2009
Bhagavad Gita
February 2009 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM
In the midst of a battle in ancient India rises this dialogue between a warrior and a god about how to live a good human life, especially in the most difficult times. These talks look at the Gita's views on acting wholeheartedly without attachment to outcome, and on making every act an act of worship.
subjects : Mahabharata, Arjuna, Krishna, Gandhi, outcomes, renunciation, Daodejing
In the midst of a battle in ancient India rises this dialogue between a warrior and a god about how to live a good human life, especially in the most difficult times. These talks look at the Gita's views on acting wholeheartedly without attachment to outcome, and on making every act an act of worship.
subjects : Mahabharata, Arjuna, Krishna, Gandhi, outcomes, renunciation, Daodejing
| Bhagavad Gita I | ||
| Bhagavad Gita II |
Brahma Viharas
July - August 2009 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM
While we can fall into hell in an instant, we can also fall into heaven. Classical Buddhism identified four states of mind that tend towards heaven : equanimity, compassion, lovingkindness, and sympathetic joy. These are the Brahma Viharas, the noble abodes.
While we can fall into hell in an instant, we can also fall into heaven. Classical Buddhism identified four states of mind that tend towards heaven : equanimity, compassion, lovingkindness, and sympathetic joy. These are the Brahma Viharas, the noble abodes.
| BV I and II : Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity | ||
| BV III : Equanimity (continued) | ||
| BV IV : Compassion | ||
| BV V : Lovingkindness |
Freedom's Body
October 14-18, 2009 | Springs Mountain Sangha | Colorado Springs, CO
The koans are full of bodies — walking bodies, sitting bodies, dreaming bodies — and each koan is a body itself. How big is the koan body, and where are you located in it? As bounded, embodied beings, how do we live in the boundless realms, traditionally called lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity? How do we embodied beings sanctify each other, supporting each other’s wholeness, and holiness?
The koans are full of bodies — walking bodies, sitting bodies, dreaming bodies — and each koan is a body itself. How big is the koan body, and where are you located in it? As bounded, embodied beings, how do we live in the boundless realms, traditionally called lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity? How do we embodied beings sanctify each other, supporting each other’s wholeness, and holiness?
| I Freedom's Body | ||
| II Freedom's Body | ||
| III Freedom's Body | ||
| IV Freedom's Body |
Inauguration, Honoring President Obama
January 2009 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM
In January 2009 we celebrated Barack Obama's first inauguration with a ceremony and some conversation about what the time felt like, with its striking combination of elation and sobriety, and about the time we were coming out of, with the pain of its wars and the discouragements of public life.
In January 2009 we celebrated Barack Obama's first inauguration with a ceremony and some conversation about what the time felt like, with its striking combination of elation and sobriety, and about the time we were coming out of, with the pain of its wars and the discouragements of public life.
| Inauguration I, Ceremony Honoring President Obama | ||
| Inauguration II, What Was That |
Spring Talks
Spring and thoughts turn to the deep joy of intimacy with the world, the beauties of our heritage and community, accomplished hearts, the happiness under both delight and sorrow, the stillness under quiet and noise… and poems for the vernal equinox.
subjects : Dahui, Li Qingzhao, Vernal Equinox, poems, happiness
subjects : Dahui, Li Qingzhao, Vernal Equinox, poems, happiness
| World of Sudden Joy | ||
| Vernal Equinox Poems and Noble Questions | ||
| Accomplished Hearts |
The Promise of Meditation
April 2009 | Wet Mountain Sangha | Pueblo, CO
Enlightenment … delusion … aspiration … will … resistance … kensho : A series of honest and intimate conversations during a one-day retreat, exploring the phenomenology of awakening and revealing our hopes, fears, and questions we don't always have the chance to talk about together.
Enlightenment … delusion … aspiration … will … resistance … kensho : A series of honest and intimate conversations during a one-day retreat, exploring the phenomenology of awakening and revealing our hopes, fears, and questions we don't always have the chance to talk about together.
| Promise of Meditation I | ||
| Promise of Meditation II |
Trust in Mind
May - June 2009 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM
Xinxinming, or Trust in Mind, is one of Chan’s foundational texts. What is it like to trust your own heart-mind, and the heart-mind of the universe — which are, after all, the same thing? The text opens that exploration with one of Chan’s most provocative declarations : The Great Way is not difficult if you don’t pick and choose. What does that mean?
subjects: mind, Sengcan, self, faith, picking and choosing, Great Way, dukkha, Seung Sahn, Heart Sutra, duality
Xinxinming, or Trust in Mind, is one of Chan’s foundational texts. What is it like to trust your own heart-mind, and the heart-mind of the universe — which are, after all, the same thing? The text opens that exploration with one of Chan’s most provocative declarations : The Great Way is not difficult if you don’t pick and choose. What does that mean?
subjects: mind, Sengcan, self, faith, picking and choosing, Great Way, dukkha, Seung Sahn, Heart Sutra, duality
| Trust in Mind I | ||
| Trust in Mind II | ||
| Trust in Mind III | ||
| Trust in Mind IV |
Warmth and Curiosity : An Introduction to Koans
February 2009 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM
Here's a quick taste of koan meditation, from back in the days when it was still important to talk about what koans aren't (riddles, contests, judgments, words on a page) as well as what they are : thrilling companions who call for our warmth and curiosity, and offer us the world.
subjects : koans, meditation, fetchability, intimacy
Here's a quick taste of koan meditation, from back in the days when it was still important to talk about what koans aren't (riddles, contests, judgments, words on a page) as well as what they are : thrilling companions who call for our warmth and curiosity, and offer us the world.
subjects : koans, meditation, fetchability, intimacy
| Warmth and Curiosity : An Introduction to Koans |
Wuwei, Effortless Action
April 29-30, 2009 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM
Spring is here and all around us – maybe inside us, too – is this cracking and burgeoning and chirping and general carrying on. At least in the northern hemisphere, the world is stirring into longer, warmer days, and it all just ... happens. So much life, so much toil and play, all of a sudden. People gaze upon this and give it names like weiwuwei, effortless action, and then they invent whole philosophies out of it. For those of us of the human tribe, what does effortless action look like? Here are two talks that have a look at that.
Spring is here and all around us – maybe inside us, too – is this cracking and burgeoning and chirping and general carrying on. At least in the northern hemisphere, the world is stirring into longer, warmer days, and it all just ... happens. So much life, so much toil and play, all of a sudden. People gaze upon this and give it names like weiwuwei, effortless action, and then they invent whole philosophies out of it. For those of us of the human tribe, what does effortless action look like? Here are two talks that have a look at that.
| Wuwei Effortless Action I | ||
| Wuwei Effortless Action II |
