Archive of Talks

  • Between stimulus and response

    Payton led a very lively discussion this Sunday on what choices we have around the moment between stimulus and response. Specifically, the chain of experiences as described by Christina Feldman: What we contact, we feel [this is Vedana or Feeling Tone]. What we feel, we perceive. What we perceive, we think about. What we think… Read more

  • Right View

    This past Sunday Zac led our discussion on the topic of Right (or “Wise”) View. He played excerpts from two talks: Lama Surya Das 2012-01-17 32:07 Right View Insight Meditation South Bay – Silicon Valley: Tuesday Talks—2012 http://dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/283/22760.html Rob Burbea 2006-12-31 56:58 Views In Practice (…They make all the difference) Gaia House: New Year’s Retreat… Read more

  • The Fourth Moment

    This Sunday, Rebecca led our gathering by reading the transcript of a talk given by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Trungpa Rinpoche describes a “Fourth Moment” beyond what we consider the three concepts of relative time: past, present, and future. He describes this moment as “now-ness”, a sense of complete awareness of the ever-changing nature of reality… Read more

  • The Five Aggregates and Right View

    The theme of today’s Sangha was the five aggregates – with emphasis on their relevance in the context of right view. To aid this discussion, Margaret used excerpts from two talks, listed below. Joseph Goldstein: http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/96/talk/27189/ And Ayya Santacitta: http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/278/talk/25971/ Margaret also referenced an excerpt from John Burdett’s Bangkok Tattoo, which we’ve seen at Sangha… Read more

  • Consequences of Right Speech

    Patrick guided our reflections this Sunday on the topic of Right (or Wise) Speech and Wrong (or Unwise) Speech, and insights into the inner and outer effects of each. The discussion was anchored with excerpts from a talk by Shalia Catherine. From Dharmaseed: Speech is given particular importance in the Buddhist path because wrong speech… Read more

  • Emptiness – What is Real?

    This Sunday, Sam guided our reflections, continuing with the theme of Emptiness from last week, which lies at the root of so much Buddhist practice. Excerpts from talks by Sally and Guy Armstrong, as well as a guided meditation led by Guy anchored the presentation. The talks were from the recent retreat “Emptiness” at IMS.… Read more