Burlington Buddhist Sangha

A recent and increasingly popular trend in Buddhism is “pragmatic” or “hardcore” Buddhism as exemplified by the teachings of Daniel Ingram.    Sam guided our exploration of this development by playing excerpts of video interviews with Ingram as well as some short readings from his book “Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book”.  

The first excerpt was from:  Buddha at the Gas Pump [batgap.com  #235] with host Rick Archer.

The second excerpt was from: fitmind.co , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWUV7hZE0BU&feature=emb_rel_pause  with host Liam

A third excerpt (that wasn’t played during Sangha) was hosted by Guru Viking:  guruviking.com #14.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke7fteuXOA8 

Interview #40 is also with Ingram, a “pandemic edition”

Daniel Ingram’s book is available for free, with other stuff, on his website: integrateddaniel.info The second edition of his book is available here: mctb.org 

This week’s Sangha explored Samatha, which, broadly speaking, is the practice of meditation with the intention of developing calm and tranquility.  Samatha is one of the key approaches to Samadhi, often translated as “concentration”, but better be thought of “a state of collectedness”. 

Margaret skillfully led the session, including a guided meditation by Chas Dicapua, available here: https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/43/talk/61042/

We also listened to excerpts from a talk by Chas, which can be found here: https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/43/talk/61043/

The daily reflections by Chas Dicapua can be found on the Insight Meditation Society YouTube page. We listened to one of these:

(These can all also be found on the IMS page on Facebook)

During the discussion, Denise recommended the following book in connection to the relation between physical tension and mental trauma:

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk 

When we endeavor to practice metta, we may be drawn to the gentle side of lovingkindness.  However, there is another face of kindness that perhaps gets overlooked but merits a deeper exploration and attention: fearlessness.  This Sunday, Jessica built on last week’s discussion on kindness and compassion, sharing a talk by Christina Feldman who offers that the fearlessness of metta is best cultivated when there is fear – which feels especially relevant for these times.

The talk is available here: https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/44/talk/26115/

A very influential part of the talk was the poem “Kindness”, by Naomi Shihab Nye from her book Words under the Words, which you can read below:

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.

From Words Under the Words: Selected Poems. Copyright © 1995 by Naomi Shihab Nye.

How do we stay present to the suffering around and within us and not lose heart?  This time needs us – the world needs us.  As we navigate the many unknowns in this time of pandemic and experience the world around us grasping for assurance and stability (often through blame and judgment) it can be difficult to stay connected to our hearts. This week Ginny focused our time on cultivating the practice of Lovingkindness or Metta, offering ourselves, our loved ones, difficult people and the whole earth tenderness and care.

The talk we heard was “Directional Metta Practice with Jesse Maceo Vega Frey” from a Vipassana Retreat at IMS and is available here:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/337/34426.html

Here are some quotes that Ginny included:

Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis upon which your mind is established.  

(SN 12.40)

---

The thought manifests as the word;

The word manifests as deed;

The deed develops into habit;

And habit hardens into character.

So watch the thought and its ways with care,

And let it spring from love

Born out of concern for all beings.

The Buddha; From Lovingkindness – Salzberg p. 6

---

Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.
Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.
Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child’s training wheels
To be laid aside
When you finally live
With veracity
And love.
Hafiz is a divine envoy
Whom the Beloved
Has written a holy message upon.
My dear, please tell me,
Why do you still
Throw sticks at your heart
And God?
What is it in that sweet voice inside
That incites you to fear?
Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred.
This is the time
For you to compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.
Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.

Now is the time – Hafiz

In struggling with the many current unknowns, we are reminded that we can face anything if we focus on the present moment and meet what comes our way with equanimity.  Equanimity is a key spiritual faculty which allows us to face the known and the unknown, the ecstasies and the despairs, with steadiness and lightness. Equanimity helps us engage with life from an unlimited and interconnected perspective.

This past Sunday, despite Zoom having some technical difficulties, Eveline masterfully brought this topic into our discussion. She played a talk by Stephen Fulder that explores deeply the role of equanimity in our practice and life, how to develop it and use it to let the world in, not keep it out.

The talk is available here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/589/56385.html

As we live our daily lives, in times of health and happiness or in times of great fear and uncertainty, we will encounter the Buddha’s classic Hindrances. Indeed, any experience we really notice is probably infused with a Hindrance of some kind. But the name of these phenomenons may be misleading. By paying a more subtle attention we may be able to use these aspects of our experience as a way to investigate, learn, and grow in wisdom. This week Payton guided our Sangha’s exploration of what the Hindrances are to us, how they manifest, and how they can shift our awareness in positive ways.

Primarily we listened to a talk by Nathan Glyde from Gaia House entitled “Hindrances in Daily Life or Deep Meditation”. That talk is available here:

https://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/836/talk/61710/

The classic 5 Hindrances (in Payton’s interpretation) are:

• Greed and Aversion
• Ill-will
• Restlessness and Worry
• Sloth and Torpor
• Doubt

Nathan collapses these down to 3 Hindrances which, as he says, might be easier to “fit in your pocket”.

• Taṇhā (thirst, craving, or green)
• An imbalance of energy in the body/mind
• Doubt

This week Joey led our reflections through different modes, beginning with a guided body scan; here is a link to the body scan by Koshin Paley Ellison, Soto Zen teacher and Co-Guiding Teacher of the New York Zen Center of Contemplative Care (also the author of Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up). Scroll down past the other teachers to hear Ellison’s talk: https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/online-meditation/ 

Next, Joey played excerpts from a talk by Zen priest and author Zoketsu Norman Fischer on Suffering and Gratitude: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/134/26188.html   Joey writes:

The book I believe he refers to in his talk and that I have found helpful at this time is called Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong.

In these times and in all times, his point that patience gives us the capacity to welcome difficulty is one I am trying to keep in mind.  By asking “what’s happening?” when fear, anxiety or narrow-mindedness arises can actually keep us, as he says, on the path of least resistance and the smoothest approach to happiness.  He points out that the practice of patience when tough times arise, gives us the opportunity to both notice all the ways we try to avoid them and when we can turn toward misfortune or difficulty with strength, forbearance and dignity we are ennobled in the process.

He reminds us that even in suffering, there is the possibility of gratitude. Because of our pain we are more sympathetic to others.  “Finally, yes, I’m grateful.  I healed my wounds and was able to love.”

Finally, Singularity by Marie Howe: 

Jeffrey also recommended the website: https://www.brainpickings.org/

Patrick guided our reflections this week, focusing on the ways we can use the current circumstance to strengthen our practice, drawing on excerpts from a talk by Zohar Lavie.

Dharma can be a refuge, a resource, and a call to action. Lavie offers practical wisdom for using this unique time we have in the best possible way: how we can help ourselves and others, and how we can take away from these moments things that will stay with us into the future.

The talk is available here:

https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/522/talk/61250/

Also, Jeffrey shared a link to the following video, which he felt was relevant to our current times.

The idea of a Buddha Nature that is inherently ours, waiting to be discovered, is both powerful and elusive. Over time, teachers have offered various ways of awakening to it.  Michael guided our reflections and meditations this past Sunday, as we explored ways of encountering this often undiscovered dimension of experience that  is always here.

There was no recorded talk.

From the first noble truth onward, the dharma invites us to be comfortable with what makes us uncomfortable—and in these times, uncertainty looms large for many.  This week, Ginny guided our reflections on meeting uncertainty, drawing on the words and work of Pema Chodron, Katherine Thanas and angel Kyodo Williams.  As Thanas reminds us,  “Working with whatever comes up, not viewing anything as an interruption or hindrance in our lives, we come to see whatever arises as our life.”

Here is the link to angel Kyodo williams’ brief instruction on what she calls “SKY” (Self-care, Kindness, and Yearning).

We also were given writing prompts after our sitting, which was a surprisingly impactful experience. Those prompts are:

I yearn for…
What matters most to me is…

Some books that were recommended during the discussion:

• Radical Dharma
• The Truth of this Life
• Comfortable with uncertainty