(Part 5 of 10 of a series on The Paramis)
We all know that having a sustained practice requires energy and effort. But have you thought about the role of patience and how it can be a counter-balance to our energy and effort? Join us as we explore the many ways patience is a support for our practice and our lives.
(Part 3 of 10 of a series on The Paramis)
The Historical Buddha considered Generosity the first and foundational parami (or essential quality of mind & heart that leads to awakening.) While the possibilities for giving and sharing are endless, we frequently not only miss the opportunity to be generous, but fail even to see the opportunities.
This evening will explore Generosity as a practice of spiritual development, rather than isolated and disconnected acts of giving or sharing. It will examine a model of doing this where Generosity serves as a mirror, a doorway and a path moving from a sense of separation to connectedness and inter-relationship. It will include discussion of the Historical Buddha’s advice that we should be generous in the way we think, and by thinking, create the world we live in.
The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice. You can attend in person or by ZOOM. Dennis will be presenting in person and encourages you to be there in person as well.
(Part 2 of 10 of a series on The Paramis)
(Part 1 of 10 of a series on The Paramis)
We suggest you listen to talk and reference the slideshow available in .PDF format.
In his latest book, “Noble Truths, Noble Path” (Wisdom Publications, 2023), American monk and translator Bhikkhu Bodhi describes the four noble truths as “the matrix of the teachings” and “not merely as one Buddhist doctrine among others, but more broadly as the implicit framework of the whole teaching.” The Thursday talk and discussion will address the first three Truths: 1) Dukkha (unsatisfactoriness/vulnerability/suffering), 2) the Cause of Dukkha (tanha, or craving/leaning in/turning away), and 3) the Cessation of Dukkha (nirodha, extinction, liberation). We will look at each Truth in detail, discuss how they are “ennobling,” and see how understanding them can be found in formal practice and daily life. This evening will lead us into the February 24 daylong retreat, where we will explore the fourth truth, the noble eightfold path, in both theory and practice.
The Historical Buddha was clear about his message concerning the importance of thought: What we think about, so we incline the mind. We make the world with our thoughts.
Thoughts are so powerful because they shape our beliefs, assumptions, and expectations. They act as lenses thru which we perceive and understand the world. When these become fixed – and they usually do – we have the same experience over-and-over even though the circumstances and persons keep changing.
This phenomenon – fixed thoughts and views shaping our lives and resulting in suffering – is at the center of Buddhist psychology and practice. This Thursday evening will explore this field of experiences through common situations in meditation and everyday living. The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice.
The main person who gets in the way of allowing us to feel sympathetic joy (mudita in Pali) and gratitude is you know who. Often we compare ourselves to others and find we don’t measure up in some way. Envy and jealousy are the opposites of sympathetic joy. The Buddha encouraged us to challenge our assumptions and to cultivate this capacity to find joy in the good fortune of others. Ajahn Pasanno says, “Cutting through self-view is the Buddha’s unique contribution to spiritual practice. Mudita is antithetical to the self-view that we carry around with us and leads us to a place of boundless and immeasurable joy.”