as we reflected in depth on this question, drawing insights from a talk by John Peacock addressing our obsession with planning. The talk by John Peacock is “The present alone is our happiness”,… Read more

  • Facing uncertainty and the “What if” mind

    Today Jeff H. led the Sangha as we listened to Brian Lesage from Election Day 2020 in a talk entitled “Facing Uncertainty: Allowing Love to to Return in a Different Way”. You can listen to the talk here:https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/484/talk/62918/ Jeff’s thoughts on this topic are written below. Some people say we are living in unprecedented times:… Read more

  • Reactivity

    News of great anger, tragedy, and destruction of life and environment comes into our awareness from all directions in our modern world. Although this immediacy of information is incredibly useful, a lot of it is triggering to our sensitive hearts, and our heart wants us to react. Sometimes a piece of news can merit a… Read more

  • Varieties of Concentration, Focus, and Steadiness of Mind

    Focusing attention on a single object is fundamental to meditation.  In fact the skill of focusing attention has two distinct applications in meditation practice.   One application is as the fundamental strategy of Samatha practice, which has as its aim the development of calm and tranquility, a “place to rest one’s mind”.   The other application is… Read more

  • Socially engaged Buddhism = Seeing the Interdependence of all life

    Ginny guided our session this Sunday, drawing on readings and teachings from Thich Nhat Hanh and others on the importance of Socially Engaged Buddhism. The hour is striking so close above me, so clear and sharp,that all my senses ring with it.I feel it now: there’s a power in meto grasp and give shape to… Read more