Mundane and supramundane right view

In this retreat Ajahn offered a series of guidance on voice production and resonant chanting.

A contemporary telling of the story of the Buddha and how we can all relate

Our being has many frequencies of aliveness and as we attend to the more subtle, we discover a portal to the radiant awareness that is always here. This meditation guides us in using the breath and attention as we scan through the body and awaken an inner luminosity. We then open the attention to rest in the whole field of awake awareness.

The focus of this conversation is on our relationships with dogs, and more broadly, all beings. We look at what Thich Nhat Hanh called interbeing, and what happens when we shift our attention from self to who are we together. Tara is joined by Mark Drucker, an animal lover who works in digital media and is founder of lovedog.com, and Drew Webster, a dog behavior consultant par excellence. In this recording, Tara is being interviewed for their podcast and found herself deeply impacted by the conversation. She reports that she and her 6-month-old pup, Niki, play more. Her attention has deepened and she is more awake in their relationship, and of course that extends out to the world of relationships. So whether you have a dog, cat, favorite tree, or human to practice on, bringing attention to interbeing means more belonging, aliveness, and love. lovedog.com Mark Drucker - Mark is the founder of lovedog.com. He’s accrued over 25 years of executive, marketing/sales, and content creation experience in the print and digital media arenas. Mark has always been a dog and animal lover. He’s raised two Golden Retrievers, and in July 2023 adopted a 4-year-old Labrador Retriever named Hank. Mark is from New York where he built his career in publishing. He records this podcast in Boulder, CO where he’s lived since October 2022. Drew Webster - Human Senior Partner; CDBC - Drew has two decades of experience as a dog behavior consultant, adjunct professor at University of Denver, developer of behavioral programs and an endless list of key relationships with the leaders and experts in the canine training and behavior arena around the world. The website: lovedog.com Tara’s episode: https://lovedog.com/podcast/homecoming-being-present-with-our-dogs/ The Podcast page on Lovedog.com: https://lovedog.com/podcast/

Short Reflection & Guided Meditation | Earthworm Practice for the Anthropocene II | Online Wednesday-Mornings

What is Natural Awareness? This talk gives context for accessing and playing with a type of mindfulness that is open, spacious, luminous, and boundless. Natural awareness connects us to "awareness of awareness." The talk begins with an explanation of the spectrum of awareness (using some entertaining props) and includes on the spot glimpse practices.

Dharma Talk (Group Q/A is not included)

A meditative reflection, followed by a silent sitting, followed by further reflections.

00:07 Q1 You use the term energy more than I have heard it used in dhamma discussions. Can you say why it is important? 10:03 Q2 Where would you place craving for stability within the three types of tanha? 16:23 Q3 You said that citta arises from name and form. Can you say more about how and why? 26:37 Q4 How do you think one might continue to cultivate citta as we age and with Alzheimers, dementia etc.? 31:18 Q5 Regarding medically assisted suicide, doesn’t it break the first precept? 36:35 Q6 What are some useful practices for going to sleep?

This short meditation describes how we use RAIN to work with our emotions. RAIN includes: Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture, and Not Identify with. We also practice with RAIN on the spot, working with any difficult emotion that is present.

A meditative reflection, followed by a silent sitting, followed by further reflections.

In this retreat Ajahn offered a series of guidance on voice production and resonant chanting.

Teachings, Guided Practice

Gullu explores the 5 hindrances (nirvanas) and how to work with them skillfully, allowing them to be teachers rather than enemies.

Instruction for Talking Practice (talk begins after a silent 40 minute meditation)

The weekly practice groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one's practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that will help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome.

The weekly practice groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one's practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that will help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome.

This recording also includes Catherine McGee.

First day of a retreat. How do we start our practice? Learn how to focus our attention.

From radical allowing to radical connecting. Getting a feel for compassion, through the ocean and wave analogy. Mingyur Rinpoche's journey with panic.

Thei recording also includes Catherine McGee offering walking meditation instructions.

Some reflections on emptiness and compassion

In this retreat Ajahn offered a series of guidance on voice production and resonant chanting.

00:00 Ajahn’s comments about retreat. 01:44 Q1 Could you offer any practice suggestions around eating? 10:55 Q2 How does designation consciousness relate to perception? 18:02 Q3 One is aware of feelings and the teaching on dependent origination. Is it possible to slow down the craving and the clinging that ensues? 24:49 Q4 How does one stay and not jump? 27:46 Q5 Is the citta a sankara? Is the purpose of practice to calm and purify the citta, which seems away of caring for life, or to uproot it and all of the khandhas which has to me a flavour of rejecting life. 37:59 Q6 I struggle with the first noble truth. Spending time with my daughter is certainly transient and structured by I-making. Buddhism says this is dukkha and seeks to change my relationship to experience or its qualities. But to me its value is intrinsic and undeniable. 42:39 Q7 Can one attain liberation or enlightenment without the knowledge of the path leading to it? What's the relationship between knowledge and wisdom?

How passion can support us in the search towards dispassion

The practice of radical allowing - shifting energy from that which obscures (the usual status-quo), into that which opens. An alive attitude, and the wings of awakening. The imminent experience of life through our 6 senses, as our fluid object of awareness. Continuity of kind awareness.

From the Majjhima Nikaya. The Buddha offers several examples of meeting our experience with wise attention: Purifying the habits of craving and delusion

Ajahn instructs on voice and breath issues and leads chanting of a refuge mantra.

00:16 Q1 I believe you said to not do concentration practices but rather to see if the breath could go deeper or have more calm. Isn't that a form of concentration? And aren't the brahma vihara a form of concentration practice? 18:26 Q2 If attention is a sankara can you suggest how one might let go of it? 29:02 Q3 Regarding the anapanadsati sutta, is it sequential? Must one follow the tetrads in order? 3818 Q4 A person relates some of their meditation experiences and asks if this is a wise reflection.

Awareness is not only spacious and wakeful, compassion is also an inherent component. Expressing care to address the suffering in the world is understood to be an essential part of practice. This talk explores the greater implications of this understanding especially at this critical time of global dukkha on so many levels.

How to see that which is hard to see - delusion and what brings us to wisdom.

Guided meditation for the last full day of retreat