A daylong vipassana retreat with Kate Munding, Betsy Rose and Tuere Sala at Gyuto Foundation .

Equanimity

Exploring Equanimity talk and guided sit

Question and Answer session with closing remarks. Some quiet moments when participant questions were not captured by the sound system, but teachers repeat the questions and then answer.

This talk offers some basic tools and reflections to help meditation students with Depression and Anxiety. You will learn to recognize the optical illusions of mind, label distorted thinking patterns, and unblend from difficult mindstates.

The step of pause, the step of relax, and exploring what is happening right now.

Bringing awareness to the 6 senses, contact and feeling tone. Breathing as exemplar of the interdependent web. Opening to the 6 senses and let sense off the cushion. Continuity of practice.

This dhamma talk and Q&A was offered on September 28, 2024 for “How do I apply the Dhamma to THIS!?!” 00:00 - DHAMMA TALK 18:25 - Q&A Article Mentioned: https://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=223

The natural world is a playground for the heart - where love/metta, compassion and joy can be experienced in abundance. Nature is a perfect environment to cultivate these innate heart qualities and where they can also arise effortlessly.

The natural world beautifully and eloquently sings the Dharma. there are countless wisdom teachings emanating from nature. In particular, we explore how nature teaches us about impermanence, dependent arising, perfection and imperfection and belonging.

How can we rescue ourselves from the obstacles to our happiness? We must not disregard the power of awareness in the present moment to vanquish suffering. For in this very moment is everything we need to know. All moments, whether tainted or blessed, are conditioned by their predecessor. Without care and discernment, vigilance and integrity, we could easily fall into states of decline. Ill-will begets enmity, while joy begets ease and serenity, and each moment is the mother of the next. So too, stepping into the joys of life as it unfolds, we live by the best qualities we can reap. One bare insight into truth and we know what we truly are. Then we open the gates to the Deathless.

How might you let Life play you like an instrument? In this talk James shares the evening with Sarah-Marie Hopf, a good friend, dedicated practitioner, coach and meditation teacher who shares about her journey of progressively deepening trust in the dharma and our True Nature and opening to what wants to flow effortlessly from the mystery into form. Becoming an unexpected singer-songwriter, she shares the origin story of her first album “Modern Mantras” which was inspired by songs that came through her spontaneously during a month long Spirit Rock retreat.

Behind the activity of thinking, and the ever-changing flow of sounds, sensations and feelings, there is a great and awake silence that holds all that unfolds. This space of awareness is our formless essence. Learning to open and rest into this alert, knowing vastness has the blessings of homecoming.

There is no more relevant exploration than how we awaken to our connection as family, as belonging to this precious web of life. In their talks, Tara and Roshi Joan look at the cause of divides and their healing through wise contemplation, courageous engagement and the power of imagination. Each lead short reflections that help us bring our own hearts and spirit into this sacred work.