As we head into the darkest period of the year we are processing dark forces of ignorance and hate in the news each day. The light and loving awareness can hold all the forces of ignorance-- both inside us and around us--with compassionate understanding This is a time to remember all that is good.

The capacity to be touched by and love goodness is, in some sense, the heart of spiritual practice. Something in us loves the truth and is drawn to goodness around us. It makes us yearn to activate the good inside. It requires commitment to choosing wholesome qualities as our default instead of being drawn to the forces of attachment, aversion and ignorance within us.

The Buddha taught transcending (and not identifying with) the thinking mind through present moment awareness. He also taught about using the thinking mind skillfully to incline toward wholesome, well-being inducing states. These two bodies of practice are different but each crucial in their own way, and support each other. This talk looks at working with both mindfulness of the present moment and using imagery (a form of the thinking mind) to skillfully invoke peaceful states.

The Buddha taught that the two wings of awakening are wisdom and compassion. Compassion is much more than a concept, and it's more than a feeling. It's an understanding, a motivation, and an ever-growing collection of pragmatic responses to distress that we have available internally for ourselves and others.

The Buddha taught that the two wings of awakening are wisdom and compassion. Compassion is much more than a concept, and it's more than a feeling. It's an understanding, a motivation, and an ever-growing collection of pragmatic responses to distress that we have available internally for ourselves and others.

We all have teachers who've inspired us to see life in a new way. Who have been your inspirations? What have you learned from them? I thought I'd share some ways that instructions from two of my teachers--Ram Dass and HWL Poonja (Papaji)-- have shaped how I see the world and how I practice. The talk includes a recording of a significant dialogue from 1990 with Poonjaji that reconnected me with my joy. Here is a link to the dialogue of the Poonjaji satsang where James asked the question https://docs.google.com/document/d/16TnL2Zev-6r_mZPrgdSxSTaYLoyzdLOg3CnJ2U3D6C8/edit?tab=t.0 Here is a link to the video on Youtube that is over an hour long https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrjspK5fHiQ. James is at 23:38

The Buddha's teachings point to the need for clear understanding of our own minds and hearts, along with intention, compassion, and practice. As the adage goes, we must become the ones we seek while we work to change (or even consistently comfort) the world. To do that, we need to know what's going on for us internally and know how to wisely self-soothe when we are experiencing distress. The Buddha taught this, and this teaching is pretty precisely echoed in neuroscience and current psychology, including (but not limited to) Compassion Focused Therapy; Polyvagal Theory; and Internal Family Systems. The Buddha observed reality and neuroscientists are doing the same.

Suffering is the Buddha's 1st Noble Truth. Sometimes it can feel like it's all too much, especially in these days of extreme unpredictability. Legitimate reactions of anger, confusion and discouragement can lead to feeling of hopelessness or resigned acceptance. How can we use the practice to not only skillfully hold those feelings, but to transform them into wholesome uplifting responses such as courage, trust and compassionate action?

Seeing sacredness, not only around us, but focusing inside the one who is perceiving. This mind/body (YOU) that is interacting with the world around it. I use Ram Dass's practice of seeing beyond this mind/body by abiding in the perspective "I Am Loving Awareness". This is where the devotional and non-dual meet. To aid in this exploration James shares some powerful cuts from the album Ram Dass, a collaboration of Ram Dass's voice and teachings with background music by East Forest, who will be offering a hybrid concert "Echoes of Ram Dass" at Spirit Rock October 19, 2025.

With so much violence and insensitivity all around us, we can lose touch with our love for what is sacred. All that is required is a heightened sensitivity to tune into what is always around us.