Archive of Talks

  • Our Bodies, Concentration, and Insight

    This Sunday Michael guided a meditation on the first Foundation of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of the Body. The practice he shared was from the teachings of Bhikkhu Anālayo, a scholar and meditation teacher from Germany. Anālayo compared the Satipatthana Sutta in three of the original traditions of Buddhism and found which parts are common among them.… Read more

  • Sloth and Torpor

    Adam guided our reflections this past Sunday on the Hindrance of Sloth and Torpor. Laziness is only one facet of this complex Hindrance to our lives, meditative and otherwise.  A dharmic analysis of the causes and conditions of Sloth and Torpor can help us meet this hindrance with more skill and greater effectiveness. From Adam: I… Read more

  • Desire and Renunciation

    This past Sunday, Mike guided our reflections on the oft-confusing topic of Renunciation in our lay culture. Mike utilized a talk by Leela Sarti, who is a visiting teacher at Gaia House in England, linked below: http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/364/talk/31696/ Read more

  • Mindfulness of Dhammas

    This morning Rebecca read to us from Joseph Goldstein’s book, Mindfulness, focusing on Mindfulness of Dhammas, particularly the concept of “Right” or “Wise” Speech. The discussion brought up the importance of examining one’s intention when considering the wisdom of saying something critical of another. How tightly do we cling to the idea that we are… Read more

  • Interdependence

    This past Sunday Zac guided our reflection on the topic of interdependence. Matthieu Ricard says, “The concept of interdependence lies at the heart of the Buddhist vision of the nature of reality, and has immense implications in Buddhism regarding how we should live our lives.” Below are some resources which Zac used to focus the… Read more

  • The Six Entanglements

    This Sunday Payton led a discussion on the Six Sense Bases (the usual five plus the mind), which Gil Fronsdal calls the “Six Entanglements” based on a different interpretation of the word usually translated as “fetter” into English. The discussion was centered around a talk by Gil linked here: http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/6452.html The talk invited us to… Read more