I try to convey that the wisdom and compassion we are looking for is already inside of us. I see practice as learning how to purify our mind and heart so we can hear the Buddha inside. In doing so, we naturally embody the dharma and help awaken that understanding and love in others we meet.
I try to use the formal teachings as a doorway for people to see the truth in themselves. I feel I'm doing my job when people look into themselves to come to their own deep understandings of the truth, access their own inner wisdom and trust in their "Buddha-knowing," as Ajahn Chah called it, which is different from their intellectual knowing.
The Buddha-knowing is a deeper place, underneath the concepts, which is in touch with the truth, with our seed of awakening. I want practitioners to have more and more confidence in, and familiarity with, that deeper place of knowing. It is accessing this dimension of our being that becomes the guide to cutting through the confusion caused by greed and fear. We have everything we need inside ourselves. We do not need to look to a teacher when we remember who we really are.
With such disorienting events such as mass shootings in the news, how can we find our balance and hold things with equanimity, compassion and a wise dharma perspective. That is the theme for this talk.
Inspired by EcoDharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis by David Loy. James shares some perspectives that can give practitioners a sense of how to hold the climate crisis situation skillfully as well as what Dharma teachings have to offer the wider societal conversation at this time.
In order to open to true well-being we need to let go of the blocks to an open heart. Practices of forgiveness towards ourselves and others are offered.
The Buddha was called "The Happy One", but often there is more emphasis on overcoming suffering then going for true happiness. It is beneficial to see the teachings in the light of cultivating wholesome states as well - leading to the highest happiness of freedom.
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.
After spending a recent retreat with Ven. Analayo Bhikkhu at Spirit Rock on this subject, James offers his understanding of Ven. Analayo's explanation of the discourse and how it can be applied in our meditation practice. You can also go to (paste it in your browser) this link to hear Ven. Analayo's Anapanasati guided meditation.
https://www.windhorsepublications.com/mindfulness-of-breathing-audio/
Though there are many different approaches and styles of practice they all have one common principle that neuroscience corroborates and other spiritual traditions agree on. This talk explores this unifying practice principle and how we can simply and effectively apply it both in formal practice and daily life when we're lost in the prison of our mind.
The Buddhist writer Wei Wu Wei says: "True humility is the absence of anyone to be proud." We are often humbled by life. How we handle it can either lead to defeat or profound growth. We will explore how being humbled can deepen our capacity to open to all of our experience and strengthen our confidence and trust as we align ourselves with something greater than ourself.
A talk on the Buddha's Teaching of three roots of happiness: non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion. Stating each in a positive way they are 1) Letting go/Generosity, 2) Loving-Kindness 3)Clarity/Wisdom.
As part of the talk I share some personal stories of how my different paths of Buddhism and the Hindu path of devotion converged around these three qualities.
Non-Greed, Non-Hatred and Non-Delusion were taught by the Buddha as the three roots of happiness. Stating each in a positive way they are 1) Letting go/Generosity, 2) Loving-Kindness and ClarityWisdom. Every moment that we're mindful we're cultivating these qualities. This talk explores both the moment-to-moment as well as the relational aspects of these three qualities.
The Buddha said that karma is all based on intention. In every moment we are sowing the seeds of suffering or happiness. In addition to this moment to moment aspect, intention also refers to a wider motivation—Clear Comprehension of Purpose—our aspiration and vision that fuels and inspires us to practice. Both of these dimensions of intention are explored.
Wise or Right Effort includes cultivating wholesome states and then maintaining and increasing them. This talk explores how to maintain and increase these states and the importance of consciously including them in our practice. Particular emphasis is on the power of investigation, as well as mindfulness.
The list of the Five spiritual Faculties - Faith, Energy, Mindfulness, Concentration and Wisdom - is a helpful way to understand the unfolding of practice. Each of these are important issues of practice and each can be seen to build on the next for the full flowering of the awakened heart/mind.
In this teaching the Buddha speaks of three different qualities that need to be in balance for development of the awakened mind and that there is no right way to do the practice.
James and Kate Munding, co-guiding teacher of Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley co-led this evening exploring the power and importance of like-minded friendship and community especially in these times.
At the beginning of the talk James reads a moving letter written to the community by a 31-year old woman from Australia named Stephanie whose story of sexual assault James shared in his talk from two weeks before entitled: "The Third Precept: Trauma, Respect and Cultural Wake Up".
See:
https://dharmaseed.org/talks/52436/
The Third Precept is: I undertake the training precept to refrain for sexual misconduct. After Christine Blasey Ford's moving testimony at the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, this talk explores this cultural moment together. The impact of sexual assault, importance of courage, especially of women, to speak the truth in the face of animosity and criticism and the power of fierce compassion are discussed.
"This is a talk given at James Baraz's Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley."
James recently sat with Ven. Bhikkhu Analayo, an extraordinary Buddhist scholar and meditation teacher. He shares some of the teachings and practices that he learned on the Brahma Viharas and how they can help lead to deeper perceptions of emptiness including infinite space and infinite consciousness.
The talk gives a glimpse of the value of experimenting and playing with the mind. With Ven. Analayo's permission, James' takes us on a quick journey through some rather profound terrain. So let whatever your experience or non-experience be okay. For a deeper dive into the material the listener is referred to Ven. Analayo's book: Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation:
Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation.
Every moment of mindfulness we are weakening the forces of greed, hatred & delusion (roots of suffering) and strengthening the forces of non-greed (letting go & generosity), non-hatred (loving-kindness) and non-delusion (wisdom). This talk explains how that works.
The course of practice is explored: how mindfulness works, willingness to open to our suffering, discovering our wholesome qualities & the Buddha within, dealing with forgetting who we are, then sharing our love & wisdom with the world.
One definition of the word Dharma is Natural law. Trees hold a very special place in the Buddha’s teaching.. The Buddha was born under a tree, enlightened under a tree and died under a tree. He told his disciples to find “roots of trees” to sit and meditate. Trees are the perfect environment to practice in the Thai Forest Tradition. Metta practice was taught by the Buddha in response to actions of “Tree spirits”. We’ll explore the special significance of trees and Nature in the Buddha’s teaching.
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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Suzie Brown is from Melbourne, Australia. She’s co-founder of the Melbourne Insight Meditation Group and has taught Mindfulness to medical students at Monash University. Suzie has also been a facilitator, trainer and educator for over a decade in the areas of environmental sustainability and organizational strategy.
After seeing the movie "Won't You Be My Neighbor" about Mr. (Fred) Rogers, James offers reflections about how deeply we can be touched and inspired by the good we see in others. That capacity to be touched by and love goodness is, in some sense, the heart of spiritual practice. Something in us loves the truth and is drawn to goodness around us. And it makes us yearn to activate the good inside.
This month marks the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Ajahn Chah, one of the most influential Theravadan masters of the 20th Century from the Thai Forest tradition. Ajahn Chah was the primary teacher of Jack Kornfield, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Amaro and other influential teachers. Ajahn Chah's teaching is a major influence on the Dharma as presented at Spirit Rock. This talk offers some reflections his approach to practice at once deep, fierce, down to earth, humorous and wise.
When you understand the law of karma you realize that each moment we are sowing the seeds for more suffering or more happiness depending on your response to experience. This talk explains how that works and how to choose wisely for a life of true happiness and inner peace.
Believing our judging thoughts is not only suffering it is a misunderstanding of reality. This talk explores how the mind gets caught in judgments and how to skillfully work with them.
In order to awaken joy we have to learn to have a healthy relationship with ourselves - holding our pain and sorrows as well as learning to appreciate all of our beautiful qualities.
In the opening line of the Dhammapada the Buddha teaches: "We are what we think with our thoughts we make the world." Although we have limited control over what happens to us, we can hold our experience with a wise perspective that makes all the difference. Famed Buddhist writer Christmas Humphreys put it this way: "The one miracle this path has to offer is a change of heart." We can change our relation to experience and make the shift from suffering to clear seeing, wisdom and compassion. In this talk James sings a song he wrote in his 20's entitled "It's All in Your Mind".
In the Satipatthana Sutta (MN#10), the Buddha's discourse on mindfulness, the Buddha instructs us to contemplate mindfully, ardent and clearly comprehending each of the four foundations. "Clear comprehension" also translated as "clearly knowing" includes four areas of context for our mindfulness practice. In Part 1 we explored the first two elements of Clear Comprehension: "Clear Comprehension of Purpose" and "Clear Comprehension of Suitability of Action". In this talk we discuss the second two aspects: "Clear Comprehension in the Domain of Meditation" and "Clear Comprehension of Reality". With metta, James
James in a conversation with Dawn Mauricio, a fresh dharma presence based in Montreal.
Dawn is in the current Spirit Rock Teacher Training and is also on the West Coast assisting some upcoming Spirit Rock retreats. James invited Dawn to share her perspective on how the Dharma might unfold in the coming years and her experience teaching as a young strong female voice and teacher of color.
James invited Barbara Gates, co-editor for 31 years of Inquiring Mind journal, to discuss how she brings her dharma practice to her voter registration work which is her service commitment for the Buddhist Chaplaincy Program. They discuss bridging the divide between you and those with a very different perspective including skillful listening, engaging with metta, curiosity, non-separation and commitment to making a difference in the world.
In the Satipatthana Sutta (MN#10), the Buddha's discourse on mindfulness, the Buddha instruct's us to contemplate mindfully, ardent and clearly comprehending each of the four foundations. "Clear comprehension" also translated as "clearly knowing" includes four areas of context for our mindfulness practice. In this talk the first two aspects of Clear Comprehension are explored: "Clear Comprehension of Purpose" and "Clear Comprehension of Suitability of Action."
Often our meditation practice helps us understand or see for the first time something that’s never been clear before. That experience of insight where exclaim to ourselves “Aha!” It can have a profound impact that genuinely shifts our perspective. However, even after this powerful glimpse of seeing with new eyes, the old habits and thought patterns still have their influence and we can forget what we know to be true. This is particularly frustrating and can lead to great doubt. How can we both honor our familiar old friend, confusion, and remember to access the wisdom in our new understanding?
Joining James to discuss his work is Gautham Prabu, co-founder of FSHM an NGO for social transformation whose work has primarily supported Dalits (formerly India's "Untouchable" caste) many of whom have become become Buddhist practitioners and the Tamil Buddhist Society based in Tamil Nadu, India. He is a member of International Network of En
Karma, the unfolding situation of our individual lives, is often understood to be dependent on our actions. These are, in turn, based on the intention of our underlying mind state. But what about societal conditions—including prejudice and inequality—that affect people’s lives? Is there collective karma? If so, can we affect it?
The Buddha taught, "We are what we think with our thoughts we make the world." It important to understand how our thoughts create our reality. And it's also vital to realize that our reality is just the way we're seeing the world at a particular moment in time. Others may have different realities. And in time our own perspective might change. Seeing this is a key to genuine freedom and support for choosing wisely the thoughts we want to empower.
We’re not practicing for ourselves alone. The world needs more consciousness and our practice allows us to become an agent of consciousness that in a very profound way affects everyone around us and the planet itself.
"How the Dharma urges us to take wise action to try to change the wrongs that we see in our world." ------------
Suzie Brown has recently moved with her family from Melbourne, Australia. She is co-founder of the Melbourne Insight Meditation Group and has taught Mindfulness to medical students at Monash University. Suzie has also been a facilitator, trainer and educator for over a decade in the areas of environmental sustainability and organizational strategy, running her own consulting business for the last 8 years.
The journey of awakening often begins with learning to open up to all the hidden places inside. Facing our demons, learning to accept and eventually embrace the whole package of who we are. That's when the process gets truly interesting-when we move to the bigger perspective tuning into the awareness that can hold it all.
Every moment has flavor tone of experience: pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Typically, we react without thinking and act from attachment, aversion or delusion-the seeds of suffering. When we bring mindfulness to the moment we have the choice to respond with non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion. Those are the seed of true happiness.
The Five Spiritual Faculties explain the unfolding of practice as well as highlight major issues in practice: Faith leads to making the effort to be mindful leading deepening concentration and wisdom.
This talk was inspired by Frances Vaughan, a true woman of wisdom, who recently passed. Frances was a pioneer in the field of Transpersonal Psychology, served as President of both the Association for Transpersonal Psychology and the Association for Humanistic Psychology, authored many books including Awakening Intuition and The Inward Arc. At her recent memorial service we heard the three main principles that guided her life. The talk contained a moving short video of her life that can be accessed here:
https://vimeo.com/246379817 (password: GratitudeDec9).
Mindfulness is one particular aspect of awareness that is shining through us all the time. As we tune into awareness, we connect with a spacious perspective that counteracts the solidification of a small separate self and opens us to connection with all things and true freedom.
Courage is contagious. Nelson Mandela spoke of the "multiplication of courage": When one brave person is willing to speak the truth, even though it might be met with strong resistance, it can spark another voice in the wilderness to do the same. And then other voices can be inspired to join in too. That is often how dramatic change can happen.
The Buddhist concept of Anatta points to the fact that there is no separate self to whom life is happening. We are inter-connected. This talk explores different levels of this truth. As individuals, biologically we are not one being but rather a complex ecosystem comprised of many different beings. We are connected to each other through our relationships. And we are societal creatures who form groups. In the best of conditions those groups sometimes create an extraordinary field where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.
