Talks
A Map of Practice for Our Times: From Ordinary Mind to Awakening, Part 1
In the first part of a two-part talk, we first identify the value of having a comprehensive map of our practice, and how a contemporary map builds on traditional maps but includes dimensions of practice not identified traditionally. We then explore the three traditional areas of training–in wisdom, meditation (including the development of concentration, mindfulness and insight, and the heart practices), and ethical practice–while briefly mentioning (more next time) two further contemporary areas of practice: Psychological learning of different kinds and social engagement that extends ethical practice. The talk is followed by discussion.
A Map of Practice for Our Times: From Ordinary Mind to Awakening, Part 2
In this second part of a two-part set of talks, we first review briefly last week’s talk, including the three traditional areas of training–in wisdom, meditation (including the development of concentration, mindfulness and insight, and the heart practices), and ethical practice. We then identify two further contemporary areas of practice: Psychological work of different kinds (including psychotherapy, various forms of “shadow” work, examination of one’s social conditioning) and social engagement that extends ethical practice. We also identify some of the deeper dimensions of traditional practice, including the deepening of concentration practice in the jhanas, the three modes of liberating insight–seeing impermanence, reactivity (or dukkha), and not-self, the opening to non-dual awakened awareness, practices transforming the body (as in tummo practice), and the resting in non-doing. The talk is followed by discussion.
We begin by hearing from two members of the community about how they are experiencing and responding to what’s happening in the larger society and world in our times. Donald then discusses how we might respond on the basis of our practice, identifying the three areas of training–in wisdom, meditation, and ethics. Guided by wisdom teachings, we can see the society and world as both manifesting greed, hatred, and delusion, and also awakened qualities. In our meditation, we can practice on many levels, including working with challenging emotions, seeing through social conditioning, and bringing mindfulness to our thoughts, emotions, and bodies. We focus especially on “ethical practice,” re-framed as developing caring and compassionate responses. We briefly outline the five ethical precepts, and then focus especially on the guideline of non-harming, clarifying how this is understood both more individually and socially, identifying teachings from the Buddha, King Ashoka, and Thich Nhat Hanh. We ask what our practice of developing “caring and compassionate” responses might look like, bringing in also material from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., including his nonviolence and understanding of interdependence, and Elie Wiesel, including his commitment always to speak up whenever there is suffering.
Responding to Our Times on the Basis of Our Practice 2: The Bodhisattva
We first hear from a member of the community about how he is experiencing and responding to what’s happening in the larger society and world in our times. We then fairly briefly review last week’s session, first identifying the three traditional areas of training–in wisdom, meditation, and ethics–and how each can be important resources for responding to what’s happening in our own experience and in our society and world. We focus especially on reviewing our exploration of “ethical practice,” responding in our everyday lives and in the larger society and world in caring and compassionate ways. We then explore the traditional figure of the bodhisattva as one who brings together deep commitments both to awakening and to helping others–helping others both in awakening and in terms of their life needs. We look at examples of bodhisattva vows from Theravada, Japanese Zen, and Vietnamese traditions, as well as from passages from Shantideva’s “Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life.” We show images of archetypal bodhisattvas such as Avalokiteshvara, Tara, Kwan Yin, and Manjushri and discuss the ten ways of training of the Mahayana bodhisattva. We suggest a number of contemporary exemplars of the bodhisattva vocation, and invite participants to develop their own personalized bodhisattva vows. The talk is followed by discussion.
Memorial Day and Dharma Practice
After some personal stories from Donald about his father, who was a veteran, and about Donald’s experiences growing up at the time of the Vietnam war and being introduced to nonviolence, we explore the three main dimensions of our practice (training in ethics, meditation, and wisdom) related to the holiday. We focus on the ethical teachings about killing and nonviolence, including the complexities of these teachings; the importance of bringing mindfulness to grief, loss, and sadness, and of grounding in kindness, compassion, and love; and the wisdom and insight teachings about seeing the roots of violence. The talk is followed by discussion.
Bringing Our Practice to the Current Difficult Times: A Contemporary Eightfold Path
For the Buddha, practice was understood as involving three trainings, in wisdom, meditation, and ethics (sila). Ethics, typically under-emphasized in much of Western Buddhism, with sometimes clear negative consequences, had as its horizon helping others. The Buddha said: “Wander forth . . . for the welfare of the multitude, for the happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world.” The later emphasis on the bodhisattva develops this emphasis further. In this talk, we suggest a contemporary “Eightfold Path” for understanding and responding to the current difficult times in the society and world. It’s outlined in terms of three wisdom guidelines, two meditation guidelines, and three ethics guidelines. The talk is followed by discussion.
How do we bring our practice to challenging conversations and discussions, including there are major differences in views and positions, whether on spiritual or social-politlcal or daily life matters? This is both a perennial practice question and a particularly important one in the current times. We begin our first of two explorations inviting the participants to explore both their most successful and their most difficult or painful discussions across differences, asking about the qualities present with both. We outline first some current social conditions that make discussions with differences more challenging, while acknowledging that such discussions are at the heart of a healthy democracy. Then we explore several supports for skillful conversations when there are differences, including shared agreements (among individuals or in a group or organization), wise speech practice, the vision of the “beloved community” or universal metta, and a commitment to align means and ends. The talk is followed by discussion.
We continue the exploration from last week, beginning with Donald sharing a few of his experiences of being able to learn and practice when there have been differences of views and even conflicts. Then there is a review of some what we explored last week, including the importance in a functioning democracy of navigating differences of views, some of the factors making that harder in current times, and some of the practice supports for conversations when there are different views—both inner and outer (especially related to wise speech practice). We go further into exploring inner practices helpful when there are differences, including working with reactivity and difficult emotions, exploring views and options, and then the integrated inner and outer practice of cultivating empathy as a practice. The talk is followed by discussion, including several people sharing their own explorations with challenging conversations in the last week.
Non-Harming: Core Teachings and How to Practice
We begin by remembering the three core methods of training given by the Buddha (wisdom, meditation, and “ethics”), and their interrelationship. We reflect on how ethics has often been marginalized in Western Buddhism (and at times in Asian Buddhism). We then look in depth at the first lay ethical precept, non-harming, first in terms of the core teachings of the Buddha, and its centrality in the earlier Indian traditions of the Vedas. We examine some of the more “outer” dimensions of practicing non-harming, seeing how, with mindfulness and strong intentions, we can bring non-harming into our daily lives, including in our speech and communication. We then look at the more “inner” dimensions of practicing non-harming, looking in particular at how harming ourselves or others typically comes out of our own pain, so that practicing with pain (and the teaching of the Two Arrows) is central. The talk is followed by discussion.
The Big Picture 3: Introduction to Ethical Practice
After a brief review of the first two talks in this series, we explore the nature of ethical practice, one of the three core inter-related areas of training for the Buddha, along with training in meditation and in wisdom. We see how ethical practice has often been understood historically as having a social dimension, both in the teachings of the Buddha and later, as in the edicts of King Ashoka. We also explore some of the ways that ethical practice has been marginalized in Western Buddhist practice, with significant consequences. Then we look at the commonality of ethical guidelines in cross-religious context, with Donald telling some personal stories. Finally, we outline several ways to carry out ethical practice and then open up to discussion.
Practicing the Wise Speech Guideline of Truthfulness: Four Dimensions of Practice 1
The Buddha taught four guidelines for Wise Speech (as a core aspect of ethical practice): truthfulness, helpfulness, care and kindness, and appropriateness (especially good timing). We explore the first guideline, partly in connection with the other three guidelines, in four dimensions of practice. First and most basically, we explore how we practice with truthfulness in our individual practice with others. Secondly, we look at how truthfulness is also a central ethical guideline in our communities, organizations, and societies, making possible trust and safety; yet often this guideline is not followed. Thirdly, we look at our contemporary society in terms of truthfulness and the lack of truthfulness. Fourthly, we ask how we might respond, as part of our ethical practice, to develop more truthfulness in the society: What can help? The talk is followed by discussion.
Practicing the Wise Speech Guideline of Truthfulness: Four Dimensions of Practice 2
We review the importance of giving attention to ethical practice, and how it has often been marginalized in Western Buddhism, with meditation typically being at the center (as is evident in speaking of “meditation centers” and “meditation groups”). Wise Speech, as one of the three aspects of ethical practice named in the Noble Eightfold Path, is particularly important in contemporary Western practice; we can have an opportunity for many hours a day of spiritual practice if we bring Wise Speech practice into our lives! The Buddha’s four guidelines for Wise Speech were truthfulness, helpfulness, care and kindness, and appropriateness (especially good timing). We focus, in this second talk on the first guideline of truthfulness, on how we understand and practice being truthful in our relational and social lives, with reference also to how truthfulness is understood in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. We see how truthfulness is crucial in communities and societies, what the consequences are of a lack of truthfulness, and how one dimension of our Wise Speech practice is helping to develop more truthfulness in our communities and societies. The talk is followed by discussion.
