Tag Archive for: Diane Wilde

06/25/2020 “We Are In A Societal Revolution!” with Diane Wilde

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We are living through an incredible period, with impermanence being displayed in all its glory on a daily basis. Each day brings another jarring event, both sociologically, medically and personally. It’s truly revolutionary what’s taking place. The Buddha lived in revolutionary times as well, and there are some parallels which can provide guidance during these challenging times. How do we live lives of meaning when fear prevents us from socializing? How do we contend with those with whom we firmly disagree? How can we welcome others not just into our sangha, but into our lives? Essentially, we are looking for ways to create a kinder wiser society which is beginning to emerge from the current chaos. It’s a real revolution!

Confronting Racism with Mindfulness (15 pg paper by Bhikkhu Anālayo)Download
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04/30/2020 “Paradox of Physical Distancing” Community Meeting

The Paradox of Physical Distancing…Finding Connection

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Join co-hosts Rev. Diane Wilde and Rich Howard on Zoom for a community evening looking at how we can connect in this extraordinary time of physical distancing and potential isolation. After we sit together, Diane and Rich will give short “dharmettes” to introduce the theme. The rest of the evening will be a chance for community members to share their experience and wisdom on how we are using the practice of meditative awareness in this time and what we are learning about our attachments in the process.

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04/16/2020 “The End of the World” with Diane Wilde

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Reading the title of this talk, “The End of the World” might bring up visual images such as a catastrophic asteroid strike, economic or religious conflicts that culminate into a devastating World War… or maybe a world wide pandemic. The Buddha in a few suttas addressed the ending of this world and what takes its place. The world as we knew it, is indeed ending. Nothing will be as it was, no matter how diligently some of us will try to make it “normal” again. It’s not just the exterior world we inhabit that is ending. As the Buddha taught, our internal mental world is continually ending and being reborn moment by moment. Actually being aware that this is taking place is an incredible opportunity to have a hand in how the new internal world will manifest. The internal world that emerges ultimately creates the external world. How we do that, and what we create is up to us.

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02/20/2020 “The Truth About Lying” with Diane Wilde

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Do you lie? Yes you do. Research shows we all lie on a daily basis… often many times a day! Yet, truthfulness, and the avoidance of falsehood is emphasized over and over again in the Buddha’s teachings. Truthfulness is the first factor of Right Speech with specific guidelines on how to evaluate when, and how, to speak truthfully. Speaking truthfully is also the fourth of the Five Training Precepts, which are the basic virtues to be cultivated on our path to ease and happiness. Yet, we lie so frequently and for such a variety of reasons, that lying becomes an acceptable “necessity.” We maintain that we have plausible reasoning for our lies. Did the Buddha mean we must always be truthful? Let’s find out!

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08/22/2019 “Just let it go!” with Diane Wilde

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Where have you heard that before? These words have become as ubiquitous a phrase as “Have a nice day!” How seriously should we take it, and is this directive even possible OR desirable?
This rather prosaic statement is stating in colloquial terms the core Buddhist practice of “non-attachment” — which is often viewed as one of the most confusing and seemingly impossible Buddhist injunctions… especially as a lay practitioner. How can we become non-attached to our children? Personal relationships? The state of the world? The confusion may come from our misunderstanding about what this teaching really means. We will discuss the deeper meaning of this statement, and methods for its practical application — both on and off the cushion.

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07/27/2019 “Insanity and Sound Mind” with Ayya Santacitta and Rev. Diane Wilde

The Buddha’s advise on what is insanity and how to cultivate a sound mind

Daylong Retreat with Ayya Santacitta and Rev. Diane Wilde; Two audio files:

If you would like to download this Ayya Santacitta talk, please right click and select “save as” here.

If you would like to download this Diane Wilde talk, please right click and select “save as” here.

We human beings, in this human realm, rarely realize that we operating in a state of of delusion.Not only are we operating in a deluded state, we expect this current mind state to provide us a sense of happiness and well-being. Because we really have no idea what we are doing, the goal of happiness is illusive and frustrating. This is also the Buddhist view of mental disease. Delusion is a mental illness that causes all sorts of suffering; mental health can be restored by correcting the flaws in how the mind operates. We will investigate our “mental disease” in both classical terms as well as our contemporary daily life and how we can cultivate “sanity” both for ourselves and the larger world itself.

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06/27/2019 “Is Forgiveness Always the Right Response?” with Diane Wilde

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We read often of the power of forgiveness and are inspired by those who, even after suffering the devastating loss of loved ones and community members, still forgive. Is this always the right response? In the Buddha’s teachings, patisaraniya-kamma or reconciliation — means a return to amicability, and that requires much more than forgiveness. What are the criteria for reconciliation that the Buddha set out and what do we do if we feel reconciliation is impossible?
There are right and wrong ways of attempting reconciliation: those that skillfully meet the necessary requirements for reestablishing trust, and those that don’t. To encourage right reconciliation among his followers, the Buddha formulated detailed methods for achieving it, along with a culture of values that encourages putting those methods to use.
We will discuss forgiveness, reconciliation and what needs to take place for these conditions to occur… or not.

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05/16/2019 “Vesak… and looking at ‘Nibbana'” with Diane Wilde

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The most important holiday in the Buddhist calendar is Vesak. This year for many Buddhists Vesak is celebrated on Sunday, May 19. It celebrates the important events in the Buddha’s life… his birth, enlightenment and reaching a final state of no suffering… paranibbana.
Enlightenment or Nibbana has a host of definitions, mostly consisting of what it isn’t. The Buddha never explicitly said what it is, or for that matter, even exactly “who” gets enlightened. Due to the inability to speak about “Nibbana, the“goal” of eliminating suffering is either impossibly vague or has disappeared entirely from view.
What Western Buddhists are left with is the “path” and perfecting the path now appears to be the goal rather than actual enlightenment. Why is that? Is Nibbana the same in 2019 as 2,600 years ago when the world was so radically different? We’ll investigate the traditional attempts at explaining Nibbana and also some new ideas emanating from the challenges of our times.

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04/18/2019 “Two Types of Thinking” with Diane Wilde

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Thoughts… what a random mess! They come uninvited, stick around for a bit and then they are off. Thoughts that we enjoy as well as thoughts that we would prefer to ignore. Thoughts that are inspirational and others which bring out our worst nature. The Buddha explains in the “Dvedhavitakka Sutta” that he too wrestled with uninvited thoughts. Using mindfulness practice, he categorized arising thoughts into skillful and unskillful, i.e. which of his thoughts alleviated suffering and which made things worse. In our contemporary lives, we are unfortunately, mostly unaware of the harm we needlessly cause ourselves because we rarely monitor our own thought processes. This is true for the dramatic “big issues”, but it is also relevant for thoughts that arise from seemingly innocent and often mundane daily activities. Tonight we will discuss strategies for elevating our “thought experience” both on and off the cushion.

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03/21/2019 “Communicating with the ‘Other'” with Diane Wilde

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Our polarized society has caused many of us to not only avoid speaking to those who don’t share our political, spiritual or cultural views, but to avoid them altogether. Social scientists state that the animosity towards the “other” is as extreme as it was in the 60s and 70s during the Vietnam war. And yet, it has never been as critical to speak about the perilous issues that effect everyone. Speaking to each other is a task we all must undertake because we now have no choice. Avoidance has been creating its own downward trajectory… the climate crisis worsens, and political polarity has resulted in societal paralysis.
Tonight we will discuss steps we might consider taking in communicating with the “other.” The Buddha offered advise in many suttas, and contemporary social scientists have weighed in on how to begin a conversation eliminating rigidly held dogma or self-righteous anger.

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