Using the properties of the 4th element to know and experience the breath and lead to insgiht into impermanence

The Buddha described awakening not as a leap to the summit but as a gradual training, one step laid down after another. Drawing on the image of walking (forest monks on tudong, pilgrims, and the cleared trails of these woods), this talk explores the anupubbasikkhā through generosity, ethics, meditation, and wisdom. With the Buddha’s teaching to Gaṇaka Moggallāna, the bird that carries only its wings, and poetry inspired by freedom, we reflect on how one thing lawfully leads to the next. We set up the conditions, and the dhamma does the rest. The arc of the path is long, but it bends toward freedom.

It's always inspiring to support people through an intensive period of silent retreat. James knows many of you have already had that experience so you know how impactful it can be. He shares from his own experience guiding students for many years, how he sees the process of transformation and his understanding of how it works. The talk is followed by a discussion.

By practicing the Noble Eight Fold Path we can experience greater joy, happiness and freedom

Short Reflection & Guided Meditation including a poem by Judith Morely | Earthworm Practice for the Anthropocene IV | Online Wednesday-Morning

We begin with a general sense of how our practice is both grounded in tradition and responsive to the needs of our times, with reference to Thomas Merton’s similar perspective. Sharing images from his recent teaching and travels throughout the talk, Donald focuses initially on the traditional sense of three forms of training—in wisdom and discernment, meditation (especially concentration, insight, and heart practices), and ethical practice. We review the most central teaching of the Buddha, about dukkha (understood in its most important meaning as reactivity) and the end of dukkha, and point to practice as involving both deep inner work and skillful outward action, with the key in both contexts being “appropriate response.” We then examine the nature of compassion and how to be skillful in our response to the “pain of the world,” connecting compassion and the figure of the bodhisattva with equanimity.

After a short introduction to how we develop equanimity and compassion in our practice, the main themes of this session (of both meditation and the talk), we begin with settling and cultivating concentration. Then there is a period of mindfulness, followed by two practices developing compassion, one with phrases and one the short self-compassion practice developed by Kristen Neff.

Taking the refuge in the Buddha Dhamma and Sangha plus undertaking the five training guidelines can provide a firm foundation for our practice.