Join us for a special evening of community and celebration as we mark the success of our Five-Year Pledge Campaign and look ahead to the opportunities unfolding in our sangha. Together, we’ll reflect on the generosity that sustains our shared path and explore what’s next in our collective journey of Dharma practice.
What does ethical practice mean in the context of anattā/not self?
It seems that the volume has been turned up in so many areas of modern life: political rhetoric, forceful opinions, horrific wars, …. Listening to an inner voice becomes harder, and listening to others nearly impossible. Yet sustaining and developing our practice of mindful awareness requires listening to our heart’s subtle whispers, and applying that practice in the world requires listening to the cries of the world to find where compassion is needed most. In addition, our relationships require a deep listening to spoken and silent expressions of connection. We will explore the inner and outer practices of listening and look for applications in our meditation practice and our daily life.
Many practitioners relate to thought and thinking as obstacles to meditation and daily life practice. This evening, in contrast, will explore the Historical Buddha’s teachings that thought and thinking can be functions of wisdom.
The Buddha’s vision emphasizes the qualities of intention and discernment in thinking as guides for creating, and testing, a sound conceptual framework for practice. This approach includes mindful and intuitive reflection on the results or outcomes of one’s efforts. Thinking and thought can become powerful tools for developing clarity, deepening insight, and supporting ethical conduct.
According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, it is said that “the purpose of the Buddha’s appearance in the world… is to proclaim the four noble truths.” This was also the Buddha’s very first teaching where he “set in motion the wheel of the dhamma.”
We will explore these four truths of suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering and the way leading to the cessation of suffering, and see how they can apply to modern life.
How contemplative practice and non-violence approaches can bring about transformation, not just internally but in the world at large.
It’s not uncommon to think of insight as cool clarity, but its deepest power may arise through the warmth of the heart.
The Jataka Tales are stories of the past lives of the Buddha. More importantly for our purposes, they are teaching lessons about the qualities of heart and mind to be developed if we want to get free from the grips of greed, aversion, and delusion. For this evening’s presentation, Rich will read Jataka 33, the Sammodamana Jataka. We will then break into small groups (both in person and on Zoom) to discuss the lessons we can find from this simple story. Then Sara will read it again, and the discussion groups will meet again to see what new insights arose from hearing the Tale a second time. We will close the evening by sharing with the large group. Join us for an evening of learning in community.
We will look at the timeless nature of the Dharma, exploring the question ~ What if time is part of the root of suffering? We’ll look at the impact of attachment to schedules and productivity and some of the ways that Buddhist teachings challenge these conventional understandings. And how as we practice and see more clearly, we the possibility of liberation from suffering for ourselves and our communities deepen.
The skandhas and the four foundations of mindfulness map the same experiential territory. We’ll explore how seeing this can change our practice and point to a deeper understanding of not-self.