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This Sunday, the purpose of our meeting was to arrive at the best ways to sustain and carry forward the work of our sangha, in ways that benefit all. Sam framed our meeting with reflections from Shaila Catherine about dharmic perspectives on arriving at skillful decisions. 

You can listen to Shaila Catherine’s talk here:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/19180.html

In the talk, she mentions the Kalama Sutta, which is available here: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wheel008.html.

Intentions are important, even critical. In our criminal justice system, a trial attempts to ascertain the intentions of the perpetrator. In our everyday relationships our intentions can be obvious at times we wish that they were not. Buddhism treats intentions as crucial to our success along the path.

This week, Jeff facilitated an exploration of intentions using a recent talk given by Tara Brach titled “The liberating power of conscious intention”. Consciously setting intentions and using mindfulness of our intentions can help us manage our unskillful habits. These practices can help us find stable ground, heal, and find freedom.

You can find Tara’s talk here:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/73134/

In the opening, Tara tells the story of getting a bit lost in the California desert while on retreat. She was able to climb to a higher point where she saw the spire of the retreat center, an old church. Over the course of the retreat she used that spire to find her way back during several outings. Tara uses the analogy of a spire as a tool to help us to return to mindfulness of our deepest intentions.

Tara reminds of a quote from the Buddha:
“We live our entire life on the tip of intention.”

Our intentions are behind our thoughts, our words and our actions. Tara points to two domains of intention which lead to different outcomes:
• The first domain is our deepest intention
• What most matters to us, our liberating aspiration
• Intentions in support of our deepest aspiration
• The second domain includes intentions which lead to suffering
• Ego-level delusions

Mindfulness of our intentions is critical to reducing suffering
• The quality of our relationships is determined by our mindfulness of our intentions
• Intention is the seed that determines our behaviors and creates our experience

The most important thing is remembering the most important thing (what our life is dedicated to).

If we use the reasoning mind to “identify” our deepest intention we will come up with something nice but bland.

Making sincere contact with our deepest intention requires stillness and inner listening to sense what matters to our heart.

We may consider three dimensions of our deepest intention
• Our deepest intention always has to do with manifesting our innate potential (what we are)
• Our deepest intention is embodied. For an aspiration to be awake it needs to be a heartfelt experience and it comes out as sincerity
• Our deepest intention always relates to this moment, is experienced in the here and now.

Training in mindfulness of intention
• Connect with our deepest intention through the practice
• Learn to reconnect when we are lost

When our intentions are ego-centric we feel lacking, disconnected and isolated

Tara suggests a two-part practice:
• Connect with your intentions in the morning before you start your day
• Review your day to check in on whether you remained mindful of your intentions and acted in alignment with your deepest intentions.

What does it mean to have your life become the practice and the practice to become your life? How do you do that? Leslie Booker gives a talk about how she has incorporated sila and the Five Precepts to be her north star and how living from the mindset of sila embodies a life lived with the dharma. Sila, or morality/right conduct, is not a set of commandments, but guides to skillful living; there are three stages of sila along the Eightfold Path: right speech, right action, and right livelihood.

This week, Eveline brought together reflections on how the Five Precepts have manifested in our own lives.

The talk Eveline played was by Leslie Booker which you can listen to here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/73081.html

Almost everyone in our sangha has been practicing long enough to hit a dry patch, where meditation becomes dull and routine.  But then something happens that renews our practice. We go on retreat; we change our method in big ways or small.  Perhaps we take a vow, or discover an ancient mantra’s power.  Someone close to us dies; a teacher calls our attention to what we missed seeing.  We add a simple ritual to our life; a friend shares the secret that has kept her practice fresh for years. . . .
     This Sunday, we reflected and came together to share when practice became difficult and what has been helpful for us in renewing it.  Michael introduced a few readings and a brief video.

How do we process and respond to increasing societal oppression and violence? What helps us transform the energies of fear, hatred and delusion. To help shed light on this discussion, this week Ron drew on a talk by Tara Brach, which you can view at the link below.

Navigating the Dark Ages

At the Sangha this week we explored the meaning of the terms consciousness, perception, mindfulness and wisdom, and reflected on their role in the dharma and Buddhist practice.

The counterparts of these terms in Pali have very precise meanings. By way of contrast, there is no correlate in Pali for the word “awareness”, although it is a term that certainly evokes many of the ideas that are central to Buddhist thinking; there was interesting discussion of what this term signifies for us.

Margaret played excerpts from two talks, one by Guy Armstrong (https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/19071.html), and the other by Joseph Goldstein (https://dharmaseed.org/talks/player/19292.html) Of particular note was Joseph Goldstein’s clear distinction between perception and mindfulness.

Mindfulness, or sati, is a term that has saturated American society and beyond.  We as meditators may consider ourselves to have a deeper or more authentic understanding of what this term means, potentially even proclaiming it the driver of our practice.  When we find ourselves lost in the fast pace of modern life though, there is benefit in revisiting this particular aspect of the eightfold path in order to slow down and regain our intention.  For without sati our actions and thoughts are grounded in reactivity, but with sati is choice.  Therefore, “sati is the inflection point of freedom.” 

Andrea and the sangha joined together in cultivating this stronger sense of freedom this past Sunday with a talk by Jill Shepard that offers some fresh perspectives on wise mindfulness. 

You can listen to the talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/66309/

In some dharma teachings, doubt is seen as the great opportunity to plunge into awakening. In others, it is understood as the last obstacle to overcome. How do doubt, faith and perseverance show up in your own practice — a help or a hindrance? Can they be both? This Sunday, Jane presented a talk by Sharon Salzberg to inspire reflection on these questions. You can listen to Sharon’s talk here:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/52/

What most importantly contributes to the story of ourselves which we are constantly telling ourselves, the story of who we are and our relation to the world around us? How is it made? Does it seem to shelter us, or open up wide open spaces? Drawing upon a talk by Ajahn Sucitto, Don S. framed our exploration of this key question this week.

You can listen to the full talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/70550/

It’s a good bet that most of us seek after the experience of joy in our lives. The good news is, joy is inevitable! Narayan Liebenson addresses us from the Buddhist Forest Refuge to coach us to recognize, savor and cultivate joy in its various forms.

Lorilee facilitated this Sunday’s topic by sharing Narayan’s talk, visual images and our own reflections of joy in our lives.

You can listen to Narayan’s talk here:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/70845/