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 bring 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.

Guided meditation on space and the SOS (Sound of Silence)

Reflection on the four brahma viharas followed by a guided meditation.

Guided Meditation on the five elements & SOS (sound of silence).

A guided meditation of attending to the Sound of Silence within the framework of the Seven Awakening Factors. (This meditation practice begins with a period of guided standing meditation.)

Reflection followed by a Guided Meditation

This dhamma talk, guided meditation, comments, questions and responses was offered on the 16th of May, 2026 for “How do I apply the Dhamma to THIS!?!” 0:00:14 - GUIDED MEDITATION 00:23:08 - DHAMMA TALK 0:44:45 - COMMENTS, QUESTIONS & RESPONSES

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

What happens when I'm *not* mindful? (i) Loss of fluency in our attention — (ii) Loss of the here & now (iii) Loss of the space: collapsing into things. (iv) Loss of embodiment (vI) Loss of the other