Author: Payton Swick

In times as edgy and dark as these might seem to many, Joy seems a remote  possibility.  But discovering Joy is an essential part of the Buddha’s teachings:  it’s even one of the Seven Factors of Awakening, not to be omitted, or even set aside as something shallow or less noble.

How might we cultivate joy, and taste its benefits?

Darryl framed our discussion today, drawing on excerpts from talks by Carol Wilson, and especially Jill Sheppard.

Carol Wilson https://dharmaseed.org/talks/1157/

Jill Shepherd https://dharmaseed.org/talks/90181/

The underlying method of Buddha’s teaching is one of cultivating conditions, rather than hoping for a miracle.  Even Awakening itself is a matter of causes and conditions, which means that it can be cultivated.  

The Seven Factors of Awakening, as we would suspect, begin with mindfulness, leading to exploration, energy, joy, tranquility, samadhi and finally equanimity.  Don led our discussion of this unfolding process this week, drawing on a talk by Jill Shepherd which follows the links among elements of this sequence and the ways the one gives rise to another.

You can listen to the talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/79704/

Do human needs undermine the Buddhist path, or provide the stone on which our practice is sharpened?

What does it mean to have needs as a human being on a path that seems always to teach letting go, non-attachment, and non-self?  

What does it mean to have dreams, aspirations, and deeply held values on this path?  What are needs, and how do we relate to them with wisdom in a world that is beyond our control?

Trina guided our exploration of these deep-reaching questions, drawing on Oren Jay Sofer’s explorations in a talk titled “The Deep Freedom of Human Needs.”

A link to the talk is forthcoming.

Ellen shared some thoughts and explorations of equanimity this week. It appears in the Brahma Viharas, the 7 factors of awakening and the 10 perfections/paramis. Equanimity has roles to play in our meditations and in our day to day lives. 

This exploration was be followed by a brief talk by Heather Martin introducing an equanimity meditation.

A link to the talk is forthcoming.

It seems as if big questions about social justice and equity are arising every day, with big consequences for large numbers of people.  

How does our individual personal karma intersect with interest in social justice?  

Does understanding causality as described in the Buddhist idea of dependent arising illuminate the unfolding of social action as well as personal development?

How can comprehending the links between the social and the personal bring wisdom to make our society a more just and compassionate context in which we all live.  

Jackie guided our reflections on such questions this week, utilizing excerpts from a talk by Bhante Bodhidhamma.

A link to the talk is below:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/71773.html

 “Metta”  is one of the four Bhramaviharas or Divine Abodes, and is most often translated as loving-kindness. In a world with seemingly stark polarities, metta invites us to love without exception, even when it feels impossible. 

Yet, through the training of the heart, there is discernment: to love wisely, not blindly. Can metta be an act of self-care and collective healing? Sonia guided us in this week’s session as we practiced and discussed metta in ways that we may not have experienced before. 

A link to the talk is below.

Narayan’s Talk 

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/83271.html

Guided Meditation 

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/83280.html

This week, Sam shared parts of a video recording of a recent talk by Joseph Goldstein on “Why we meditate”.   He discusses how it’s not just for peace of mind but also for understanding how our mind works,  how habits dominate our minds, how the mind can be trained, and how the mind can be made our friend.   Further, Joseph devotes some time to discussing suffering, impermanence, and “no-self”.

The talk is here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/90332.html

Every moment of life is filled with a constant stream of experience. Some pleasant, some unpleasant, some neutral, and we aren’t really AWARE of most of it. We just “wake up” every so often and discover a world around us that has a particular bearing on our heart. Then we struggle through that world until it changes and we repeat the process. But we DO have moments of awareness. There are brief instances in every life where experience has not stopped, but our heart is not dragged around by it.

We might call these moments Nibbana, and we might call the other moments Samsara, but since both are experiencing the same things, what’s the difference? How could Nibbana and Samsara co-exist? Perhaps neither of them are a state and both are actually actions.

Payton guided our Sangha this week as we investigated the nature of awareness and misperception. We listened to Carol Wilson discuss the topic in a recent talk from the IMS Forest Refuge.

You can hear the full talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/90176/

In all that we do or say or experience – what becomes our Karma, and what simply passes by and drops away?  Are there behaviors we can’t help enacting? What does the voice in our head repeat and repeat?  Is there a way precisely that irksome repetition can become the raw material for transforming our own lives?  

Sometimes met as an exotic concept, mysteriously tangled with past lives and such, Karma can be understood as a workable force in the life which we are living — or which is living us — right now.  

Drawing on the experiences and insights of a variety of practitioners and teachers, Michael guided our reflections this week as we explored Karma together.

Below are Michael’s notes from the talk:

The Buddha offers for our use these Five daily Reflections

“These are the facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.

1. I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
2. I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape having ill health.
3. I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
4. I will be  separated from all that is dear and appealing to me. There is no way to escape being separated from all that I value.
5. My actions are my only true belongings. I am the heir of my actions (kamma), the owner of my actions (kamma), related to the world through my actions (kamma). I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I be the heir…

These are the facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.

—Anguttara nickaya  numerical discourses 5.57

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A poem by Jane Kenyon embodying a skillful approach to impending death:

Otherwise

—Jane Kenyon wife of Donald Hall

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.

I took the dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.
At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.

We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.

I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.

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Attributed to Lao Tzu   in the    Dao De Jing.

Watch your thoughts, they become words

watch your words, they become actions

watch your actions,  they become habits

watch your habits, they become character

watch your character,  for it becomes your destiny.

---

And poetry from a 14th Century Samurai, used today to talk about finding allies that can bring you to more skillful action.

I have no parents I make the heavens and earth my parents

I have no home  I make awareness my home

I have no life or death  I make the tides of breathing my life and death 

I have no divine power  I make honesty my  power 

I have no means I make understanding my means 

I have no strategy I make opportunity my strategy

I have no principles    I make adaptability to all circumstances my principles

I have  no tactics I make emptiness and fulness my tactics

I have no enemy  I make carelessness my enemy 

I have no armor  I make benevolence my armor 

I have no castle  I make immovable-mind my castle 

I have no sword  I make absence of self-concept my sword.

What is the opposite of freedom?  Exploring this question leads to insights into the 2nd noble truth regarding craving.  Are craving and desire the same?  If not, how to tell the difference?  How exactly do we let go of craving as the Buddha instructs?  Is the path just a grim struggle until nirvana, or can we find relief, even pleasure, along our way?  Eric drew on a talk by Matt Brensilver to explore these questions this Sunday.

You can listen to the talk here:
https://dharmaseed.org/talks/86614/

And the book Eric mentioned:

Universal Yoga, The Bhagavad Gita for Modern Times by Prem Prakash