Teachings
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Dharmatalk: Seeking to Satisfy Dissatisfaction
July 7, 20201 min read
"When there really is just this, there is no place for thirst, or craving" Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. We begin to address the Second Noble Truth: that the cause of suffering is craving, or Tanha in Pali, which literally means “thirst.” Seeking to satisfy the everyday pangs of thirst in our lives leads us to an unending cycle of craving for an end to craving. This will never happen. But when we learn to...
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Flower Sermon
July 4, 20201 min read
Once upon a time the world honored one was at Vulture Peak. Before a vast crowd of lay practitioners, nuns, and monks, angelic creatures, and even gods, he held up a single flower and twirled it. Of the assembled crowd only the disciple Mahakashyapa, responded, breaking into a wide grin. The Buddha, lord of wisdom, physician of the heart, announced... I have the eye treasury of the true Dharma, the marvelous mind of nirvana, the true form of no-form, the subtle gate of the Dharma. This...
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Dharmatalk: Developing Compassion with Equanimity
June 30, 20201 min read
"Suffering can be the door, or the path, to practice and training" Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. Continuing the discussion of the first of the Four Noble Truths: How can we transform our reactions to the various states of suffering (fear, grief, anger) that we experience on a daily basis? Develop compassion with equanimity. This is important advice for us when sitting. Find the difficult feeling in the body, accept and allow it to be....
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Falling into Beauty
June 27, 20201 min read
I don't regard my life as insufficient. Inside the brushwood gate there is a moon; there are flowers. ― Ryōkan Photo: Circle of life... a contemporary Enso circle by Rosa Bellino
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Dharmatalk: Aligning with Reality
June 23, 20201 min read
"Who is it who dies?" Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. The themes are: dukkha, dissatisfaction or suffering; Buddha’s instruction on illness and death; the eight worldly conditions; and the characteristics of existence. How have humans typically approached the problem of suffering? The role of practice at various levels of experience is examined. For the introduction to this basic Buddhism series, please visit Venus Twinkling. Post & Featuredimage: Life and death by taviphoto, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on...
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Dharmatalk: The Problem of Suffering
June 16, 20201 min read
"Buddha understands suffering so well" Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. It begins with the story of Sujata who nourished Siddhartha Gautama with milk-rice under the banyan tree. The focus of the talk is the First Noble Truth—there is suffering. Cultivating the space of awareness through practice can help to free us from our attachment to this aspect of our experience and suffer less. For the introduction to this basic Buddhism series, please visit Venus Twinkling. Post & Featuredimage:...
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Dharmatalk: Buddha Was A Woman
June 9, 20201 min read
"Why does Buddha have to be a man?" Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. It addresses the absence of women in most early Buddhist texts and explores the story of Mara who tries to prevent Siddhartha Gautama from awakening. There is also further discussion of the Middle Way, the Buddha’s first teaching, which can be understood as surrendering to things as they are. For the introduction to this basic Buddhism series, please visit Venus Twinkling. Post & Featured image:...
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Dharmatalk: Been All Along
June 2, 20201 min read
"Life only happens now" Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. With a focus on how Buddha, the Awakened One, became Buddha, the Dharma teacher, it begins with reflections on the first two phases of practice and initiates a discussion of the Buddha’s first teaching, the Middle Way. For the introduction to this basic Buddhism series, please visit Venus Twinkling. Post & Featured image: Rapid mountain river in autumn by saharrr, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this...
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