Adam will give the talk. Over the past seven months, Adam traveled through Bali, Nepal, and Japan on a pilgrimage that became both an outer journey and an inner exploration. At the heart of this journey was a simple question: What allows a human being to feel truly at home within themselves? Drawing from meditation, spiritual pilgrimage, and somatic practice, Adam reflects on how love transforms shame and restores our innate dignity and belonging. He will share how he sees the journey through the lens of the five elemental stages of SomAwaken that he teaches.

We begin with a short account of some of the history of Juneteenth and its origins in Texas, as well as how it developed in the decades after 1865, including under Jim Crow. We ask how consideration of Juneteenth and the ensuing history informs our practice, considering the three main elements of our practice: Training in wisdom (particularly in understanding the roots of racism in greed for power and wealth and a "divide and conquer" approach); meditation (both in examining our conditioning and working with difficult emotions), and ethical practice (developing care and addressing harm, for the benefit of all beings). The talk is followed by discussion.

This dhamma talk, comments, questions and responses was offered on June 20, 2026 for East Bay Dhamma. Dhammapada verses 146 -156 Old Age was discussed. The text can be found here: https://suttacentral.net/dhp146-156/en/buddharakkhita?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false 00:00 - 1:36:32 DHAMMA TALK, COMMENTS, QUESTIONS & RESPONSES

Short Reflection on the 2nd Vipallasa & Guided Meditation including a poem by Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī | Earthworm Practice for the Anthropocene IV | Online Wednesday-Morning

0:53 Q1 I'm very impulsive and I find that smoking grounds me. I'd like to quit but it's not the proper time or the moment. Do you have any suggestions? 07:29 Q2 I have a question about recognizing not self, anatta. It's difficult to maintain this perspective over a longer period of time. I feel quite content but my personality keeps popping up and I struggle with the anxiety of aging and losing my job. How can I handle living in the real world? 18:40 Q3 Some questions on measureless States: a) I was attending a retreat with Ayye Anandabodhi what arose was a sense of gratitude. Is gratitude a prerequisite for cultivating the brahmaviharas? b) A local sangha leader often mentions "it's like this now'. Sometimes I find this just frustrating. Can you say something about this? c) 27:29 Q4 Sometime ago you talked about the fruition of karuna / compassion as boundless space, muditha/sympathetic joy as boundless consciousness and upekkha / equanimity as no-thing-ness. Can you speak more about this? 33:17 Q5 Resignation and acceptance. I can only accept my life situation at this moment is to resign myself to the circumstances. I experience a lot of direct and indirect rejection but feel sorry and defeated. 44:12 Q6 I'm 54 and I'm feeling in a kind of bardo, an in-between space in my life. My question is not about ambition but how do I want to spend the rest of my life. What can you advise?