DHARMA TALKS
Eightfold Path
ASPIRATION AND BEGINNING AGAIN
Recorded on January 4, 2022 :: Duration – 44:00
Reflecting on aspiration on the occasion of the new year. When we recollect and refresh our aspirations, we gain not just a sense of uplift, but also, perhaps, the courage and willingness to begin again, freshly.
This talk includes pauses for written reflection.
REFLECTIONS & REFERENCES
FOR YOUR REFLECTION:
REFERENCES:
No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva, by Pema Chodron
WISE INTENTION
Recorded on October 26, 2021 :: Duration – 35:35
The practice of wise intention is an important way of caring for the mind, and it is the hinge between our understanding (view) and our actions in the world. We can bring awareness to our intentions in the moment, in specific situations, and to an overall direction in life.
REFLECTIONS & REFERENCES
FOR YOUR REFLECTION:
- Present moment – What is the basis of this thinking?
- Situational – Why am I doing this action? How do I want to show up?
- Overall – What is most important? What matters?
REFERENCES:
Two Sorts of Thinking, by Gregory Kramer
Whole Life Path, by Dan Siegel
BELONGING AND LETTING GO
Recorded on October 12, 2021 :: Duration – 39:47
Exploring ‘widening circles’ of belonging a practice of letting go: letting go into a somatic sense of safety, an awareness of the present moment, spiritual friendship, community, and the planet. Experiencing our deeper belonging is the same movement as letting go of the small sense of self.
REFLECTIONS & REFERENCES
FOR YOUR REFLECTION:
- When you feel a sense of natural and un-earned ‘belonging’ — in your physical body, with nature, or with others, what is let go of in those moments? What is your experience of that? What is no longer present?
REFERENCES:
Rilke’s poem The Swan, MN
Shorter and Longer Discourses at Gosinga, Joanna Macy
Widening Circles, link to interview.
FROM OWNERSHIP TO BELONGING
Recorded on September 28, 2021 :: Duration – 34:33
Sometimes the sense of self is described as ‘ownership.’ Often it’s easier to try to define what we own and what we are —what belongs to us — rather than sensing into a more fundamental belonging. This talk explores ways we tend to try to negotiate or earn a sense of belonging or defend against perceived threats to it, and how this clouds our view.
REFLECTIONS & REFERENCES
FOR YOUR REFLECTION:
- What comes to mind when you consider experiences of belonging? What is the felt sense of that?
- How do you try negotiate or earn a sense of belonging with others?
- What are your habitual responses when your sense of belonging feels threatened?
REFERENCES:
The Zen Mirror of Tokeiji, by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel in The Hidden Lamp anthology
Belonging, by Rev angel Kyodo Williams
You Belong, by Sebene Selassie
Mindful of Race, by Ruth King
WISE VIEW
Recorded on August 31, 2021 :: Duration – 35:21
REFLECTIONS & REFERENCES
FOR YOUR REFLECTION:
- What comes to mind when you consider experiences of belonging? What is the felt sense of that?
- How do you try negotiate or earn a s
REFERENCES:
The Zen Mirror of