I am intrigued by how we can live the 'holy life' as lay people. How do we erase the imaginary line between formal sitting practice and the rest of our lives? How can we bring full engagement to formal and informal practice? Is it possible to embody, in our lives, the understanding and insight that comes with intensive training? And can we live our lives in a way that expresses and continues to deepen our realization? These questions fuel my practice and my teaching.
I place a lot of emphasis on the Buddha's teaching about mindfulness of the body. The body is a powerful dharma gate. I encourage people to deeply investigate the body and use it as a place of recollection in daily life.
Our individual and cultural habits, our confusion, all require a sincere and ongoing commitment to spiritual life and practice. In order to mature our 'layastic' practice, we need to develop a palette of practices: mindfulness, loving-kindness, inquiry, reflection, precept practice, service, sutta study, etc.
I believe passionate engagement is the foundation of the spiritual path. Spiritual life blossoms when mindfulness is woven with a heartfelt sense of loving-kindness and compassion. With warm mindfulness as the basis of practice, our attachment to identity, roles and experience begins to loosen. As our experience and understanding matures, faith develops. This nourishes a devotion to practice which further deepens our insights.
It is precious to be born in the human realm and have an opportunity to practice and awaken. May we appreciate our inheritance and bring to life the teachings of the Buddha.
The talk explores the sutta, The Advice to Anathapindika. The sutta reveals how Anathapindika bestowed the teachings of non-clinging and letting to those of us who ar householders. The talk concludes with a current story of a near death experience that embodies the realization of the goodness of the dharma.
Exploring the Normalcy of Death in Buddhism. Looking at the many ways Buddhism understands death: Death of the body; The life and death of each moment; Becoming harmonious with Death as part of Life; Death as a Doorway to the Deathless,
Learning to land in present moment with both sukkah and dukkah. How being here leads to letting go, freedom, and ' the sure hearts release'. Freedom is right here in our own body, heart and mind if we relax and settle into the truth of each moment.
Knowing Impermanence Experientially is the doorway to Freedom. We see we can't hold on to anything! Letting Go– Not Clinging brings the Freedom to Be. Anicca vata sankhara chant: 'All conditioned things are impermanent. Their nature is to arise & pass away. To live in harmony with this truth. Brings the highest happiness'. Anicca vata sankhara chant.
Contemplating our mortality personally as well as learning how Buddhism utilizes Mindfulness of Death as a gateway to Awakening. The Advice to Anathapindika gifts us with the deeper teachings on letting go of attachment; letting go of our identity; letting go of life!
Discovering how Right Effort leads to being present, awakening and realizing the Truth of the Dharma. We explored different currents of Rt. Effort: gentle; relaxed; willful; strong; fierce. We examined why and when different streams of effort might be skillful.
What makes humans precious? The magic, mystery & wonder embodied consciousness that is characterized by the Oneness of Birth-and-Death, & the paradox of unity of suffering and awakening being in Precious Human Birth
