After some personal stories from Donald about his father, who was a veteran, and about Donald’s experiences growing up at the time of the Vietnam war and being introduced to nonviolence, we explore the three main dimensions of our practice (training in ethics, meditation, and wisdom) related to the holiday. We focus on the ethical teachings about killing and nonviolence, including the complexities of these teachings; the importance of bringing mindfulness to grief, loss, and sadness, and of grounding in kindness, compassion, and love; and the wisdom and insight teachings about seeing the roots of violence. The talk is followed by discussion.

40 Mins of mettā practice with aspects of compassion and forgiveness.

What does it mean to let suffering touch you without being consumed by it? This talk traces a path from empathy through grief to the inexhaustible compassion of the bodhisattva — and offers practical steps for cultivating it from the inside out.

Making use of a wider parts or patterns based perspective for daily life practice.

Facing difficulty with wisdom, compassion, and balance - walking a path of non-harming.

Exploring a compassionate attitude to formal and informal practice, and making use of RAIN to support this.

Q1 00:06 Sometimes at home I fall asleep meditating. I feel at peace and focused but just relaxed too much. Can you advise? Q2 13:23 Could you please give some advice on how to prevent attachment and clinging arising? Q3 18:52 What are the factors for wisdom to arise? Q4 25:52 What are the purposes of not eating after 12:00? Why can we eat only a little bit, like some cheese? Q5 32:32 I love my family and want them to know who I am. Fear of losing them is somehow close to the fear of losing part of what I am. I like the Vedic term jiva that may also be called individuality. Is it possible that jiva has no identity, no limits and no attachments? Are the inter-connection of compassion and loving kindness, forms of attachment? Q6 40:58 How best to support or love someone whose mind is exhausted and burnt out? Q7 45:15 We've heard about right effort and right view, what about right action? They seem very similar. Q8 49:37 What are the best or most beneficial hours for meditation? Q9 52:28 When labelling feelings with the three qualities anicca, dukkha, annata, is it a good idea to do it also with feeling of joy or piti?

Drawing from their new book "This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership", devon and nico share practical insights on bringing mindfulness and compassion into the beautiful complexity of intimate relationships. A guided meditation is followed by a teaching.