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.
Most of us have a strong habit of not measuring up to our idealized standards of who we would like to be. Understanding this habit with compassion and learning to skillfully work with it as practice can become a potent doorway to awakening.
We can appreciate good guidance but ultimately we need to learn how to listen to the Buddha or Quan Yin right inside. Includes the Buddha's five strategies for dealing with distracting thoughts.
Holding practice as more than just working with suffering but as a cultivation of wholsesome states that open the heart and create the conditions for the highest happiness.
"James guest tonight is Joseph Bobrow, a respected colleague and Zen teacher, who's work with veterans has been a major contribution in helping them heal from the trauma of war. Joe very movingly talks about his work and his book: Waking Up from War - A Better Way Home for Veterans and Nations.
It’s said that it is better to live with a moment of loving-kindness than 100 years without it. We might feel contracted or armored but just one tender moment where the heart softens even a little can be an opportunity to open us.
Sometimes, when the news gets heavy we can overlook all the goodness around us. When things seem overwhelming, it’s important at times to balance out the 10,000 sorrows by tuning into the 10,000 joys and remembering it’s not all one way or the other.
Hope you join us.
Like many, I was speechless upon hearing the news of the latest senseless mass shooting in San Bernardino. When we hear such incomprehensible news that breaks the heart or we are going through our own personal heartbreak, how can we hold it all? I don't profess to have the answers, but perhaps we can explore together in a useful way. I hope you join us.
"The grateful heart not only includes appreciation for all the wonderful blessings in our life but also opening up to our pain in the context of gratitude."
This talk is about the importance of courage in our practice. In stretch ourselves beyond our comfort zone, we discover an inner strength and confidence that allows us to transform fear into aliveness, realizing our full potential.
How your practice can unfold as you leave retreat includes seeing it as a path of happiness; value of opening to suffering; learning to listen to the truth inside and expressing your caring as compassionate action.
Dharma practice is not only about learning to be with suffering. Cultivating wholesome states and noticing when they're here is an essential part of practice that leads to the highest happiness. This talk includes some teachings of the Buddha on how to develop happiness in our lives.
Wise effort includes developing and maintaining and increasing wholesome states. When anger and outrage are the source of our action we’re headed towards burnout and despair. When we come from caring and love, our actions are not only energizing for us but magnetizing for others.
This talk given during the 3rd Annual Earth Care Week is about doing our part to contribute to the healing of our planet from love not fear. It includes opening up to the reality of the dukkha while seeing the possibility of being part of growing consciousness that's increasingly gaining momentum.
How your practice can unfold as you leave retreat includes seeing it as a path of happiness; value of opening to suffering; learning to listen to the truth inside and expressing your caring as compassionate action.
Last week we spoke of practice as a process of purification, refining impurities of mind like a goldsmith refines and purifies gold.
This week we’ll explore how the mind is refined by understanding how to balance three qualities that all need to work together.
With Metta,
James
One way to think of dharma practice is as a path of purification. The talk uses a discourse by the Buddha's as a way to describe this process. We can see how, little by little, over time we are purifying the mind and heart. The key is to keep facing in the right direction as we develop increasingly wholesome thoughts, words and actions.
We are inspired by the goodness of others. Even more, their example motivates us to do good ourselves. The term "Elevation Response" is used in psychology to describe this phenomenon. The talk describes three people whose lives are inspirations and whose examples can help us bring out the best in ourselves.
We get very attached to things as if they were extremely important (e.g. your basketball team winning a championship or a conflict with a friend). However, in the bigger scheme of things all of these seemingly crucial things can be held in the wider, wiser perspective of impermanence. A parable from Buddhist teachings helps illustrate this essence of true equanimity and wisdom.
The Buddha said that hatred never ceases by hatred, but only by love. How can we heal from interactions with others that have hurt us or closed our heart? Once we learn to hold what has happened in a wise way, the heart can open and transform the hurt into compassionate understanding.
James along with Kerry Nelson, who is with Spirit Rock's Green Group and Sean Munding, from our community, are the speakers.
Sean will be enthusiastically heading our Berkeley Community's own new Green Committee.
We will be exploring using our practice to meaningfully address the issue of climate change.
Many influences shape the thoughts and perceptions of how we view ourselves and the world.
Some result in a fear-based perspective that leads to suffering. Others create more clarity and love in our mind and heart.
Can we consciously choose which ones will determine how we lead our lives and is it possible to not be run by deeply ingrained habits that no longer serve us?
Much of the time our actions are motivated more by concern about what others think about us than what our own truth is.
What would it be like to not be ruled by those thoughts?
After practicing for one month, what have we learned to apply in our life as we go home, or carry us through the next month as we continue our practice?
With so many different approaches to practice how do we know if we're doing it "the right way?" And how can we decide which of the many voices in our mind to listen to? This talk includes the 5 strategies offered by the Buddha to work skillfully with distracting thoughts.
Comparing and judging is a deeply ingrained habit pattern that's present until full enlightenment.
How can we hold it wisely and work with it skillfully?
Dharma practice is not only about learning to be with suffering. Cultivating wholesome states and noticing when they're here is an essential part of practice that leads to the highest happiness. This talk includes some teachings of the Buddha on how to develop happiness in our lives.
The practice can be seen in terms of balance and an unfolding process. The Five Spiritual Faculties - Faith, Effort, Mindfulness, Concentration & Wisdom - describe both of these perspectives.
The one thing that is certain in life is its unpredictability. Having an awareness that inner and outer circumstances could change in a moment can inform our lives in a profound way. Rather than living with vigilance and fear an on-going understanding of the fragility in life can lead us to more wakefulness, appreciation and freedom.
A talk focusing on the possibility of changing the direction of our lives and the importance of giving people an opportunity to thrive. This talk includes excerpts from Sean Kyler, one of the graduates give his moving valedictorian speech through a program that supports prison inmates getting their college degree.
It's one thing to remember and cultivate gratitude for the blessings in our life. But it's even more profound to experience the possibility of a grateful heart even in the midst of difficulties.
We are continuously faced with decisions in our lives. Some are minor while others are more significant. How can we skillfully choose between all the options?
In examining the mind we can see the insubstantiality of our thoughts and the mysterious ground of emptiness from which they arise. This talk includes songs from the Tibetan classic Flight of the Garuda which explores the nature of awareness--empty of substance but at the same time fully awake.
Even though we know that jumping on a particular thought train might lead to trouble in the mind, we can still hop on. How can we wake up and more consciously choose before taking the leap?
The external pressure to accomplish and keep up we may feel from others is usually not as burdensome as the internal pressure we put on ourselves. How can we see through this self-created suffering and live our life with more ease?
Just like anger and fear are contagious so is goodness. In fact, that is our true nature and there's a place in us that longs to come home to it. We just have to tune into all the goodness around us to remember.
Does awakening happen all at once or over time? Both. Even after one has an awakening experience there is still more work to be done. This talk explores awakening and the purification of habits that is an essential part of that process.
How your practice can unfold as yhou leave retreat includes seeing it as a path of happiness; value of opening to suffering; learning to listen to the truth inside and expressing your caring as compassionate action.
Coming to retreat people often ask themselves "What are we doing and why?" This talk explains the basic principles of vipassana, why it's so transformative and attitudes that support the deepening of that transformation.
You're probably very familiar with the power of mindfulness. But as powerful as it is to just see things clearly, we can include a perspective that will bring richness and depth to our dharma practice.
The fact that we're given a human birth is exceedingly rare in itself. But to hear the Dharma, and be motivated as well as have the opportunity to practice is extraordinary good karma. Reflecting on this brings gratitude and provides a strong incentive to practice for the benefit of all beings.
We learn from everyone who comes into our life--those that inspire and those who are challenging. If our intention is to wake up, then everyone can be seen as part of our process. This profoundly changes our relationship to all. Even the difficult ones are no longer the enemy.
We find what we look for. Our brains are wired to confirm our beliefs. One key to Metta practice is looking for the good. Then appreciating and enjoying it when it is recognized.
Our preconceptions and assumptions have a significant effect on how we perceive reality--what gets taken in and what gets filtered out. A rich area of practice is being aware of this so that we truly see clearly to the best of our ability. As we bring more awareness to our filters, we can also see others' Buddha nature inside them, and help it come out, even if they can't see it themselves.
Although devotion plays a significant role in Monastic Communities and Tibetan practices it's not something that's often discussed in lay communities. Yet devotion can be a major source of inspiration which can fuel our practice.
Although devotion plays a significant role in Monastic Communities and Tibetan practices it's not something that's often discussed in lay communities. Yet devotion can be a major source of inspiration which can fuel our practice.
I encourage you to read this edition of the Inquiring Mind, especially articles by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Ann Wright, (a peace activist who spent many years in military and State Dept.) and many other thought-provoking pieces including the merits of bringing mindfulness to the military.
In this discourse Sariputta gives a teaching to Anathapindika, the greatest patron of the sangha, on his deathbed regarding not clinging to the body or mind as a doorway to liberation.
This is the second discourse given by the Buddha to his five original ascetic companions after setting the wheel of the Dharma in motion. The Buddha gives his teaching on Anatta (or not-self), and the five become enlightened.
One of the most inspiring teachings on the potential for each of us to change. Angulimala, a violent killer, encounters the Buddha, wakes up from his confusion and becomes a holy man.
No matter how deep our unskillful habits are, we can take comfort and inspiration in the capacity of the heart to awaken and face in the right direction.
In this discourse the Buddha gives five different strategies for working with troublesome thoughts and mind-states. A very practical teaching on working with the mind when it gets caught and mindfulness is not strong enough.
We continue the Sutta series exploring the Vacchagotta suttas from the Majjhima Nikaya. Vacchagotta asks many questions of the Buddha. In a series of conversations, the Buddha expounds to Vacchagotta on such topics as whether or not he's omniscient, on various speculative views about what happens after death and if nuns and householders can be enlightened.
James Baraz talking about Kalyana Mitta, exploring the idea, "What is 'Spiritual Friendship'?" The word "Mitta" is related to "Metta" or lovingkindness. Mitta means friend, Kalyana is Spiritual. So, KM is a Spiritual Friends group. This term is particularly used in the Theravada tradition to talk about the relationship we have with each other to have that third refuge in the sangha really flourish
Our KM Dedicated Volunteers Melanie Speir and Geidra Gershman talk about their experience with KM groups, sharing tips for forming and sustaining groups.
