In this Equanimity retreat, instructions are given to include the breath and body with a special focus on seeing the impermanent nature of experience as a support for cultivating Equanimity.

A meditation, reflection, and (just the) responses to questions on the theme of breathing and thinking; and what playing with bodily fabrication reveals and opens about experience and freedom.

An overview of Equanimity: why it holds a special place in all the qualities of mind, its relationship to the other 3 Brahma Viharas and how it is cultivated.

Q1 When I meditate my mind is calm I can hear the breathing but at the same time my mind is also thinking about outstanding matters. I can't seem to prevent the pressure or momentum to think about myself or unfinished tasks. What should I do? 34:32 Q2 How do we develop equanimity?

Brief Overview of the Bramhaviharas and Guided Mettā Practiced. Gullu briefly describes the 4 divine abodes of Mettā (Benevolence), Karuna (Compasion), Mudita (Appreciative Joy) and Upekka (Equanimity). This is followed by a brief description of the difficulties often encountered in the mettā practice followed by a guided mettā practice using imagery and phrases to hold the intention for goodwill and even spark the actually feeling of goodwill

00:23 Q1 How do we define a real state of meditation? Is it merely focus and concentration? Should we do samatha first or vipassana or both combined? 23:39 Q2 During walking meditation do we still observe breathing at the nostrils or radiating metta? 28:17 Q3 Is it okay to use the mantra Budho for walking meditation and during daily life activities? 29:32 Q4 I have committed some mistakes in the past, one which lost me a dear old friend and another one which causes me huge embarrassment every time I think about it. I feel a huge degree of sense of remorse and given the opportunity I would not do it again. What can I do to overcome this?... [and] During meditation my emotions are triggered. Should I come back to the breath or feel the emotion in the body? 37:22 Q5 How can I note intentions especially during meal time? There are so many of them! 40:27 Q6 What's the rationale behind not reading during a retreat? 42:29 Q7 When a person we love is doing harmful things, not correct practice despite your advice, they don't listen, how do I practice dhamma to avoid disappointment and sadness. 44:19 Q8 When it's in meditation my head naturally tilts upward. At this point the connection between the spine and the neck clicks. How to avoid it?

This dhamma talk, guided meditation, questions and responses was offered on 13 December, 2025 for “How do I apply the Dhamma to THIS!?!” 00:00 - DHAMMA TALK 44:15 - GUIDED MEDITATION 01:12:10 - Q&R

A teaching on the Four Noble Truths. An exploration of suffering, clinging, release, and the path. Blending story, silence, and somatic ease, this talk reveals how the heart remembers freedom in small, human moments.

Short Reflection & Guided Meditation including 'Invocation of Beings of the Three Times' based on Joanna Macy's text | Earthworm Practice for the Anthropocene III | Online Wednesday-Morning

Sometimes people interpret the Buddha's teachings as suggesting giving up all wanting of the pleasant and all not wanting the unpleasant, and that equanimity has no wanting or not wanting; there are some passages in the teachings which seem to suggest this approach. However, the Buddha in a number of ways pointed to what we might call "skillful desire." We explore this in several ways. First, we go back to the teaching on Dependent Origination and the sequence from contact to grasping. We can identify that sequence as illustrating unskillful desire (or wanting) followed by grasping (as well as unskillful aversion). Secondly, we explore the Buddha's teachings on chanda, which could be translated as "skillful desire." Thirdly, we look at the role of experiences of pleasure, joy, and happiness in different practice contexts, and ask more generally about the nature of skillful desire (and some on "skillful aversion") in everyday life. What characterizes desire being unskillful or skillful? The talk is followed by discussion.

We start with settling for about 7-8 minutes followed by about the same time with basic mindfulness practice. Then we explore "moderate" experiences of pleasant or unpleasant when they occur, whether a bodily experience, an emotion, or a thought (or a mix), experiencing pleasant or unpleasant and seeing whether there follows wanting (or not wanting) and grasping (or pushing away). We close with some reflection on what we explored: Was some of the wanting or not wanting skillful? Unskillful. This exploration is related to the talk given a short time later.

Short Dharma Talk