James and Kate Munding, co-guiding teacher of Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley co-led this evening exploring the power and importance of like-minded friendship and community especially in these times. At the beginning of the talk James reads a moving letter written to the community by a 31-year old woman from Australia named Stephanie whose story of sexual assault James shared in his talk from two weeks before entitled: "The Third Precept: Trauma, Respect and Cultural Wake Up". See: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/52436/

The Third Precept is: I undertake the training precept to refrain for sexual misconduct. After Christine Blasey Ford's moving testimony at the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, this talk explores this cultural moment together. The impact of sexual assault, importance of courage, especially of women, to speak the truth in the face of animosity and criticism and the power of fierce compassion are discussed.

"This is a talk given at James Baraz's Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley." James recently sat with Ven. Bhikkhu Analayo, an extraordinary Buddhist scholar and meditation teacher. He shares some of the teachings and practices that he learned on the Brahma Viharas and how they can help lead to deeper perceptions of emptiness including infinite space and infinite consciousness. The talk gives a glimpse of the value of experimenting and playing with the mind. With Ven. Analayo's permission, James' takes us on a quick journey through some rather profound terrain. So let whatever your experience or non-experience be okay. For a deeper dive into the material the listener is referred to Ven. Analayo's book: Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation: Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation.

One definition of the word Dharma is Natural law. Trees hold a very special place in the Buddha’s teaching.. The Buddha was born under a tree, enlightened under a tree and died under a tree. He told his disciples to find “roots of trees” to sit and meditate. Trees are the perfect environment to practice in the Thai Forest Tradition. Metta practice was taught by the Buddha in response to actions of “Tree spirits”. We’ll explore the special significance of trees and Nature in the Buddha’s teaching.

James returns from his recent teaching In Europe and Israel. Besides his trip to the West Bank for a glimpse of Palestinian life, he shares a fascinating project: Israelis’ actually changed their attitude about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a marketing experiment called “The Conflict Campaign” based on paradoxical thinking principles.
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The video clip of the campaign in the talk can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZadiztzLt0
To learn more about “The Fund for Reconciliation Tolerance and Peace” go to:
http://www.frtp-arik-peace.org/
Or, “Like” their Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/fund4rtp

Let others know.

Suzie Brown is from Melbourne, Australia. She’s co-founder of the Melbourne Insight Meditation Group and has taught Mindfulness to medical students at Monash University. Suzie has also been a facilitator, trainer and educator for over a decade in the areas of environmental sustainability and organizational strategy.