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Retreat Dharma Talks

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2020-09-09 Meditation: Meeting Life with a Spacious Heart 22:00
Tara Brach
Especially when we’re stressed, we need pathways to an allowing, kind presence. This meditation guides us to relax and open through our bodies, and then meet changing waves of experience with a sea of awareness that is intrinsically allowing and tender.
2020-09-09 Awakening from the Trance of Bad-Othering 46:31
Tara Brach
Great spiritual leaders of social movements teach that true transformation arises from realizing our interconnectedness, and the light of the divine in each being. Sadly, through human history, much suffering has come from perceiving others as bad-others, flawed humans who are excluded from our heart. This talk looks at how our stories and mistrust of others—in personal relationships and in our society—can lead to cycles of violence, harm, and deepening alienation. We then explore the inner process that helps us shift to “bad behavior, not bad human” and allows us to respond to suffering with love-in-action.
2020-09-10 talk: impermanence and dukkha 30:33
Jill Shepherd
Continuing to explore the three universal characteristics, looking at the relationship between impermanence and unsatisfactoriness, dukkha, and how wisdom and compassion can help release clinging / resistance to dukkha
2020-09-10 meditation: exploring dukkha 24:44
Jill Shepherd
Bringing awareness to any dukkha present in the moment, noticing any reactions of clinging or resistance, and using wisdom, compassion and equanimity to help that clinging release
2020-09-10 Holding a Positive Vision 53:47
James Baraz
It seems like an accomplishment just getting through such tumultuous times--wildfires on the West Coast, storms around the country, coronavirus lockdown and the US in daily chaos. It would be understandable to succumb to anxiety and overwhelm. But as the Buddha taught, practice is about overcoming negative thoughts when they arise and cultivating wholesome thoughts and mind-states. We will explore the importance of holding a positive vision even through the storm.
2020-09-11 Dharma and Recovery 1:23:29
Kevin Griffin
2020-09-13 The Second Noble Truth: The Cause of Suffering 1:30:04
Eugene Cash
2020-09-16 The Four Remembrances 50:42
Tara Brach
When we attune to the reality of impermanence and death, we remember what most matters to us. But in daily life we can lose precious swaths of time in a reactive trance, on our way somewhere else, and lost in problem solving, judgment and worry. This talk reflects on four remembrances or practices—Pausing, Yes to life, Turning toward love, and Resting in awareness—that help us awaken from trance and live true to the loving presence that is our essence.
2020-09-17 Buddhist Practice and Nonviolent Action: Transforming Inner and Outer Reactivity, Cultivating Love in Action 45:21
Donald Rothberg
We explore the deep resonance between Buddhist practice and nonviolent action (in the tradition of Mohandas Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, and others). We first examine the core of Buddhist practice as expressed in the Buddha's statement: "I teach dukkha and the end of dukkha; we explicate dukkha as "reactivity." We then show how the nonviolence of Dr. King follows the same core understanding of developing non-reactive and nonviolent responses--for him especially to the institutionalized reactivity of greed and hatred. We identify six basic themes of such nonviolent action, which, in the words of John Lewis, is ultimately "love in action."
2020-09-17 "Contributing Effectively in Times of Crisis" Part 1 53:47
James Baraz
In this time of great chaos and confusion we look at wisdom thinker Roger Walsh's new essay: "Contributing Effectively in Times of Crisis". We start by looking at four crucial questions: 1) What can I do? 2) What do I feel called to contribute? 3) What's the most strategic thing I can do? 4) How can I live my life so as to be an optimal instrument of service? The talk ends with Melanie DeMore singing I'm Sending You Light"
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