Archive of Talks

Last Sunday, Michael directed our reflections on breath, dividing the session into two parts. First was the way the Buddha described his own default practice during the long rains retreats as a “sacred dwelling, a noble dwelling, and a tathagatha’s dwelling. To explicate this, we began by listening to a short excerpt (minutes 11-27) from… Read more

This Sunday Wendy guided a discussion which revolved around the idea of Personas and the sense of self. The central theme was being able to exist in roles and experience the world without being caught up in one “self” or another. That is, to still have an ego, but to recognize it and be able… Read more

This past Sunday, Sam guided our reflections on Non-Duality. This spiritual approach spans a number of different orientations and appears in different forms in Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as esoteric versions of other faiths. The discussion was broadened with a recorded talk by James Baraz: http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/86/talk/11695/ In particular, we listened to minutes 6:47-13:03 and… Read more

Following our discussion of dukkha, Joey offered the guidance by Yanai Postelnik on the hindrances and how we can work with them.  You might notice how they are arising in your practice this week, naming them and bringing any part of that experience to our discussion.  Just to remind you, the hindrances are desire, aversion,… Read more

Payton led the discussion on Sunday around the topic of sitting (or walking, or standing, or lying down) with physical discomfort and pain. The focus was a talk given by Sky Dawson, available here: http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/199/talk/20612/ Some key points from her talk: Is a mountain heavy? Only if we try to pick it up. What happens… Read more

Sam hosted this session on Freedom, with differing perspectives offered by three dharma teachers: Jack Cornfield, Tara Brach, and Christina Feldman. “A Taste of Freedom”,  Christina Feldman, 12-27-08,  [0:00—1:38 and 9:38-19:37]. http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/44/talk/10805/ “The Great Perfection: The Taste of Freedom”,  Tara Brach, 10-5-99, [0:00-22:01]. http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/175/talk/1950/ “Freedom and the Way it is…”, Jack Kornfield, 9-6-10,  [10:53-15:52]. http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/85/talk/10011/ Read more