Dharma Seed - Dharma Talks given at Insight Meditation South Bay

2019-02-10 Communication as Daily Practice 50:24
Oren Jay Sofer	Download Listen
Oren Jay Sofer presents the second talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist. Here he speaks on our practice off the cushion, pointing out that we spend the vast majority of our days communicating in one way or another. He describes three practices to improve our relationships with others: leading with presence, cultivating the intention to understand the other, and training our focus.

In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-05 Engaged Brahmaviharas 48:55
Ayya Santussika	Download Listen
Ayya Santussika presents the first talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist. Here she speaks on the role that each of the four Brahmaviharas play to help and guide us in our engaged actions, whatever they be, to promote wholesome and beneficial outcomes. She discusses lovingkindness, joy in the good fortune of others, compassion and equanimity as well as the near and far enemies of these qualities.

In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-05 Meditating on the Brahmaviharas 29:05
Ayya Santussika	Download Listen
A guided meditation on practicing the Brahmaviharas.

In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-05 Engaged Buddhism 3:44:38

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Meditation instructions are sometimes misinterpreted to imply that one should disengage from activity and suspend all judgment. Buddhist advice on “letting go” can be misunderstood to suggest that problems in the world can or should be ignored. Yet the Pali canon shows that the Buddha taught practical social and economic remedies, and urged monks to travel so they could benefit the largest number of people. Thích Nhất Hạnh coined the term “engaged Buddhism” to describe efforts to respond to the suffering in his country during the Vietnam war, work he saw as part of meditation and mindfulness practice rather than something apart from it. In this series, some local “engaged Buddhists” will share how they personally apply Buddhist wisdom to engage with the suffering around us, in areas such as social action, prison ministry, and environmentalism.

2019-02-05 Engaged Brahmaviharas 48:55
Ayya Santussika	Download Listen
Ayya Santussika presents the first talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist. Here she speaks on the role that each of the four Brahmaviharas play to help and guide us in our engaged actions, whatever they be, to promote wholesome and beneficial outcomes. She discusses lovingkindness, joy in the good fortune of others, compassion and equanimity as well as the near and far enemies of these qualities.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-05 Meditating on the Brahmaviharas 29:05
Ayya Santussika	Download Listen
A guided meditation on practicing the Brahmaviharas.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-10 Communication as Daily Practice 50:24
Oren Jay Sofer	Download Listen
Oren Jay Sofer presents the second talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist. Here he speaks on our practice off the cushion, pointing out that we spend the vast majority of our days communicating in one way or another. He describes three practices to improve our relationships with others: leading with presence, cultivating the intention to understand the other, and training our focus.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-19 Generosity and Compassion Inside: Teaching Buddhist Meditation in a California State Prison 51:21
Bill Kostura and Phil Goodwin	Download Listen
Bill Kostura and Phil Goodwin present the third talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist. They describe their experience teaching dharma at a California men's prison over a period of several years. Their stories evoke the feelings of traveling the long distance to the prison, the difficulties of entering a secured facility, both tender and challenging interactions with inmates, and the refuge created by the practice for the inmates and even themselves.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Engaged Buddhism

2019-02-26 Non-Clinging to Outcomes 44:51
Jennifer Dungan	Download Listen
In this fourth and last talk in a speaker series on The Engaged Buddhist, Jennifer Dungan ties together the lessons from previous speakers. She mentions precepts of socially engaged Buddhism put forward by Thich Nhat Hanh, and how various dhamma elements such as compassion, right view, right intention, and right mindfulness can work to reduce the suffering caused by clinging to even the most pro-social and aspirational outcomes.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection Engaged Buddhism

2018-09-26 Refuge 43:54
Thanissaro Bhikkhu	Download Listen
Thanissaro Bhikkhu speaks about the meaning of refuge in practice. As we strive for wisdom, purity and compassion; develop mindfulness in order to have a solid state of concentration; and strive to fit into the dharma rather than the other way around, we create a foundation that is conducive to attaining nibbana.

2018-09-20 Noting Gone 12:21
Sharon Allen	Download Listen
Guided meditation, meditation instructions

In collection Featured Guided Meditations

2018-08-14 Finding Freedom from Pain 42:24
Aishin Leonard	Download Listen
Aishin Leonard talks about coping with pain. She shares her experiences about losing herself due to the inability to do things as a result of debilitating pain. After attempting to practice meditation in an effort to overcome pain, she learns, through heart practice, to harmonize the experience of pain with other factors and conditions.

2018-06-05 The Buddha’s Dream of Liberation: Freedom, Emptiness, and Awakened Nature 47:00
James Coleman	Download Listen
James William Coleman’s new book, "The Buddha’s Dream of Liberation: Freedom, Emptiness, and Awakened Nature," guides us through the profound wisdom of the classic sutras that lay the foundations for all of the different Buddhist traditions. In clear simple language, it explores the three great “Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma.”

2018-05-22 Milestones on the Path to Freedom: Assessing Progress in Practice Wisely 42:14
Dawn Neal	Download Listen
Dawn Neal gave the last talk in a speaker series titled "Goals in Meditation." Dawn offered a perspective on how to relate to assessments of practice in day-to-day practice, as well as over the arc of a practioner's journey. Beautiful experiences in practice, including great sits, concentration states, and even insight, can be celebrated, and assessed in ways that can nourish confidence in the Dharma and increase spiritual maturity. The same milestones can also become impediments -- dead-weight on the spiritual journey -- if clung to or identified with in an unhelpful way.

In collection Goals in Meditation

2018-05-15 Not Make Things Worse 34:21
Tony Bernhard	Download Listen
Tony Bernhard gave the fourth talk in a speaker series titled "Goals in Meditation." Tony explained that the Buddha's insights is captured in the Four Noble Truth. The First Noble Truth points out suffering or dissatisfaction we experience in life. Unfortunately, we make things worse by complaining when we experience things as unpleasant, or wanting more of things that are pleasant. This is the Second Noble Truth, which explains the origin of suffering, namely our clinging and aversion. The Third Noble Truth tells us that we don't have to make things worse for ourselves. And the Fourth Noble Truth tells us how not to make things worse by follwoing the Noble Eightfold Path.

In collection Goals in Meditation