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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
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Dharma Talks
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2026-06-20
Dhammapada Verses 146-156: Old Age
1:36:31
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Ayya Santussika
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This dhamma talk, comments, questions and responses was offered on June 20, 2026 for East Bay Dhamma.
Dhammapada verses 146 -156 Old Age was discussed.
The text can be found here:
https://suttacentral.net/dhp146-156/en/buddharakkhita?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false
00:00 - 1:36:32 DHAMMA TALK, COMMENTS, QUESTIONS & RESPONSES
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Karuna Buddhist Vihara
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2026-06-19
Juneteenth and Our Practice
53:13
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Donald Rothberg
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We begin with a short account of some of the history of Juneteenth and its origins in Texas, as well as how it developed in the decades after 1865, including under Jim Crow. We ask how consideration of Juneteenth and the ensuing history informs our practice, considering the three main elements of our practice: Training in wisdom (particularly in understanding the roots of racism in greed for power and wealth and a "divide and conquer" approach); meditation (both in examining our conditioning and working with difficult emotions), and ethical practice (developing care and addressing harm, for the benefit of all beings). The talk is followed by discussion.
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East Bay Meditation Center
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2026-06-18
On Love, Shame and Human Belonging with Adam Baraz
50:53
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James Baraz
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Adam will give the talk. Over the past seven months, Adam traveled through Bali, Nepal, and Japan on a pilgrimage that became both an outer journey and an inner exploration. At the heart of this journey was a simple question: What allows a human being to feel truly at home within themselves?
Drawing from meditation, spiritual pilgrimage, and somatic practice, Adam reflects on how love transforms shame and restores our innate dignity and belonging. He will share how he sees the journey through the lens of the five elemental stages of SomAwaken that he teaches.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2026-06-10
Buddhist Practice and Transforming Social Conditioning 2
62:17
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Donald Rothberg
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We begin by reviewing briefly last week's session, including how contemporary practice can expand the traditional focus on ignorance to include contemporary psychological and social perspectives on further dimensions of ignorance, including our initially unconscious social conditioning. We look again briefly at how the Buddha related both to caste and to women's roles in the sangha, and the basic of social conditioning, including how this is related to "in-groups," "out-groups," and "implicit bias." Most of the talk is devoted to suggesting the basic ways that we can explore and transform social conditioning. We focus on the main supports for such practice, including working with groups and guidelines, knowing the history of a particular form of conditoning (we give the examples of gender and race), using different forms of inquiry, mindfulness in meditation and daily life (including being mindful of the judgmental mind, anger, sadness, shame, etc.), the heart practices (including the importance of self-love, compassion, forgiveness, and joy), and other practices, such as involving ritual. The talk is followed by discussion.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2026-06-07
The Joy of Goodness
42:01
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Ayya Santussika
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Finding joy in everything good: generosity, kindness, letting go, virtuous behavior. Seeing how the qualities of generosity lay the groundwork for awakening and show up in that process as well. Cultivating mudita, appreciative joy, for the good in ourselves, in others, and goodness wherever we find it.
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Cloud Mountain Retreat Center
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Nine Days of Joy
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2026-06-07
The Six Recollection
36:26
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Ayya Santussika
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These recollections from the Buddha help to lift up the heart, remind us of our goodness and give us encouragement on the path. The recollections are of the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. And then, recollections on one's own moral conduct (sila), generosity, and the qualities of the devas that caused them to become devas that we ourselves also possess.
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Cloud Mountain Retreat Center
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Nine Days of Joy
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2026-06-07
Thoughts of Sanctuary and Seclusion
25:40
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Ayya Santussika
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In Itivuttaka 38, the Buddha talks about how the Tathāgata frequently has two thoughts: one about sanctuary and the other about seclusion. The thought about sanctuary, the safety and security for living beings, comes from his love of and delight in kindness. The thought comes from the Buddha's love of seclusion and his delight in it, so this thought often occurs to him: ‘What is unskillful has been given up.’
The Buddha encouraged his disciples to love kindness and delight in it, then this thought will often occur to them: ‘Through this behavior, I shall not hurt any creature firm or frail.’ He also encouraged them to love seclusion and delight in it, then this thought will often occur to them: ‘What is unskillful? What is not given up? What should I give up?’”
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Cloud Mountain Retreat Center
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Nine Days of Joy
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2026-06-05
The Joy of Entering the Sanctuary
1:15:50
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Ayya Santussika,
Ayya Cittananda
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The introduction to the retreat with introductions, descriptions, taking refuges and precepts, and calling the devas. The Dhamma talk starts at 34 minutes.
Tonight we are entering the sanctuary of this amazing forest and beautiful buildings where so many people have come to practice over these many years. We are also entering the sanctuary of physical safety and security to be here together with everyone keeping precepts and holding the intention to practice well. We can feel the presence of the devas. And, we are entering the internal sanctuary of the heart.
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Cloud Mountain Retreat Center
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Nine Days of Joy
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2026-06-04
Quiet Strength: Exploring Equanimity with James and Margaret Cullen
49:41
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James Baraz
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Margaret is the author of the just released book, Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly through the Power of Equanimity. In this she leads in an exploration on this key quality that is so needed in these times.
As a therapist, Margaret facilitated psycho-social support groups for cancer patients and their loved ones for over 30 years. She has led research studies on the impact of contemplative programs, co-developed the Compassion Cultivation Training with Thupten Jinpa at Stanford University. Margaret is the founder of Compassion Corps, a program which brings compassion programs to underserved populations around the world. She has been a meditation practitioner for over 40 years.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2026-06-03
Dharma As Nature
47:53
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Chas DiCapua
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Learning to understand that the Dharma path unfolds in an organic, natural way helps to lessen the tendency to make Dharma practice another self-help project. Seeing the conditioned nature of suffering and the conditioned nature of happiness allows the self to get out of the way and let wisdom and discernment guide us along the path.
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Cambridge Insight Meditation Center
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2026-06-03
Letting the Tree Grow, One Ring at a Time
39:45
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Oren Jay Sofer
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The deepest transformation unfolds over years, too gradually to see — yet the only unit we ever actually work with is a single moment, met with kindness and a willingness to let go. Like a tree growing ring by ring, a whole life takes shape one moment at a time, with far less to manage than we think.
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Online
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Online Insight Retreat
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2026-06-03
Buddhist Practice and Transforming Social Conditioning 1
60:25
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Donald Rothberg
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We begin by focusing on a fundamental perspective for our practice: How our practice moves from underlying ignorance to wisdom. We look at both the traditional understanding of such ignorance and how contemporary psychological and social perspectives help us to identify further dimensions of ignorance, including our initially unconscious social conditioning. We start by considering how the Buddha related both to caste and to women's roles in the sangha. We then look at the nature of social conditioning, including how this is related to "in-groups" and "out-groups," along with "implicit bias," and ways that our practice can help us see more clearly and ultimately transform our social conditioning.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2026-06-02
The Spectrum of Desire
33:49
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Kim Allen
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The human tendency to want can range from highly unskillful or harmful forms of grasping and compulsion, through ordinary desires of life, into beautiful forms of aspiration and care. Buddhist teachings show how we can develop the more skillful forms of desire, such as wanting to be ethical, to practice meditation, or to awaken. Interestingly, moving into skillful wanting is an act of letting go.
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Insight Meditation Community of Richmond
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