We all have teachers who've inspired us to see life in a new way. Who have been your inspirations?
What have you learned from them? I thought I'd share some ways that instructions from two of my
teachers--Ram Dass and HWL Poonja (Papaji)-- have shaped how I see the world and how I practice.
The talk includes a recording of a significant dialogue from 1990 with Poonjaji that reconnected me
with my joy.
Here is a link to the dialogue of the Poonjaji satsang where James asked the question
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16TnL2Zev-6r_mZPrgdSxSTaYLoyzdLOg3CnJ2U3D6C8/edit?tab=t.0
Here is a link to the video on Youtube that is over an hour long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrjspK5fHiQ. James is at 23:38
A talk on training the heart in a time of heat: drawing from the Fire Sermon, the Sutta Nipata, and lived stories – showing how equanimity and compassion meets suffering without collapse, numbness, or bypass.
The talk explores the sutta, The Advice to Anathapindika. The sutta reveals how Anathapindika bestowed the teachings of non-clinging and letting to those of us who ar householders. The talk concludes with a current story of a near death experience that embodies the realization of the goodness of the dharma.
After a brief general account of the three ways of liberating insight, we look at each of the three--insights into impermanence, dukkha, and not-self--with a longer treatment of insight into not-self. There is an emphasis especially on how we practice in order to come to these insights. We close with a passage from Ajahn Chah pointing to the unity of developing samadhi and cultivating insight. The talk is followed by discussion.
