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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
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Dharma Talks
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2009-06-27
Service as a Path of Practice
45:25
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Donald Rothberg
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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.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Volunteer Appreciation
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2009-03-20
Unencumbered
19:12
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Fire is our teacher - the fire of pain, the fire of persevering through difficulty and the fire of going beyond what we think we are capable of. For we are greater that we know and our journey is one of learning to trust what is right and true. When the heart’s compassion, wisdom, and generosity mature, there is no space for fear. All the dross of the world melts away in the silence of pure presence. Here is the absolute sanctity of awareness, unencumbered, and joyous in the knowledge of pure love itself.
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Ottawa Buddhist Society (Sisters of St. Joseph Convent)
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2008-11-27
Practicing Gratitude And Joy
56:49
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Sally Armstrong
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On this day of thanksgiving, it is important to remember what we are actually celebrating: the generosity of Native Americans to the early settlers, and all that they have given us. It is also a day to be grateful for all the blessings in our lives, and to bring a sense of appreciation to the beauty and joy that is all around us. As we incline the mind towards noticing what we are grateful for, we find an increased sense of well-being and happiness in our lives.
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Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center
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Three-Month Retreat - Part 2
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2008-10-23
Bodhisattva's Way Of Life #9: Dedication Of Merit
55:46
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James Baraz
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This week I will complete the Shantideva series with his final chapter on the power of dedicating your actions as an act of generosity. We often end the sittings or a period of practice by sharing any merit for the benefit of all beings. This practice can be used in very simple but potent ways as a method for brining a heartfelt sincerity to your practice for the benefit of specific individuals. For instance if you’re trying to change a habit, offering the merit of that wholesome change to someone who is having a hard time in their life.
This practice of dedicating merit both connects you with others and motivates you beyond mere self-improvement. We’ll be exploring just how this can work in our daily life to give energy and enthusiasm to our practice.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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IMCB Regular Talks
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2008-10-07
Ten Paramis
62:27
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Lama Surya Das
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The ten paramis (or perfections) are transformative practices of a Bodhisattva, one who is on the path to liberation. In the Zen school of Buddhism these ten paramis are generosity, ethics, patience, effort, meditation, wisdom, skillful means, spiritual aspiration, higher accomplishment, and awakened awareness. These practices become perfected qualities in an awakened one. The first 6 paramis, starting with generosity and building up to wisdom, are laid out in the Pali Canon, which is said to record the actual words of the Buddha. Later, in Mahayana sutras, these 6 were expanded to 10 to provide the far-reaching, well-rounded principles for living the good life. You can read all about these perfections in Lama Surya Das' book, Buddha Is As Buddha Does
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2004-11-23
Wholeness and Healing through Generosity
62:13
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Rodney Smith
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Notice how frequently you second-guess your generosity. You may have the desire to be generous but you let it pass without acting. This week act upon any impulse to be generous: if you have the thought to give something to someone, do not delay or second-guess the impulse. Give.
Each time you open the Internet this week begin by going to thehungersite.com and offer a free donation to all the similar sites listed on that web page. Say metta phrases to each disadvantaged group as you make the offering. May all being have sufficient food; may all beings be free of breast cancer.... Feel the pain associated with each category of people and wish them well. Explore the relationship between feeling pain for another and generosity. Does the pain motivate you to move towards or away from giving?
Notice your meditative posture and see if the chest and shoulders are fully open when you sit. How does your posture affect your mind? As you move through the day notice your posture when you feel selfish or irritable. Notice it when you feel generous and confident. When you feel selfish and closed down to generosity adjust your posture to a more open stance and see if that has any effect on your state of mind.
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Seattle Insight Meditation Society
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2003-11-23
Giving
42:25
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Arinna Weisman
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We are often blind to our own generosity, to the gift of our practice and efforts. The Buddha invites us to contemplate this beautiful quality of our minds, and its wholesome results, as part of the practice of growing and sustaining.
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Santa Fe Vipassana Sangha
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2003-11-13
Learning
46:32
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Rodney Smith
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Reflect on how generosity is related to equality. When you offer a gift to someone you perceive as unequal is that generosity or pity? Feel the difference between these two forms of giving. How does the heart feel and how does the mind hold the offering in a generous act and in pity? When you perceive someone as a human being regardless of their present condition you can only perceive them as equal. When you give to the less fortunate, you are lost in the pain of the circumstances. The generous heart feels that pain but gives to the human being.
This week find several occasions to give something away to someone less privileged. Before you do, release the projections and allow equality to surface. One person giving to another. Look the person in the eye when you hand them the gift. Let your heart meet theirs. Feel the humility of true generosity. Feel the joy of release. Notice the qualitative difference between giving with humility and the self-importance of "helping the disadvantaged."
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Seattle Insight Meditation Society
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