When a monk asked the 10th Century Zen master Yunmen, “What are the teachings of a whole lifetime?” Yunmen replied, “An appropriate response.” What is this appropriate response and how do we know we’ve got it right? Beyond linear formulas, Dharma teachings point to a natural intelligence that guides us in a spontaneous responsiveness to life. No matter our doubt or perfectionism, we can engage our practice towards its revelation. |
With Justine Dawson recorded on May 8, 2022.
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Discover more from the Dharma Library
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Trust in the Goodness of your Practice
Recorded :
January 26, 2020 Basic goodness is the fundamental ground of your own heart and mind and being. A buoyant heart allows us to face the ‘infinite ocean of suffering’ and stay open-hearted; It is the foundation for living the Bodhisattva vows, it is how we keep on waking up and showing up and growing up, for the benefit…
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Integrity – A Bridge Over Troubled Water
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July 12, 2020 In challenging situations, we can lose our ground. Not knowing what to rely on, we are liable to reactivity, either withdrawing or lashing out. Fear and anger are very human reactions to what we perceive as injustice or threat. While there is no need to condemn us for experiencing them, our hearts might yearn for…
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The Energy of Presence
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March 12, 2023 This session explores ways that qigong, a Chinese energy cultivation practice, can deepen our embodied presence. There is discussion, intention-led movement and meditation to help ground our awareness, free up blockages and discover ways to open to our natural vitality. All levels of experience and abilities welcome, and options for limited mobility and seated qigong are shared.
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Not-other: knowing our solidarity with all beings.
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April 30, 2017 Dharma teachings point at the way our experience is not-self. This also means that everyone else is not-other. In this class we explore the ways we isolate and defend ourselves, and reach for and reject others, looking towards a greater inclusion of and intimacy with others as the ground for both better relationships and true…
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Suffering and the end of suffering.
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January 24, 2016 The ancient and radical teachings of the Buddha point to the possibility to be a free, loving and happy human being in the midst of our everyday lives. Oftentimes our stress, dissatisfaction or suffering come not necessarily from the actual things or events themselves, but from our relationship to them. A different way of looking…
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Reverence is the Nature of My Love
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October 9, 2022 The Diamond Sutra, possibly the oldest text on deep ecology, teaches that there are four notions that separate us from life that we must throw away: the concepts of self, lifespan, humans, and living beings. In this session we will learn practices that enable us to go beyond this limited perception of reality to touch how interconnected with all life we are.
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Surrendering the Clever Mind into the Listening Heart
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February 14, 2021 As our deepening poly-crises shift us from a sense of predictability, stability, and even a future, into crisis management as a daily norm, how can our practice support inner resilience and a meaningful response? We will touch on Dharma practices and teachings that support the internal shifts needed as we transition from over-reliance on separative…
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This Is What We Are: Foam, Bubbles, Mirage, Banana Tree Trunks and Magical Shows
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January 22, 2023 In this session, we will explore the Buddha’s wise use of images in the Phena Sutta. We will see how these are representations of the deepest teachings of Insight Meditation and how they can be relevant for us today in our quest to free the mind and heart from constriction. There will be time to practice together guided by Pascal and time for questions and beginning of answers.