Author: Payton Swick

Today we spoke about Buddhism, Science, Philosophy, Myth, Epistemic Traps and what all these have to do with one another and more importantly, what they have to do with our response to the world as it we find it.

If you’d like to pull on one of the many threads Eric tried to weave together today, here are some resources.  

Matthew Brensilver’s post-election talk

A Mindscape Interview with C Thi Nguyen

C Thi Nguyen’s paper on Epistemic Traps and Playfulness

Thomas Hertog’s RI talk about Stephen Hawking’s change of heart

Books Mentioned

• There’s Treasure Everywhere by Bill Watterson
• The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt
• The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich
• On the Origin of Time by Thomas Hertog
• Games : Agency as Art by C Thi Nguyen

Movies / Shows Mentioned

• The Lord of the Rings / Rings of Power
• Barbie 
• Black Holes : The Edge of All We Know 

   The feeling that somehow we are not enough pervades the modern psyche – not wise enough or compassionate enough, not good looking or financially secure enough, not having enough friends, just for starts.  And this is not only a contemporary problem.  The feeling of Lack has been an element of being human at least as far back as the Buddha’s time, and the Dharmic teachings address this directly, offering fresh perspectives and pathways to meet this root of the sense of unsatisfactoriness in life.

Darryl guided our reflections, drawing on a talk on “Enoughness” by Narayan, as well as on other sources.

You can listen to the talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/70880/

Most of us are aware that Samadhi reaches far beyond the western idea of concentration, and the explorations of Samadhi by Christina Feldman and Yahel Avigur confirm that understanding and show some unexpected vistas to which this practice can lead us.  

The deep connection of Samadhi to insight reminds of why the Buddha himself first explored that practice and then took a turn. And the close relation between Samadhi and well being, deeply experienced, can also provide us with fresh perspectives. Darryl was our guide this Sunday and shared excerpts from Christina and Yahel that can serve as guided meditations in themselves.

Christina’s talk is here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/77668/

Yahel’s talk is here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/73558/

As if the world not obeying our wishes wasn’t hard enough, we are often completely surrounded by noise. Sometimes that noise takes the form of literal sounds: phone calls, the charismatic TV, the shouted town meeting. Increasingly that noise is textual: email, text messages, social media. And ever present is the noise of the mind: worries, analyses, hopes. A portion of this noise is valuable and necessary, but too often the noise carries us away with it. We become reactive animals without any way to discern what is wholesome and what leads to further suffering. Do the teachings offer us a guide on how to retain our focus in the midst of the distracting Worldly Winds? Payton tried to find out this Sunday along with the rest of our Sangha.

Payton played a talk by Gil Fronsdal, which you can listen to here: https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/6111

The Buddha’s instructions on Satipatthana meditation begin with a deep look into our own bodies.  This can be a problematic beginning for many, especially in our culture with its emphasis on appearance, ethnicity, and race – not to mention the ways that “the body keeps the score” of traumas endured.  Drawing on a talk by Chas DiCapua this week, Jackie guided our discussion of our experience of the roles of embodiment in a life of mindful awakeness.

You can listen to the talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/86739/

“Taking refuge” in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha is sometimes thought of as “becoming a Buddhist,” a once and for all public affirmation of one’s commitment.  For others it is a quiet inner dedication, whispered almost silently each morning while bowing at one’s cushion, before beginning the day’s practice.  Steve, also drawing on a talk by Tara Brach, guided our conversation this week about the diverse presences and meanings of these oft-repeated vows. 
   
Here are the passages from the Dhammapada:

https://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=188

Here is the long talk by Tara Brach:

Here is the talk by Ines Freeman:

Taking Refuge

Here is the Bob Dylan song, “Shelter from the Storm”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzaXlq1Pdmk

Last week, the description of the Buddha’s middle way — between asceticism and sensual indulgence — came up. This Sunday, with Sam’s guidance, we delved further into the Buddhist middle way as a path between ignorance and knowledge, and between existence and non-existence of the “self”. 

Sam played excerpts from the following four talks.

Sharon Salzberg, 6-19-87

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/43178.html

Ayya Medhanandi,  8-21-20

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/62510.html

Kirsten Kratz, 4-10-22

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/70646.html

Ajahn Sucitto, 10-7-23

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/80606.html

Living in light of the Dharma is often pictured as a journey, from here to there, with disruptions, detours, and difficulties along the way to be avoided as much as possible.  But interruptions to the journey and pauses in our progress can of themselves be of real value.  Michael guided our reflections as we explore what interruptions and pauses have to offer us in our practice.

The Eight worldly winds of pleasure/pain, gain/loss, fame/disrepute, and joy/sorrow seem to present us with the never ending problem of attachment to some of them and aversion to the others.  Can we see this problem as beautiful?

Drawing on a talk by Michele McDonald, Eric guided our reflections this week. One of the beautiful aspects of problems is that there are so many skillful teachers in the world, past and present, that are there to help guide us.  The best teachers don’t just show us how to solve a problem, but how to relate to them more skillfully and thus live more skillfully.

You can listen to the talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/33308/

Eric also recommended a book / movie combo:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_of_Your_Life

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrival_(film)

There is a melody, often with a repeating lyric that we encounter in the first level of mindfulness.  But there’s a second melody available too — much richer, easy to overlook, but always present.

Drawing on a talk by Brian LeSage, Don guided our reflections this week, focusing on this second melody, which we feel and touch as much as hear. This second melody is not confined to the meditation cushion, and is perhaps easier to hear sitting quietly in the woods or stroking the cat on your lap. It is there with you, riding your bike or paddling your kayak. You were born with this awareness. Chuck out all of those clunky old concepts. You don’t need them. Let go of your breath and just be.

You can listen to the talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/85479/

During the discussion, the painting The Song of the Lark was brought up, which you can look at and learn about here: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/94841/the-song-of-the-lark