The place of passion in practice is expressed in the Iddhipadas (Bases of Power): zeal, effort, love of Dharma and preciousness of this opportunity to practice.

Opening to our experience, having a sense of possibility while being at peace with what is happening. Doing our practice and letting it happen, not making it happen, being witness with compassion and clarity.

The capacity to care as spontaneous, even or perhaps because of there is no separate self

The seven factors of enlightenment are being cultivated as we practice. This talk explores how they can be consciously brought into balance and how they work together.

Using experiences as a child growing up in South Africa, as well as experiences in her daily life, Arinna shares how the practice of patience is an essential part of practice.

How these two practices of mindfulness & metta are, in fact, enfolded in each other.

An overview of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, and how they relate to one another.

Recognizing the near and far enemies of metta as they arise.

This talk examines generosity, the quality of heart that takes us from self-absorption to open-heartedness. Generosity is one of the principle antidotes for the suffering states of greed, hatred and delusion.

How to work with some of the difficulties we face in our practice and in our lives.

Carry the statement, "Seek first to understand before being understood," throughout this week. How does this intention create a listening attitude? Experience the effect of listening on your heart, how it opens you to caring. How does your behavior change when you allow actions to flow from listening instead of making assumptions prior to the action? Watch how the phrase interrupts reactive and impulsive thinking. Do you see the potential for changing many of your relationships through this intention?

How transformation of the heart is possible. Includes the story of Anqulimala.

The retreat environment brings forth certain principles of the Buddha. Lay practice brings forth other principles. What are the tools and forms of urban life?

What it means to live a life of awakening in a culture that values materials success, grasping and control.

How giving, relinquishing and receiving act to open the heart and are gateways to freedom.

RESPECT FOR SUFFERING The suffering that arises in the practice is a noble truth, something worthy of respect. You can’t just push it away. If you’re going to end suffering you have to give it space, understand it, and approach it systematically. INTERCONNECTEDNESS Interconnectedness is not always pretty. It means that our bad actions can have endless repercussions, and that our happiness is dependent on a very fragile web. But by becoming more skillful in our actions we can turn the principle of interconnectedness into a good thing: a path to a happiness that’s truly independent. BEING STILL The quieter you are, the more you see. Being quiet is a form of doing, and sometimes it’s the most skillful thing you can do: You learn perspective and sensitivity, and you position yourself in the best spot to recognize insight when it arises. THE WORLD IS SWEPT AWAY Instead of trying to find our happiness in a world of change, we take that changing world and turn it toward the changeless, look for that which is unchanging right here, right now. THE THREE CHARACTERISTICS The teaching on the Three Characteristics is meant to liberate the mind from unnecessary burdens. The normal mind shadows everything that happens, but as you bring the mind to every more subtle levels of stillness and ease, you can detect ever more subtle levels of inconstancy and stress, and so naturally let them go. FIVE TALKS ON ONE CASSETTE OR CD