If we weren't in opposition to life's changing nature how would life be?

Acknowledging that change itself can cause anxiety; exploring some different definitions of Nibbana; and a few suggestions for navigating fear if/when it arises in meditation practice

In preparation for this weekend, the climate emergency, our response to it as Buddhists and as human beings has been on my mind. I will give the talk related to these themes as well as on how we can change our relationship with nature through our practice to better connect with the reality we and our planet are facing. I know James just gave a talk last week on climate change, but I'm guessing this will offer a different approach and voice to this ongoing exploration.

Sometimes, we want to escape our problems and challenges of life and turn to meditation for a rest or to experience quiet and peacefulness. In some ways, we may now be spiritually distracting ourselves from our feelings, thinking that we are walking a healthy spiritual path. This effort is often referred to as spiritual bypass, which ultimately serves as a defense mechanism. This defense mechanism, in this form of Spiritual Bypass, shields us from the truth, disconnects us from our feelings, and helps us avoid the things we could be looking at. It is more about checking out than checking in, and we often don’t even realize that we are doing it. How can we use Dhamma practice to integrate meditation and insight more fully into our lives? Can Dhamma principles guide us in all that is happening? In this evening program, we will explore these questions and our practice by meditating with a talk and exchange and looking at honestly at our meditation practice and our intentions. This event was offered by donation

For most of human history it’s been “normal” to eat non-human animals. This is now changing. We are awakening to the massive suffering of the billions of animals killed each day for food, the horrors of the animal-food industry, and the impact it has on climate change (second only to fossil fuels.) In this short talk Tara shares her personal story of transitioning to a vegan diet, and invites listeners to investigate, without judgment, their own choices in this domain.

On the recent retreat James sat with Ven. Analayo, the monastic started out the last day's teaching saying: “This morning I want to talk about climate change. Though some say this is not an appropriate topic for the Dharma Hall, in my view and in light of the crisis we are facing, there is no more appropriate or necessary topic.” We explore how Dharma principles can help each of us individually hold this unsettling situation as well as why they are the key to us waking up as a species.

We are on a mountain with a tremendous view. Let the breath speak to us. Stay present and watch, both the joy and the suffering. Investigate wisely and patiently like a parent whose child may object or run away. We try to see the breath clearly, with mindfulness that is like the sun upon a flower. Attentive and receptive, timeless, and still, we gently soften and mellow – just knowing, observing, and selflessly giving the mind back to pure presence. To trust the breath is to let go moment by moment, discovering its hidden truths – our true home here and now.

The flow of experience that we experience as component parts of a sense of self, and how that is always appearing, changing, and disappearing.

Reality is not static. It changes, morphs and is impermanent. As we practice we see that we can’t hold on to anything. Letting go becomes the join of simply Being

Emptiness doesn't imply detachment, or that another's suffering doesn't matter. Understanding emptiness and Dependent Origination liberates love from self-concern, and opens wise ways to interact with and change the world. "The Sūtra says that outer things are not at all real – it is the mind that manifests in various ways. This teaching that dismisses outer forms was only a device to counteract the strong attachment that we have to things." –Chandrakīrti

Some very obvious things need to be looked at with more honest clarity; One of those is our sense of self. It just seems so obvious, practically undeniable, that “I am”. Yet a separate self is impossible to find; what a paradox.

A note on the recording: Approx. 32 minutes into Lama Rod Owens talk, he begun a guided meditation practice. This approx. 36 minutes guided practice was extracted from this recording and was made a stand alone track which you can freely access. Once Lama Rod announces start of guided practice, a bell is heard, which marks the End of extracted guided practice. Insight OUT Refuge welcomes Lama Rod Owens for this special gathering on the 5th Wednesday of October. Our community is open to students of all Buddhist traditions, as well as those who are in the beginning stages of exploring their meditation practice and have an interest in the Dharma. All those who identify as LGBTQI are welcome. We gather to form a multicultural community in which we can support each other in our practice with a commitment toward social change.

A note on the recording: This guided meditation recording took place during Lama Rod talk for Insight OUT sangha. It was extracted from the main reocrindg of this talk to be a stand alone recording. It begun approx. 32 minutes into Lama Rod Owens' talk. Insight OUT Refuge welcomes Lama Rod Owens for this special gathering on the 5th Wednesday of October. Our community is open to students of all Buddhist traditions, as well as those who are in the beginning stages of exploring their meditation practice and have an interest in the Dharma. All those who identify as LGBTQI are welcome. We gather to form a multicultural community in which we can support each other in our practice with a commitment toward social change.

We struggle for certainty and clarity, but the true orientation of Dhamma is disorientation from old maps, thereby allowing forms to arise and change with disengaged attention. Then we’re much more alert and agile. This is wilderness training.

Eight kinds of dukkha. Four reflections in mindfulness of breathing: change, fading, cessation, and letting go (relinquishment).

Life and Death as a process of change and transformation.

James returns from his recent teaching In Europe and Israel. Besides his trip to the West Bank for a glimpse of Palestinian life, he shares a fascinating project: Israelis’ actually changed their attitude about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a marketing experiment called “The Conflict Campaign” based on paradoxical thinking principles.
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The video clip of the campaign in the talk can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZadiztzLt0
To learn more about “The Fund for Reconciliation Tolerance and Peace” go to:
http://www.frtp-arik-peace.org/
Or, “Like” their Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/fund4rtp

Let others know.

Exploring Annicca (change), Dukkha (stress) and Anatta (not self), their relationship to one another, and the role they play in freeing the mind/heart.

On retreat there can be disorientation – new people, place, restrictions that weren’t there before. Disorientation is a tough medicine, but we use it to meet the boundary of the habitual self with its instinct to ‘make things go my way'. Stay with the discomfort, so that the mind changes direction: to the settled ground, through the body.