Archive of Talks

This past Sunday Bobby focused our Sangha’s thoughts on anatta, the concept of no self. Anatta is the doctrine that there is in humans no permanent, underlying substance, that the stories we tell about ourselves to construct an identity are empty and meaningless. We suffer when we perceive ourselves as separate, instead of embracing our… Read more

This past Sunday Joey offered the guidance of several teachers to deepen both our questions and our commitment in the practice of compassion. We began with a guided meditation by Tara Brach using the practice of “RAIN” for self-compassion. We then listened to Gil Fronsdal in an excerpt from his thought-provoking dharma talk, “Don’t Give… Read more

Jeffrey J led a session on Expanding Our Experience of Sangha this week. Our Sangha operates somewhat on a “drop-in” basis. Where might we take the sense of “community” in Sangha? Other “religions” offer much in terms of interaction and spaghetti dinners. How might we reflect on, and nudge, our understanding of “Sangha”?We will engage with each other to… Read more

Lorilee guided our reflections as we continue our sangha’s discussions around how to approach the particular complexities that life presents us with today, given political and environmental turmoil.  We listened to and discussed a talk given by Donald Rothberg at Spirit Rock on “Metta (Lovingkindness), Equanimity, and Daily Life Practice”. The talk is available here: https://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/55/talk/60427/ Read more

Martin Luther King Jr. was a revolutionary thinker and embodied the Buddhist traits of lovingkindness, compassion, and fearlessness in the face of the Eight Worldly Winds. Though a Christian minister, he was exposed to Buddhist philosophy through his correspondence with Vietnamese monk and fellow peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh and even nominated Nhat Hanh for… Read more

The mind wanders. We know this. Jeffrey J guided a discussion on ways to approach the wandering mind, based on Andrea Fella’s work with receptive awareness. We explored how to pay attention to the departing and returning of awareness. The talk is available here: https://audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/10387.html Read more