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This Sunday, Mike guided a very involved discussion around Anatta, typically translated into English as “not-self” and a frequent stumbling block for many new to the practice. After all, clearly there is a “self”, and self-denial is the source of much suffering in our culture. The Buddha was not in disagreement with that, but rather was concerned with common experience of identifying with certain roles and experiences and becoming attached to their seeming permanence. When those roles and experiences change, if we grasp too tightly, we suffer.

Mike played a talk by Akincano Marc Weber which referenced the story of Channa and his desire to better understand and experience Anatta. The talk is available here:

http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/360/talk/35032/

Some of Mike’s notes on the talk follow:

Other monks teach [Channa] that the five khandha’s are impermanent and non-self…he eventually believes them intellectually, but doubts his ability to really believe this, to reconfigure his experience to believe this in moment-by-moment experience.

Channa goes to see Ananda, who tells him that he IS capable of understanding, that this process of searching is the beginning of his healing.

Then Ananda shares a teaching… in which the Buddha says:

“This world for the most part, depends on a duality, upon the notion of existence, and the notion of nonexistence. For one who sees the origin of world as it really is, with correct wisdom, there is no notion of nonexistence in regard to the world. And for one who sees the cessation of the world as it really is, with correct wisdom, there is no notion of existence in regard to the world. This world is for the most part shackled by engagement, clinging, and adherence, but this one with right view does not become engaged and cling through an engagement and clinging mental standpoint, adherence, underlying tendency. He does not take a stand about my self. He has no perplexity or doubt that what arises is only suffering, arising what ceases is only suffering ceasing. His knowledge about this is independent of others.”

[To paraphrase the] Buddha’s teaching: “We don’t have a being or nonbeing question, we have a process of becoming. In that process of becoming, on the basis of conditions, things arise in a process of becoming, and when these conditions fade, that process of becoming also begins to fade.”

Buddha teaches that what arises is not the self, but suffering… what ceases is not self, but suffering.

This Sunday Wendy led the discussion, playing a talk by Tara Brach which included the wonderful Inuit story of the Skeleton Woman.

The talk is here:

http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/175/talk/38657/

The story Zac read today was about Khemā of Great Wisdom. He goes on to say, “the other story that I didn’t get to was about Bhaddā Kuṇḍalakesā: The Debating Ascetic. The material was from Great Disciples of the Buddha (publishers website here, full PDF here).”

Slightly different versions of these stories can be found here:

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/hecker/wheel292.html#khema

http://wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-buddhas-chief-female-disciple-khema.html

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/hecker/wheel292.html#bhadda

This past Sunday, Margaret guided our reflections while featuring a talk by Greg Scharf on Impermanence and non-clinging.

The link for the talk was:

http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/229/talk/38189/

A few notes and quotes follow.

This talk starts with a Jataka story.   These are the stories that tell about the previous lives of the Buddha, in both human and animal form. Like fables, these stories always contain a message.

“Fruitful as is the act of giving,  yet still more fruitful is to go with a  confident heart to the refuge of the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha, and  to undertake the five precepts of virtue

But fruitful as that is, yet it is still more fruitful to retain loving kindness in ones being, for only as long as the time it takes to milk the cow.

And fruitful as this is,  yet still more fruitful is to maintain the perception of impermanence only as long as the snapping of a finger.”

“Nothing whatever is to be clung to as me or mine.”

“There seem to be a lot of issues, so much at stake, so much we need to control – but there is nothing to hold on to.  If you are getting rope-burn, only solution is to let go.”

Wendy guided our reflections this past Sunday, using Gil Fronsdal’s perspectives on the ever-challenging and very interesting Buddhist concept of Not-Self to launch our discussion.

The two talks of which Wendy played clips are below:

http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/837.html
http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/845.html

This Sunday, Joey guided the sitting and discussion with a talk by Andrea Fella on “Receptive Awareness”.

The talk is here: http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/7172.html

What are the activities or areas of your life where you habitually lose mindfulness?  Planning, driving, spacing out as you wash the dishes, jumping on the computer, turning on the radio?  Once you can identify these holes where mindfulness is lost, you can turn your curiosity to follow where your attention goes.  Receptive awareness is about following the flow of life experience even when it is a state like sleepiness, dullness, or spaciness without trying to fix or change it….simply remaining aware of what is happening, where does your attention go next?

Here is a guided meditation in receptive awareness: http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/7136.html  It’s 32 mins. long.

This past Sunday, Rebecca guided our reflections keyed to the final chapter in Joseph Goldstein’s book on the Satipatthana Sutta (the book is here): “The Realization of Nibbana,”

Today Payton played a talk by Gil Fronsdal entitled “Response to Election” which focused largely on the role of mindful practice in times of great fear and anger. Gil spoke on the importance of love during these times. He listed what he called the four kinds of love emphasized in Buddhist teachings (which are in fact the Brahma-viharas ): loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.

The group discussion then centered around how we must remaing aware of all the events going on around us, no matter how small, in the wake of the Election results, and take action to keep our deepest values alive even when there may be risk to ourselves. That action, however, should be rooted in kindness rather than fear.

Gil’s talk is available here: http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/7270.html

Another talk he gave just after the election is available here, in which Gil describes the image of a lighthouse to light the way while remaining stable even in great storms: http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/7252.html

This Sunday Sam played a talk by Christina Feldman entitled “Wisdom of Disappointment”. In this talk, Christina maintains that not only does everyone experience disappointment but that also that the path to liberation begins with disappointment.

The talk is available on Dharmaseed here:

http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/44/talk/168/

This past Sunday, Mike guided our reflections on the topic “many Kinds of Happiness”, featuring clips from Andrea Fella and Annie Nugent.  It is important to remember that the Buddha established his path as a way of achieving Happiness, and bringing suffering to an end.

Mike included portions of three talks, two from Andrea Fella (http://audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/7081.html and http://audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/7127.html)  and one by Annie Nugent (http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/25/talk/36431/)