By deeply examining the mind as the Buddha taught, we see our stark human predicament, why we suffer and the real source of happiness. For he awakened to suffering’s end and the noble path to freedom. With immense gratitude for his teaching, we learn how we are caught grasping the world, compelled by its impingement and tormented ever after. We realize the ineffable vanquishing of that disease – when we stop giving vent to the wanting mind and live each moment from a pure compassionate and wise awareness. And so, quite apart from the world, we directly know here and now, within our own heart – the truest joy, the supreme peace of Nibbana.

This talk weaves together questions from interviews about sexuality and gratitude for humanness with the 4 noble truths and 4 great vows and a smattering of dependent origination.

While we value gratitude and generosity, our daily life can often have an undercurrent of complaint and an anxious kind of self-centeredness. This Thanksgiving Eve talk explores teachings and practices that reconnect us with the sense of wonder and abundance that characterizes our own awakened heart.

How can we open our hearts? This talk explores the practices of forgiveness and compassion, as well as that of gratitude. The Metta Sutta provides the background for this exploration.

Giving away fixed views as the path to peace.

How do we take our service as a path of practice? Most basically, we take helping others as the center (or a major part) of our lives, and we examine, in our service, what helps develop “selfless” service and the barriers to such service, especially a sense of duality between self and other. We explore how a connection between “inner” and “outer” practice structures a life of service, and how such practice can also be understood as the development of particular qualities—we focus on the development of (1) clarity of intentions, (2) generosity, (3) gratitude, and (4) compassion, and on some of the challenges that arise when cultivating such qualities, and in service generally.

One aspect of Wise Effort is maintaining and increasing wholesome states that have arisen. This is supported by being present for the wholesome state without clinging. How to integrate wholesome states such as sincere intention, gratitude, being compassionate with suffering, and others into our practice is explored.