The greatest gift is the
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Retreat Dharma Talks at Spirit Rock Meditation Center

Monday and Wednesday Talks

Regular weekly talks given at the lower Spirit Rock meditation hall

Spirit Rock Meditation Center

  
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2026-02-04 Guided Meditation Developing Concentration and Mindfulness, Followed by the Last 10 Minutes of Mindful Exploration of Our Emotions and Thoughts Related to What's Occurring in the Society and World, Self-Compassion Practice, and Intentions about Responding on the Basis of Our Practice 37:23
Donald Rothberg
2026-02-04 Responding to Our Times on the Basis of Our Practice 2: The Bodhisattva 58:28
Donald Rothberg
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.
2026-02-09 Guided Meditation 51:11
Mark Coleman
2026-02-09 Sangha 55:02
Mark Coleman
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