Sharing the Buddha's aspiration to teach out of compassion for the world, you are invited to bring that inspiration into your compassion practice. This guided meditation starts with an overview of compassion and then the guided meditation focuses on an easy being and then opens to all beings.

The Buddha taught that one should cultivate and, when possible, maintain wholesome states. This talk explores teachings on cultivating states of well-being and how to deepen them in our practice.

In truth we are in a stream of every changing experiences, both internally and externally. AS we develop greater mindfulness and concentration we see through our direct experience everything which arises also passes away. This is the true nature of all conditioned phenomena. Waking up on our Buddhist path reveals our streaming nature, and this is one way of describing the process of becoming a stream enterer.

The Buddhist teachings on the 7 factors of awakening guide us on the our path. The awakening factors of mindfulness, curiosity, energy, joy, tranquility, gathered mind, and equanimity are supports for the gradual training of the heartmind. Developing the sense of trust in the path and the support of discernment in meeting each moment with kindness and wisdom.

After receiving many dharma talks and and expanding mindfulness into the 3rd and 4th Foundations of mindfulness, it is important to intentionally return every now and then to 1st and 2nd foundations of mindfulness. This keeps us grounded in the body as a continual pillar of our practice.

Mudita for a friend who is having great happiness, self, benefactor, and neutral categories

Equanimity is always the last on every list, which shows its importance as the culmination of the mind that can be with all things. Cultivating a balance and centeredness in the midst of our joys and sorrows, we can know the peace that the Buddha encourages us to experience.

Compassion & Compassionate Action

While the 3rd and fourth foundations of mindfulness can be taught as their own separate topics, it can be very useful to look at the language and instruction given in both of them together. In the 3rd foundation we rest mindfully in all cognitive and emotional states as they arise and pass with the courage not to change them. In the 4th foundation of mindfulness we use this deeper intimacy from the 3rd foundation to act most skillfully in how we let go of suffering states and welcome wholesome states.