Short teaching and guided meditation on arriving, settling, steadying at the beginning of a retreat.

At the moment of his awakening, Kondañña saw that whatever arises also passes away. This talk explores impermanence at three scales: the vast span of geologic and cosmic time, the arc of our own aging and mortality, and the moment-to-moment flicker of experience. Drawing on the suttas, poetry, and stories from practice, we look at how assuming permanence shapes our lives, and how seeing through it can open into awe, gratitude, and the freedom of letting go.

Teachings on vedana and mindfulness of emotions; guided RAIN practice.

The second refuge invites us into intimacy with truth: something alive, immediate, and here for us whenever we remember to look. Using the ancient chant of the Dhamma’s qualities (here and now, timeless, inviting us to come and see, leading inward), this talk explores awareness as a refuge that can hold even chronic pain and old grief with both equanimity and compassion. Drawing on the suttas, Thai Forest masters, and poets like John O’Donohue and Ada Limón, we turn to kalyāṇa, the Pali word for the Dhamma as beautiful in the beginning, middle, and end. Beauty shows up in our practice, our actions, and our spiritual friendships, and it can become a companion and guide on the path home.

Teaching and guided meditation on practicing the fourth foundation of mindfulness.