Opening Talk for a retreat dedicated to cultivating a heart rooted in calm, receptive insight. This talk also includes Rob Burbea, Jake Dartington and Chris Cullen.
Chanting the Karaniya Metta Sutta. Starts with an invocation to the devas, and then leads the Karaniya Metta Sutta - once through as call-and-response, and once through all together.
After recently returning from six months of study and practice in Asia, Heather shares a few stories from her trip, weaving the themes of the outer journey and the inner journey of retreat. Teachings and practice tips focus primarily on working with strong emotions, the five hindrances and the process of letting go.
Equanimity does not empower feelings to drive thoughts. It holds a feeling as a feeling and does not extend the feeling into a narrative on why this feeling is important. It does not add anything to the moment, allowing the moment to bloom on its own.
At this time of Winter Solstice we explore a number of ways that our practice is to open to the dark (as nature's stillness and silence, as the unknown, as the difficult and as fertile and generative) and to evoke the light, learning better how to hold both.
