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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
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Dharma Talks
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2025-03-13
Intro to Lovingkindness class 4: Metta Can Transform Difficulty
1:11:50
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Dawn Neal
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Introduction to Metta (lovingkindness) - Week Four Homework:
Daily meditation:
Offer kindness/goodwill to an easy being (or benefactor) & self, then someone or some part of you that you find difficult. Please practice 20 minutes or more a day. Remember, it is always okay to return to a being that is easy.
It can also be very skillful to switch to mindfulness.
Integrating mindfulness into metta practice can increase wisdom. This can be done by noticing what is and isn’t metta, without judging –or buying into–other emotions or experiences.
In daily life, notice when Metta is present and when it isn’t. What are conditions that help it arise? Decrease?
Appreciating the wish for metta, being interested in it, attending to it, helps to strengthen it.
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Insight Santa Cruz
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Introduction to Mettā (lovingkindness) meditation
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2025-02-28
Intro to Lovingkindness class 2
63:28
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Dawn Neal
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Homework for this class is:
Daily meditation: 15-20 minutes per day if new, normal amount if experienced.
--At least 2/3 metta for easy being/benefactor & self. (start with easy being if it’s helpful).
--Up to 1/3 mindfulness (or end with a bit of mindfulness).
--If it gets challenging, return to where it’s easy.
2. Micro-practice: Stop, notice, appreciate, kindness/positive regard for self or others: Appreciation, gratitude, or inspiration as a form of mindfulness. If you don’t notice in daily life, recall/write down a few in the evening.
Due to a recording error, the second mini lecture was not recorded.
The topic was the Buddhist and Scientific rationales for cultivating lovingkindness for oneself. The scientific study referenced is entitled "Open Hearts Build Lives," by Barbara Fredrickson, et al.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=-0XLchUAAAAJ&citation_for_view=-0XLchUAAAAJ:geHnlv5EZngC
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Insight Santa Cruz
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Introduction to Mettā (lovingkindness) meditation
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2025-02-12
Awakening in a World in Turmoil 2: Seeing the World with Dharma Eyes
65:07
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Donald Rothberg
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How do we see the world, especially and social world, from the perspective of awakening--with, we might say, "dharma eyes"? We explore this question in a time of great turmoil and concern in the world, particularly in the U.S. We start with several passages coming from an awakened mind and heart, including a passage from the Metta Sutta--how would one then look at the larger world? We explore how the Buddha himself looked at the world and social structures, particularly in terms of caste and gender. From our practice seeing greed, hatred, and delusion in ourselves, we learn how to see these qualities in others, and in the world. From our ethical training, we learn how to see when we are not following the ethical guidelines and when others are not, including on a larger social level. We also see how we can understand some of the larger social issues, particularly related to the climate crisis, racism, and gender, in terms of greed (especially), hatred, and delusion. We close, in this context, first with a pointing to ways of responding, using Joanna Macy's model of three ways that the "Great Turning" occurs, and then with a poem.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2025-02-06
Right Intention
59:12
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Yuka Nakamura
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Our actions are often driven by unconscious or conflicting intentions. How can we align with wholesome intentions and cultivate wholesome mindstates? Based on the Dvedhāvitakkasutta the talk discusses the importance of renunciation, metta and compassion for the path and the transformation of the heart.
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Meditationszentrum Beatenberg
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2025-01-16
Metta Practice and the Larger World (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
42:17
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Donald Rothberg
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In this session, Donald gives about a 25-minute talk, followed by 15 minutes of discussion. How do we move from a week of metta practice into a time of turmoil and uncertainty in the U.S. and in the world? A number of guidelines and suggestions are given, including keeping the vision of practicing in all parts of one’s life, and keeping close the visions of awakening and of what Dr. King called the “beloved community.” In this time, staying connected with community is also crucial, as are, among many skillful intentions, practicing skillfully with difficult emotions, grounding in the body, cultivating cycles of engagement and withdrawal, and being careful about the amount of information one takes in. The talk ends by pointing to Joanna Macy’s model of three areas of transformation, and the invitation to respond to the call that each of us may hear. Discussion follows.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Mettā Retreat: Teachings and Practices to Cultivate a Wise, Awakened, and Responsive Heart
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2025-01-15
Metta Practice and the Life and Work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
55:59
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Donald Rothberg
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On the birthday of Dr. King, we explore some of the remarkable and powerful parallels between Metta practice and Buddhist teachings, on the one hand, and the life, teachings, and work of Dr. King, on the other. We explore in particular three areas: (1) the connection between Metta and the Christian tradition of acting from love that is central for King; (2) the wisdom perspective of seeing greed, hatred, and delusion, and developing understanding and manifesting non-reactivity through ethical grounding and nonviolence; and (3) the other qualities of the awakened heart--the Brahmavihara for the Buddha, and Dr. King’s way of manifesting qualities in addition to love, such as compassion, empathy, joy, and equanimity.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Mettā Retreat: Teachings and Practices to Cultivate a Wise, Awakened, and Responsive Heart
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2024-12-14
Q&A- The source of metta
47:59
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Ajahn Sucitto
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00:19 Q1 What is the relationship between citta and yoniso manisikara? 05:27 Q2 Faith arises with the ability of the citta to realize the origins of suffering. Nekkhamma is the release anticipation of suffering [?]. Confusion arises here. The process of renunciation for the citta rather than thought. Is this the point where the felt sense doesn’t push forward or stand and enters the path? 08:45 Q3 After the high school shooting 96 km northwest of us that left 4 dead, we can feel the heat. False alarms on social media, another layer of community anxiety and mistrust arises. Our community is predominately black, transient, low income, familiar with violence. … How to step back and recognize the citta is unbalanced? How to avoid being too aggressive and suspicious? 11:12 Q4 How to skillfully investigate myself with a very challenging individual at work?13:01 Q5 When I started mediating 20 years ago I was taught that forgiveness was a preliminary practice to metta. This makes sense to me, especially with the deep groove of self-criticism I see in my mind. 13:56 Q6 I am chronically ill living a restricted and isolated life. It is a great joy but I feel remote from any attainment. Do you have any advice? 14:58 Q7 I recognize a form of vibhava tanha in nihilism that manifests as an inability to move forward in life. As I pondered this i came across a phrase : “Contemplate the dhamma body” and it felt so good.
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Dhamma Stream Online Sessions
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