Though there are many different approaches and styles of practice they all have one common principle that neuroscience corroborates and other spiritual traditions agree on. This talk explores this unifying practice principle and how we can simply and effectively apply it both in formal practice and daily life when we're lost in the prison of our mind.

These sunny days, green hills, and the smell of spring are inspiring this week's talk on opening to the abundance of the moment. I'd like to explore with you how easy it is to get stuck in a rut of "not-enoughness". This could be a feeling of lack within your self or in your relationships with others. It might be how you view your life or society as a whole. How can we open our hearts and minds to see the fullness of life that is available and right in front of us? How can we use the practices of awareness and gratitude to come into a fuller acceptance of how things really are and find peace.

This week I'll be offering a q&a style talk so I can find out what you are exploring within your practice and what topics interest you. It will be interactive and connecting.

On the recent retreat James sat with Ven. Analayo, the monastic started out the last day's teaching saying: “This morning I want to talk about climate change. Though some say this is not an appropriate topic for the Dharma Hall, in my view and in light of the crisis we are facing, there is no more appropriate or necessary topic.” We explore how Dharma principles can help each of us individually hold this unsettling situation as well as why they are the key to us waking up as a species.

James welcome Stephen Fulder who explores themes from his new book What’s Beyond Mindfulness? and shares about the Israeli sangha.

Patience in the Buddhist tradition is seen as a quality that becomes polished as we awaken our minds and hearts. The cultivation of patience becomes an art form; fluidly brought into the moment, imbued with flexibility, mindfulness, and Metta (loving-kindness). We need this quality to help us meet our selves, our neighbors, and the world with openness. Patience can help us be more grounded and present when we face that which makes us angry, fearful, or confused.

I hope coming to the monastery, sitting together, and listening to the Dharma provides you with a sense of refuge in these times of unsettled political climate, social divide, and global uncertainty. I've been thinking about how the practice can provide a "place" to come back to when we need clarity and balance. Unfortunately, that "place" is not always easily accessed when one is stressed or overwhelmed even though it's in those times we need it the most. I want to address this in the meditation instructions and Dharma talk by emphasizing ways to become more grounded in the present moment and understanding of how to familiarize ourselves with the unwholesome mind states that can spin us into more fear and unrest. When we strengthen our capacity in this way, we find we have more agency to meet personal and global realities that are difficult to face while still cultivating deep happiness, equanimity, and joy in life.

Inspired by EcoDharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis by David Loy. James shares some perspectives that can give practitioners a sense of how to hold the climate crisis situation skillfully as well as what Dharma teachings have to offer the wider societal conversation at this time.

In preparation for this weekend, the climate emergency, our response to it as Buddhists and as human beings has been on my mind. I will give the talk related to these themes as well as on how we can change our relationship with nature through our practice to better connect with the reality we and our planet are facing. I know James just gave a talk last week on climate change, but I'm guessing this will offer a different approach and voice to this ongoing exploration.

The talk is centered around how to bring wisdom to the truth of impermanence. Anicca (impermanence) is a cornerstone truth of existence and one that we all encounter over and over. How we relate to this truth can make the difference between experiencing this natural law with confusion and aversion or living a life with a heart and mind that is at peace. We'll explore how this truth influences our emotional, physical, and relational lives. We'll also take a look at how miss-understanding this truth can be used as a spiritual bypass and hinder our spiritual development.

I will continue talking about the three truths of existence, aka The Three Characteristics. Last week we explored the truth of impermanence and what it would be like to fully live from the understanding that all of nature, including us, in constant flux. This week I'll be talking about the second truth, not-self. This is a concept in Buddhism that is often miss-understood as no-self giving an impression of nihilism. We unpack the truth of not-self, how it fits with this spiritual path, and how it can inspire us in our day-to-day.

With such disorienting events such as mass shootings in the news, how can we find our balance and hold things with equanimity, compassion and a wise dharma perspective. That is the theme for this talk.

This week will conclude my series on the Three Truths of Existence, aka The Three Characteristics. So far we've explored the truth of impermanence and what it would be like to fully live from the understanding that all of nature, including us, is in constant flux. The last time I was there, we explored the second truth, not-self. We unpacked it's meaning and talked about how it fits with this spiritual path, as well as how it can inspire us in our day-to-day. This week we'll continue the conversation by including the third truth, the truth of suffering. This will be a pointing out teaching to better understand how we feed our cycles of stress, unsatisfactoriness, and unhappiness. We'll also look at how we can untangle and even uproot the habits and patterns in our mind that support such unhappy living and nurture a more wise and peaceful way of being.

The tenderness practice instructions during the meditation is a form of metta and compassion practice. It's one that helps ease the nervous system, hold difficulty and stress with care, and cultivates a kind attitude towards our mindfulness practice.

this Dharma talk is a Q&A style talk collecting practice questions and then weaving them together.

A talk about how our benefactors impact us, wisdom and love they pass on from their benefactors and how we transmit those beautiful qualities to others who pas it on as well. No one "owns" those qualities. Rather we are part of a lineage of goodness.

Greta Thunberg’s fearless willingness to speak the truth has inspired millions of youth to follow her lead resulting in the hugely successful September 20th Worldwide Climate Strike. Thunberg calls being on the autism spectrum her “superpower” because she doesn’t care what others think of her and only cares about telling the truth. Can we be like her, let go of our self-consciousness, not hold back and speak and act with honesty and courage?

Whether the climate crisis, some other social issue or personal loss, sharing our pain by connecting with another helps us hold and process our grief. By opening the heart we can transform our feeling of isolation into one of shared humanity. This talk ends with a guided experiential dyad exercise adapting Joanna Macy’s "Learning to See Each Other" meditation from Coming Back to Life.

The True Promise of Mindfulness

mindfulness of the body and how it helps us understand and navigate change

In past weeks I've been pulling inspiration from the Satipatthana Sutta, the foundational teachings on mindfulness. I've been linking them to some of it's underpinning truths of change, impermanence, suffering, and freedom from it. I'd like to continue on this thread for tomorrow's talk and bring in the third foundation, the foundation of the mind.. We'll explore how, when we aren't lost in it, the mind is a fascinating subject for our attention. When we understand our mind more fully, we can more fully understand who we are. We'll use this theme to understand better the truth of self and not-self.

Sometimes our shyness or concern about what others think keeps us from expressing our gifts and making as meaningful a contribution as we can. In seeing through the constructed sense of self—the understanding of Anatta—those thoughts lose their power and don’t get in the way of expressing our true nature.

An appropriate topic for this time of year. Many subthemes fall under this theme, such as how to be mindful of abundance and scarcity, feeling connected with others, and the nourishment of renunciation.

This talk explores some questions of an "open heart." Can we bring both into our awareness the question, "is it possible to open further?" Where it is a stretch to feel compassionate and unguarded, is forgiveness needed, is self-care and healing needed? Do we always recognize the easy-open freedom of a heart that is fully available and unhindered? Do we take those states and the people connected to those states for granted?

At the end of the year, we reflect on endings and new beginnings. James offers some reflections on Ram Dass, beloved teacher and mentor, who passed away on Sunday, December 22. Then the community shares an end of year ceremony for increasing wholesome states and weakening unwholesome states.

As we start the New Year we explore Wise Intention, the basis of all karma and the second link of the 8-Fold Path. Clarifying your Intention is different from making a New Year's Resolution or going for a goal. It's what gives energy and power to our vision for practice.

Telling of the story of the quarrel at Kosambi as well as discussions around the importance of community and how to make community stronger

A guided meditation exploring the nature of our experience of time, followed by a talk and discussion.

Four Practices

Songs and Dharma about Mindful Intention

"Talk for Pandemic Reality" Including Jack Kornfield's "The Bodhisattva Responds to the Virus"

"Talk for Pandemic Reality"

"Talk for Pandemic Reality"

The Buddha said to reflect each day on the facts of old age, sickness and death. He also said to to come to terms with the fact that everything and everyone near and dear to us will be separated from us. In these Covid-19 days our practice becomes letting go of what was and adjust to a new way of being. This practice of impermanence includes opening to loss, grief and death which is explored in this talk.

James invited Gail Stark to join him as his guest. Gail shares what it was like to spend 10 months practicing the 10 Paramis or Perfections under Joseph Goldstein’s guidance. Her new book, Creating a Life of Integrity: In Conversation with Joseph Goldstein, is a wonderful exploration of what it means to truly bring practice into your daily life guided by Joseph Goldstein, the ultimate Dharma coach.

In the aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy and the protests that followed the community explores Racial Injustice and White Privilege. Special guest Deb Kerr, who is a Core Teacher of East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland. DE, who is one of EMBC's founders and has served on the EBMC Board has led White Privilege groups there.

We will continue our exploration of Racial Justice and White Privilege with Deb Kerr. who led us in a rich discussion last week. Deb is a core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center where she is a co-founder of EBMC and has served on the EBMC Board. Deb will offer teachings on how educating ourselves about race relates to and is an extension of dharma practice and how it connects the dots to the larger picture of systemic change.

The Buddha spoke of hiri and ottappa (Shame and Dread) as "The Guardians of the World." These are considered two wholesome states as they can prevent us from engaging in unskillful actions. But guilt and shame associated with internalized racism can paralyze us or put up walls of resistance. This is especially true if we take those feelings personally and blame ourselves for the cultural conditioning we're shaped by. How can we work skillfully with those natural and understandable reactions?

Ven. Bhikkhu Analayo has just written an essay exploring how the early Buddhist perspective shows that diversity work can become an integral part of the Buddhist path of practice. We will explore some of Ven. Analayo's ideas and see how we can apply them in our own practice. We'll also touch a recent article by Bhikkhu Bodhi, another esteemed Buddhist scholar, entitled "From Tragedy to Hope: Reflections on the Killing of George Floyd".

Devon and Craig Hase join James in sharing about their new book How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Survival Guide for Modern Life. The book offers a playful exploration of living a life of Integrity based on the teachings of the Buddha. Devon and Craig lead meditation retreats throughout North America and Europe. Devon teaches at the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock. Craig spent six years in a Zen monastery and teaches mindfulness meditation, and dharma full time.

The Buddha taught: "We are what we think. With our thoughts we make the world." We will explore mana or "the conceit of I am" and how we construct a sense of self with our mind. Based on how we see ourselves or how we compare with others, mana or the conceit of “I am” is born. This tendency leads to "The Three Conceits: I am superior, I am inferior, I am equal to." If we're not mindful, we then erroneously proceed to make a permanent, solid entity of self. We explore how not seeing this clearly creates suffering and how we can free ourselves of this self-constructed suffering.