Archive of Talks

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

Movie time comes to the sangha. This Sunday, Patrick hosted a notable departure from our regular routine.  We spent almost the entire meeting watching the movie Walk With Me, a documentary about Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings and the lives of the monastics at Plum Village. Here is a synopsis of the film: “Slow down and… Read more

Jeff H guided our reflections this past Sunday, focusing on mudita, usually translated as appreciative joy, drawing on talks by Jill Shepherd and Jaya Rudgard, as well as his own exploration of this joy in practice. Jeff opened with a poem he wrote for the sangha: Turn to my joy,Like the dove turns to the windAnd… Read more