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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
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Dharma Talks
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2023-12-28
End of Year Reflection:
Honoring this Moment Together
54:14
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James Baraz
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As we come to the last gathering of the year, join us online as we will reflect on this moment together--looking back at the past year, seeing where we are right now and getting in touch with our vision for the upcoming year. We will mark this time together with an end-of-year ritual and support each other in our intentions for the New Year. Please bring a candle, some pare and a writing implement.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2023-12-27
The Sacred Pause
54:54
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Tara Brach
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When we are lost in the trance of doing, our lives are on automatic, and contracted by sense that something’s wrong or missing. This talk explores the challenges of learning to pause, and the blessings that arise when we step out of our incessant mental and physical activity and reconnect with the being-qualities of presence, wisdom and love (a favorite from the archives).
“The deepest expression of love is this non-doing presence because that’s when we are inhabiting who we really are.”
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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2023-12-23
May All Beings Be Happy?
1:24:59
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Nathan Glyde
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Exploring what it means to wish for all beings to be happy. Looking at a couple of ways we compromise on the fullness of 'all', or limit our understanding of where happiness comes from and depends upon; Bringing head and heart together à la Thānissaro Bhikku, we can find a new drive to wish lasting blameless happiness for all beings, now, gone, and yet to come. Sabbe Satta Sukita Hontu.
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Gaia House
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Online Dharma Hall - December 2023
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2023-12-22
Darkness Just Before Dawn
28:16
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Could we really love if we lived forever? There is no true love without suffering. This is revealed through our mortality and the impermanence of all conditioned things. We are not the body but its fragility reflects our true essence. Just as when a candle melts, the flame burns. Just as the sun arises out of the darkest night, so too, our awakening to truth is grounded in understanding the Buddha's Noble Truth of suffering. We witness how suffering begins, how it ends, and how to free ourselves from it. As the heart breaks open, we are waking up to the truth of what we are, nothing less than unconditional love. In the words of Victor Frankl, “To give light, we must endure burning.”
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Sati Saraniya Hermitage
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2023-12-20
The Dharma in Times of Crisis
1:20:00
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Donald Rothberg,
Stephen Fulder
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Stephen Fulder, the founder and senior teacher of Tovana (the Israel Insight Society), is in conversation with Donald Rothberg. We hold the understanding of "crisis" broadly, remembering that we are in the midst of multiple crises, while giving more attention to Israel/Palestine. Such crises are a major challenge to our dharma practice. In this context, we explore a number of different themes, including bringing our practice to difficult experiences that often arise in a crisis, such as fear, emotional pain, reactivity, numbness, and the presence of repetitive negative narratives and views. We also identify, during the conversation, a number of resources, including qualities of compassion, empathy, equanimity, and the importance of finding a "refuge"and deep support in different ways. The conversation is followed by discussion, and a closing guided meditation.
[During the conversation, we see a short (3:28) video of Tovana teachers speaking a sentence each about the current crisis, in Hebrew, with English sub-titles. The video can be seen at https://youtu.be/NqKoCm2TMhA?feature=shared.]
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2023-12-17
On A Path We Trust
30:25
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Let us not serve the false, fierce tyranny of fear – withering, unworthy, not to be clung to, and not who we are. By emptying the mind of fearful thoughts, we stop clinging to anything of the world – one moment at a time. Tasting the joy of true freedom, we enter that dimension of transcendence, beyond the prison of grasping a self and all its adornments. For there is no 'one' to be afraid, no ‘one’ who dies, and no ‘one’ to awaken. But there is waking up as we let go into the peace of selfless awareness.
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Toronto Theravada Buddhist Community (TBC)
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2023-12-17
A Jet Plane To Nibbana
23:04
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Across millenia, the Buddha speaks of his awakening – teaching us how to take refuge, how to be fearless, how to walk the Middle Way, how to understand suffering, and how to know what to trust. Fear is the opposite of trust. So be willing to relinquish concepts and questions and let yourself live into the answers day by day where fear can end – there in the pure sanctuary of the heart. For this, we learn to have compassion even for those who kill us. But we must give up what is not trustworthy. With courage, compassion, and clear awareness of what we face now, stay quietly present and listen carefully. The truth will speak, and we shall understand.
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Sati Saraniya Hermitage
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