Uncertainty and Doubt We may come to practice in search of clear answers, but as practice matures, we become more comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. Suzuki Roshi wrote, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few. ” Maintaining this “beginner’s mind” keeps practice fresh and opens the mind to surprising insights. Too much uncertainty and ambiguity may lead to doubt. Let’s explore this rich territory together and see what it means for our formal and daily practice.

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You Don’t Have to Be Buddhist

Rich just returned from Thailand, where Theravada Buddhism is interwoven with Hinduism and native folk religion. Once again, the question arises: Am I a Buddhist? Another question follows: Do I have to be Buddhist to practice at SIM? Spoiler Alert: No and No. Join Rich and the SIM community to explore how investigating these questions may shed light on why and how we practice. For the talk handout, click here.

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REFLECTION AT YEAR’S END: THE PARAMIS

For SIM’s last Thursday gathering, we will take time to reflect quietly together on the past year in terms of the Paramis, those qualities that lead to peace when cultivated and perfected. Rather than evaluating or judging, we will then use this reflection to assess our strengths and weaknesses as a way of setting intentions for our practice in the coming New Year. Join the SIM community one last evening in 2016 for a time of silence, sharing, reflection, and community.

To view the handout for this talk, listing the ten Paramis, click here.

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Depends on What?: An Exploration of Causes and Conditions

You may have heard about the importance of “causes and conditions” but what does that mean to our practice in formal meditation and daily life? Can we learn to recognize how causes and conditions work in our lives experientially without making it into an intellectual analysis? What would it be like to know a peace that does not depend on outside circumstances?

Rich Howard will lead this evening exploring the practical application of the Buddhist understanding of conditionality. As a start, notice how the experience of finding a parking place near the Friends’ Meeting House affects your mood!
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Nature is a seamless whole, flowing and changing continuously. The world we inhabit is increasingly digital, measured, quantified, and reduced to numbers and words. How do you think of your practice? Minutes on the cushion? Days in retreat? Years of practice? Or does the practice flow through every waking moment? We spend this evening examining our view of practice as analog or digital. We  ask ourselves if it makes a difference. We think about our own practice and discuss how it might be digital, analog, neither, or both. And how that serves our life and the world.

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