Delight (or joy or gladness, pamojja) is the second factor that emerges as we shift away from repetitive cycles of suffering. We explore how delight manifests as delight in practice, in our integrity, the "bliss of blamelessness," and in other ways. We also look at how to cultivate delight, how delight or joy support the deepening of our practice, and what makes delight difficult to access.
The Buddha teaches both about the cycle of suffering and another cycle leading to liberation. When we willingly encounter our suffering directly, conviction arises and leads us deeper into our practice.
How the first two Noble Truths describe Samsara and the circular chain of Dependent origination, and how the third and fourth Truths have been expanded to form Transcendental dependent arising, which beautiful topics will be further explored during this month - long retreat.
Connecting with the actuality of body. Breath as a basis for samadhi. Cultivating support for stability here and now. Middle ground between pleasure and pain.
Meeting ourselves. Limitations of success and sense pleasure. The great reversal. The Buddha's journey. Knowing pleasure, pain, and beyond. Return to the original brightness.
A gradual path. Practice as preparation. An alignment with refuge here and now. Sangha as the relational field. Beyond morality. The chanting of ethics.
Based on an examination of early discourses found in the Buddhist Pali Canon, we explore the question: "What did the Buddha teach that was distinctively and originally his own?" By differentiating the Buddha's Dhamma from the ideas of Indian religion and metaphysics that prevailed at his time we seek to uncover a clearer sense of the Buddha's message and then consider what relevance it still has for people living in the modern world.
Arriving into a retreat and working within limitation. Being more "here". Calling on the ancestors, devas and earth spirits to bless and protect as the boundary of the retreat is set.
Our practice invites us to return to the present moment - yet in order to be here, we must let go of everything and enter this moment unburdened. Are we willing? If so, we will discover our true refuge - that which is utterly reliable.
Stephen’s new book, "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist", tells the story of his thirty-seven-year quest to understand the meaning of Buddhism. It recounts his life as a monk in India and Korea and concludes with his search to discover the historical Buddha. Stephen talks about the writing of the book and reads selected passages.
When we don't trust who we are, we are unable to be at home in our world. This talk explores how we come to be at war with ourselves and the pathway to realizing our basic goodness.
Mindfulness of the body is absolutely fundamental for our practice and was for the Buddha, both a starting point and an end point. We explore (1) why mindfulness of the body is crucial both in the Buddha's teaching and especially in our highly mental culture; (2) how we practice mindfulness of breathing and mindfulness of postures and activities; and (3) how mindfulness of the body works to transform us.
