Author: burlingtonbuddhist

This week Nancy offered the first look into the teaching that the Buddha himself called equal in importance to the Four Noble Truths – the teaching of Dependent Arising (paticca samupadda). This is the Buddhist rich and subtle understanding of causality, which focuses on how particular conditions give rise to our experience.

This systematic view is rich in practice possibilities – transforming neurotic patterns into healthy ones, extricating oneself from stuckness or downward spirals.  In the traditional sequence, the first of 12 links in the chain of Dependent Arising is Ignorance, and with Nancy we explored the ignorance of prana – energy in our own bodies – and ignorance of the Four Noble Truths, and the ways in which actively ignoring those truths increases our suffering.

Even though our sangha meeting today was called off because of snow and ice which trapped several of us (including our presenters) in their homes, four members of the sangha made it to the studio and had a lovely quiet winter sit.

Our Sangha meeting today was canceled due to snow.  We used the time ego meditate at home.

Sam led the discussion, focusing on the three heavenly messengers – old age, sickness, and death.  Excerpts from the following dharma talks were used (all available on dharmaseed.org):
1) Heavenly Messengers by Narayan Liebenson , 3/23/06 – first 13 min.,
2) Natchiketa and the Lord of Death by Jack Kornfield, 9/10/12 – first 9.5 min,
3) Mystery and the Graciousness of Uncertainty by Jack Kornfield, 7/22/13 – first 14 min

In addition, the three poems we reflected on are here:

Poems for Heavenly Messengers

Margaret guided exploration of Perception. This third of the five skandhas relates us clearly – or not sometimes so clearly – to the outside world. To what degree are we subject to the biases of our perceptions, and to what degree can we gain clarity and perspective on our own distortions, thus taking a step toward genuine freedom?

Jessica led our reflections today,focusing on the ways we can meet negative emotions which arise habitually.  Excerpts from a dharma talk by Tara Brach on Self-Compassion provided perspective for the discussion.  For the full talk, click here

http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/175/talk/18874/

This Sunday, Anne B guided our reflections, investigating how our practice ripens as we dedicate ourselves to it over time.  Contributing to the discussion were excerpts from Spirit Rock Teacher Anna Douglas, speaking on “What Changes as We Practice?”  That talk can be found at

http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/23/talk/10372/

Wendy guided our reflections today, anchoring our focus in excerpts from Pema Chodron’s talks in “No Time to Lose: a Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva,” which is also available in print from Shambhala publications.   Pema’s presentation is structured around the provocative epigrammatic observations of Shantideva, the 8th century Indian Buddhist teacher of such enduring influence.  His project of dismantling our tendencies toward anger is rooted in helping us to see how extensively and quickly flashes of anger harm us, and can in a moment dismantle long stretches of cultivated virtue.

Jackie traced for us the historical connections of Yoga and Buddhism, beginning from the Vedas and moving forward through the Upanishads, the teachings of Gautama Buddha, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, which contain among the offered methods of contemplation some of those that Prince Siddhartha would have studied and practiced before his enlightenment vigil at the Bodhi Tree.  In addition to the historical perspsective, Jackie guided us in some basic pranayama breathing and a restorative yogic pose, the traditional sivasana or corpse asana.

Rebecca guided our reflections this morning, centering them around a recent talk by Jack Kornfield: Who Am I?  the Question of Identity, which explores how the practice of loving awareness allows a profound shift of identity from a small limited sense of self to spacious wisdom.

http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/85/talk/18757/