Appamada: Recent Episodes
Appamada
Appamada is a contemporary center for Zen practice, inquiry, and community, located in Austin, Texas. If you appreciate these offerings, please consider making a contribution to support Appamada with the link below.
Fred LaMotte'My Ancestry DNA results came in.Just as I suspected, my great great grandfatherwas a monarch butterfly.Much of who I am is still wriggling under a stone.I am part larva, but part hummingbird too.There is dinosaur tar in my bone marrow.My golden hair sprang out of a meadow in Palestine.Genghis Khan is my fourth cousin,but I didn't get his dimples.My loins are loaded with banyan seeds from Sri Lanka,but I descended from Ravanna, not Ram.My uncle is a mastodon.There are traces of white people in my saliva.3.7 billion years ago I swirled in golden dust,dreaming of a planet overgrown with lingams and yonis.More recently, say 60,000 B.C.I walked on hairy paws across a land bridgejoining Sweden to Botswana.I am the bastard of the sun and moon.I can no longer hide my heritage of raindrops and cougar scat.I am made of your grandmother's tears.You conquered rival tribesmen of your own color,chained them together, marched them naked to the coast,and sold them to colonials from Savannah.I was that brother you sold, I was the slave trader,I was the chain.Admit it, you have wings, vast and golden,like mine, like mine.You have sweat, black and salty,like mine, like mine.You have secrets silently singing in your blood,like mine, like mine.Don't pretend that earth is not one family.Don't pretend we never hung from the same branch.Don't pretend we don't ripen on each other's breath.Don't pretend we didn't come here to forgive.'
2025-09-14 | Dharma Talk | Who Are the Earth Store Bodhisattvas? | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2025-09-09 I Inquiry I Take Care How You Place Your Feet in the Zendo I Josh Gifford by Appamada
Koan was from The Gateless Gate: The Classic Book of Zen Koans by Koun Yamada. Case 7: Joshu's Washing the Bowls.Reflection questions:1) What were you looking for when you first entered the monastery/practice/zen center?2) How would you have reacted to this teaching back then?3) Do you notice any resistance from you or a part of you to this?4) How do you respond to this teaching now? What’s alive in you?5) Utilizing this koan, what could this teaching mean for your practice?
Some readings referenced in this talk can be found in the Appamada chant book: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c03ced75ffd204418037b7a/t/5c523209898583e0ceeb37bd/1548890634577/Appamada+Chant+Book.pdf
three poems referenced :You Reading This be ready~ William StaffordStarting here, what do you want to remember?How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?What scent of old wood hovers, what softenedsound from outside fills the air?Will you ever bring a better gift for the worldthan the breathing respect that you carrywherever you go right now? Are you waitingfor time to show you some better thoughts?When you turn around, starting here, lift thisnew glimpse that you found; carry into eveningall that you want from this day. This interval you spentreading or hearing this, keep it for life –What can anyone give you greater than now,starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?Shoulders~ Naomi Shihab NyeA man crosses the street in rain,stepping gently, looking two times north and south,because his son is asleep on his shoulder.No car must splash him.No car drive too near to his shadow.This man carries the world’s most sensitive cargobut he’s not marked.Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,HANDLE WITH CARE.His ear fills up with breathing.He hears the hum of a boy’s dreamdeep inside him.We’re not going to be ableto live in this worldif we’re not willing to do what he’s doingwith one another.The road will only be wide.The rain will never stop falling.Praying~Mary Oliver It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch a few words together and don’t try to make them elaborate, this isn’t a contest but the doorway into thanks, and a silence in which another voice may speak.
2025-08-17 | Dharma Talk | The Sutra that Explains the Profound Secret: The Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma | Ellen Hippard by Appamada
“The Maples”~ Marie HoweI asked the stand of maples behind the house, How should I live my life?They said, shhh shhh shhh . . .How should I live, I asked, and the leaves seemed to ripple and gleam.A bird called from a branch in its own tongue, And from a branch, across the yard, another bird answered.A squirrel scrambled up a trunk then along the length of a branch.Stand still, I thought, See how long you can bear that.Try to stand still, if only for a few moments, drinking light breathingTricycle, July 23, 2025Atlantis: 3. Michael's DreamDreamed c. 1993 by Michael; written by Mark DotyMichael writes to tell me his dream:I was helping Randy out of bed,supporting him on one sidewith another friend on the other,and as we stood him up, he stepped out of the body I was holding and became a shining body, brilliant light held in the form I first knew him in.This is what I imagine will happen, the spirit's release. Michael, when we support our friends, one of us on either side, our armsunder the man or woman's arms, what is it we're holding? Vessel, shadow, hurrying light? All those years I made love to a man without thinkinghow little his body had to do with me; now, diminished, he's never been so plainly himself—remote and unguarded, an otherness I can't knowthe first thing about. I said, You need to drink more water or you're going to turn into an old dry leaf. And he said,Maybe I want to be an old leaf In the dream Randy's leaping into the future, and still here; Michael's holdinghim and releasing at once. Just as Steve'sholding Jerry, though he's already gone, Marie holding John, gone, Maggie holdingher John, gone, Carlos and Darren holding another Michael, gone,and I'm holding Wally, who's going. Where isn't the question, though we think it is; we don't even know where the living are,in this raddled and unraveling "here." What is the body? Rain on a window, a clear movement over whose gaze? Husk, leaf, little boat of paperand wood to mark the speed of the stream? Randy and Jerry, Michael and Wally and John: lucky we don't have to know what something is in order to hold it.
2025-08-10 | Dharma talk | This Is The Way—Everyday Life | Sandra Medina Bocangel by Appamada
Could It Happen Anywhere? Listen to the rhythm of things that never die. —Mark Nepo, “For a Long Time” Worried about what was to come, I went to the riverand listened to the constant song as water met stone,met log, met wall. The endless white hush of it.Song of building up banks. Song of tearing them down.Song of surrender to invisible force. Song of changethat is ever the same and not the same. And in the listening,I found refuge—not in the longing to hide, not in the sound—I found refuge in the listening. Refuge in the openingof the senses. In attuning to what is here. Wave and currentand eddy and flow and the attentiveness that livesthrough this woman. And I listened and listened, listenedto it all, and was opened by listening. At some pointthe listener disappeared. What was left waslistening itself. For a time, peace found me there.Intention To wonder. To wonder with no planfor where it might lead. No strategyfor arrival. No finish line. No potof gold. No perfect score. No striving for.To wonder. To wonder the way a small childmight wonder when seeing a roly poly for the first time—oh, look at all those legs. Look at howit curls! Look how it moves again. Feelhow light it is in the palm. Feel howit tickles as it moves. Imaginean awareness that new meeting a life form that old.Can I be that new as I meet this infinite world?To wonder not just with my mindbut with my belly. To let every neuronspark. To notice where there is a channeland imagine the great wing of lifeis scraping it clean so the stream might flowin new ways. To wonder beyond the edgeof the known, and in that spaciousness, play.—Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerThe listing of Chat GPT response to brutal truths:Here are five core truths about your own psychology that everyone must understand—or risk sabotaging their success, happiness, or relationships:⸻1. You are not your thoughts.Your mind generates a constant stream of thoughts—some true, some false, some helpful, many harmful.If you believe every thought, especially negative self-talk, you’ll:•sabotage goals,•erode self-esteem,•and avoid taking necessary risks.✅ Learn to observe thoughts without obeying them. This is the root of emotional resilience.⸻2. Your emotions are messengers, not dictators.Feelings like anger, fear, jealousy, or sadness carry signals—but they don’t always point to truth or demand action.Avoiding or overreacting to emotions leads to:•impulsive decisions,•emotional burnout,•or constant anxiety.✅ Name your emotions, listen to them, and respond—don’t react blindly.⸻3. You have unconscious patterns driving your behavior.Much of your personality and decision-making is shaped by:•childhood experiences,•unresolved trauma,•or defense mechanisms.Ignoring these patterns means you repeat them—even when they hurt you or others.✅ Self-awareness requires digging into your past, habits, and triggers with honesty.⸻4. Your brain is wired for comfort, not growth.Your mind naturally resists discomfort, uncertainty, or change—even when it’s what you need.This resistance:•kills dreams,•prevents growth,•and reinforces stagnation.✅ Discomfort is a sign you’re on the edge of transformation. Don’t run from it.⸻5. You are responsible for your reactions—even when others hurt you.Blaming others or circumstances for how you feel or behave keeps you powerless.Psychological maturity means:•owning your choices,•setting boundaries,•and healing, not blaming.✅ Victimhood might be justified, but it won’t help you thrive.⸻Bottom Line:Mastering your psychology is not optional—it’s the difference between drifting through life and designing it.If you don’t do the work, your patterns will run you, and you’ll wonder why life keeps turning out the same.
Here is the poem by Hilda Raz, reflecting on a time when she was the poet laureate of Nebraska and did some teaching about poetry in public schools.I hope you will search out her book "Letter from a Place I Have Never Been."Diction~ Hilda Raz"God is in the details,"I tell the kids in the public schoolat Milligan, Nebraska. They wonder what I mean. I tell them to lookout the windowat the spring fieldsthe mud coming upjust to the kneeof the small pig in the far pasture.They tell me it's not a kneebut a hockand I hadn't oughtto say things I knownothing about. I saythe light on the mudis pure chalcedony. They say the mud killed two cows over the weekend. I tell them the pigis alive and the springtrees are standing in a green haze. The tell me school is outin a week and they have to plant. The grain elevator at the endof Main Street stretches outher blue arms. The kids say chutes.
Genjokoan can be found on page 34 of the Appamada chant book here: https://appamada.org/s/Appamada-Chant-Book.pdf.Guided meditation adapted from Henry Shukman's book, "Original Love."
ThanksBy W. S. MERWINListenwith the night falling we are saying thank youwe are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railingswe are running out of the glass roomswith our mouths full of food to look at the skyand say thank youwe are standing by the water thanking itstanding by the windows looking outin our directionsback from a series of hospitals back from a muggingafter funerals we are saying thank youafter the news of the deadwhether or not we knew them we are saying thank youover telephones we are saying thank youin doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevatorsremembering wars and the police at the doorand the beatings on stairs we are saying thank youin the banks we are saying thank youin the faces of the officials and the richand of all who will never changewe go on saying thank you thank youwith the animals dying around ustaking our feelings we are saying thank youwith the forests falling faster than the minutesof our lives we are saying thank youwith the words going out like cells of a brainwith the cities growing over uswe are saying thank you faster and fasterwith nobody listening we are saying thank youthank you we are saying and wavingdark though it is"Just to be clear I don’t want to get out without a broken heart. I intend to leave this life so shattered there’s gonna have to be a thousand separate heavens for all of my flying parts."– Andrea GibsonStillThe Waters run deep The stag patiently waits, perhaps a lifetime, this lifetime. steadfast he watches,Studies this floating world, steps forwardThe first of his kindKnowing he willKick up a speck of dustDips his head drinks the clear dark waterhis tines swirl Fugitive patterns Into the flowing riverAnd the moon tremblesTurningHe disappears Trudy Johnston
Heartbreak ~ written in the ERThe dull sickening pressure Is what got my attention.A racing heart,Stumbling over itself Is a more familiar alert.But this blunt sensation Was something new,Relentless and swelling,Like water and dry earthMingling and churningAs in a flash floodFinding its way slowly, Inexorably,Blindly searching out the low placesBy feel.Nothing stopping it’s steady movement. And nothing didOn that day.This intensity, not familiar pain,Invaded the muscles of my chestStiffened with anticipation.Slipping silently between the ribs Of my caged heart and lungs.Pushing rudely up into my throatWithout asking permissionFlooding both jaws With a strong, strange sensation That signaled something wrong.The pushy entitlement of fearTaking over without concern Or consent. It was my heart that was Captured and confusedBy this wild rouge energy.Not by the eyes I couldn’t Turn away from in the beginning,And still can’t. Not the warm young bodyI sought and never leftAs both our bodiesTransformed into somethingMore settled and real. Not by the steadfast will And stubborn InsistenceI encountered saying This was what mattered. No, I had been captured by That unexpected loveYears before.Confused by its earthy and Ordinary magnificence. Irresistible and terrifying. And now it was breaking. Not the love. But my heart. A dull sickening pressurePushing me To the edge of the bed,Over the precipice in the dark. Nothing cruel or personal,Just inevitable. This precious breakingThe final vow The final bowTo you.
Prompts for contemplation / discussion during this talk:1) Is your zazen practice supported by dedication, intension, and time?2) What hinders your zazen practice?3) How can we support each other in our practice of zazen?4) Any other thoughts about zazen practice?
Link to Sunni (Sun) Brown on Substackhttps://nothingintheway.substack.comDeep Hopehttps://substack.com/home/post/p-165652333
The links Josh mentionsRAM DASS ON HIS MANTRA “I AM LOVING AWARENESS” (WITH PRACTICE VIDEO)https://www.ramdass.org/loving-awareness/The London Walkerhttps://thelondonwalker.comIn the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of Londonhttps://spitalfieldslife.com
2025-06-16 I Inquiry I Practice supports Becoming Yourself I Suzanne Kilkus by Appamada
2025-07-08 | Dharma Talk | Living the Paramitas in Troubled Times | Ellen Hippard by Appamada
2025-05-27 I Inquiry I When fear meets cluelessness surrounded by beauty.. I Trudy Johnston by Appamada
2025-04-14 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2025-04-13 | Dharma Talk | Your Body is Not a Thing, and It's Not Yours, Either | Nate Smalley by Appamada
2025-04-06 | Dharma Talk | Mistakes and Repair: Hard Lessons from A Momentary Distraction | Rosemarie Gates by Appamada
2025-03-31 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2025-03-23 | Dharma Talk | Chanting as the Merging of Difference & Unity | Ann Lipscomb by Appamada
2025-03-18 I Inquiry I Behind All This Some Great Happiness is Hiding I Josh Gifford by Appamada
2025-03-17 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
Portions of the recording containing visuals without audio have been removed for conciseness
2025-03-13 | Integrated Intensive | The 5 Skandhas | Intro | Joel Barna & Kim Mosley by Appamada
2025-03-03 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2025-03-10 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2025-02-10 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2025-02-24 | Depth in Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2025-02-18 | Intensive | Dharma Talk | Morality | Peg Syverson & Joel Barna by Appamada
2025-02-17 | Intensive | Dharma Talk | Generosity | Peg Syverson & Joan Harman by Appamada
2025-02-16 | Intensive | Dharma Talk | Six Perfect Practices to Cultivate Joy | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2025-02-21 | Intensive | Dharma Talk | Dhyana | Peg Syverson & Ellen Hippard by Appamada
2025-02-02 | Dharma Talk | Shame as a Doorway to Remembering | Jessica Steinbomer by Appamada
2025-02-03 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
Buddhist Peace Fellowshiphttps://www.bpf.orgZen Peacemaker Orderhttps://zenpeacemakers.org/about/zen-peacemaker-order/
2025-01-21 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2025-01-13 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2025-01-12 | Dharma Talk | The Power of Spiritual Friendship | Jessica Steinbomer and Nate Smalley by Appamada
2025-01-07 I Inquiry I You see the stitches, they see the Robe I Trudy Johnston by Appamada
2025-01-06 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2024-12-16 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2024-12-09 | Depth In Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2024-11-24 | Dharma talk | The Preciousness of Life | Sandra Medina Bocangel by Appamada
Students gave talks on some of Buddha's lists during the week. This is my reflections from the week of talks. There are drawings that go with this talk. You can see them at: https://tinyurl.com/RohatsuTalks
link to full talk by Blanche Hartman dharma talk at City Centerhttps://www.sfzc.org/teachings/dharma-talks/look-silver-lining-video
2024-11-25 | Depth in Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
Bodhisattva’s Vow ~ Torei ZenjiWhen I, a student of the Way,look at the real form of the universe,all is the never-failing manifestationof the mysterious truth of the Awakened Life. In any event, in any moment, and in any place,none can be other than the marvelous revelationof its glorious light. This realization made our ancestors and teachersextend tender care with respectful heartseven to such beings as birds and beasts. This realization teaches usthat our daily food, drink, clothes,and protections of life, are the warm flesh and blood,the merciful incarnation of the Awakened One. Who can be ungrateful or not respectfuleven to senseless things, not to speak of humans?Even though they may be a fool,be warm and compassionate toward them. If by any chance they should turn against us,become sworn enemies and persecute us,we should sincerely bow down with humble languagein the reverent understandingthat they are the merciful messengers of the Awakened One,who use devices to emancipate us from blind tendencies,produced and accumulated upon ourselvesby our own egoistic delusion and attachmentthrough countless cycles of space and time. Then on each moment’s flash of our thoughtthere will grow a lotus flowerand on each lotus flower will be revealed Perfection,unceasingly manifest as our life,just as it is,right here and right now. May we extend this mind to all beingsso that we and the world togethermay attain maturity in the wisdom of the Awakened Life.
2024-11-18 | Depth in Practice | Not Two: The Appamada Story | Peg Syverson by Appamada
Practicing with the Brahmaviharas - Loving Kindness, Compassion, Equinimity, and Empathetic Joy00:08:28 - youTube - Thich Nhat Hanh, interview Part 1 | Ram Dass Channel (3.5 Minutes exert )00:14:47 - Mindfulness Meditation (6 Minute)00:22:15 - Jessica offers an interactive activity00:22:55 - Equanimity00:24:09 - Comments/questions @thaythichnhathanhgiang8273 @RonKurtz
00:03:54 - Poem - 'Place' from ‘Migration: new and selected poems’ by W. S. Merwin 00:09:32 - What is Practice? - A Reading from 'Ordinary Wonder' by Joko Beck00:23:47 - A reading from 'Living by Vow' - Shohaku Okumura00:34:13 - Ann Opens up a conversationOn the last day of the worldI would want to plant a treewhat fornot for the fruitthe tree that bears the fruitis not the one that was plantedI want the tree that standsin the earth for the first timewith the sun alreadygoing downand the watertouching its rootsin the earth full of the deadand the clouds passingone by oneover its leaves
2024-10-21 | Depth in Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 30 Dasui's “Aeonic Fire” | Thomas Cleary by Appamada
Zen Lay Entrustment is a ceremony and recognition within Zen Buddhism where experienced lay practitioners are formally authorized to teach Zen. Unlike ordained priests, these lay teachers continue to live as laypeople while carrying the responsibility of teaching and transmitting the Dharma.This practice acknowledges the deep understanding and commitment of long-time lay practitioners, empowering them to guide others in their Zen practice. The ceremony involves the presentation of a rakusu (a symbolic garment) and public recognition of the individual’s role as a teacher.
Metta SuttaThis is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise,Who seeks the good, and has obtained peace.Let one be strenuous, upright, and sincere,Without pride, easily contented, and joyous.Let one not be submerged by the things of the world.Let one not take upon oneself the burden of riches.Let one’s senses be controlled.Let one be wise but not puffed up andLet one not desire great possessions even for one’s family.Let one do nothing that is mean or that the wise would reprove.May all beings be happy.May they be joyous and live in safety,All living beings, whether weak or strong,In high or middle or low realms of existence.Small or great, visible or invisible,Near or far, born or to be born,May all beings be happy.Let no one deceive another nor despise any being in any state.Let none by anger or hatred wish harm to another.Even as a mother at the risk of her lifeWatches over and protects her only child,So with a boundless mind should one cherish all living things.Suffusing love over the entire world,Above, below, and all around, without limit,So let one cultivate an infinite good will toward the whole world.Standing or walking, sitting or lying down,During all one’s waking hours,Let one practice the way with gratitude.Not holding to fixed views,Endowed with insight,Freed from sense appetites,One who achieves the wayWill be freed from the duality of birth and death. ■
00:00:26 - Dharma Talk00:16:13 - Overview of the Coming Week00:22:55 - Opening up for Questions/Reflections00:33:52 - Meeting the Sangha
00:00:26 - Peg Offers an Exercise on Belonging00:01:13 - 4 Questions: Writing Activity (see Below)00:05:54 - ReflectionsWriting Activity: Belonging1. Take a few moments and become mindful. Recall a situation where you felt a true sense of belonging. Briefly describe the situation and then, how you felt. What gave you a felt sense that you belonged?2. Again, becoming mindful, recall a situation where you distinctly felt like you didn’t belong. Describe the situation, briefly. And then, what did that experience feel like? What were the cues in the situation itself that signaled to you that you belonged or didn’t belong?3. Have you ever been in a situation where you were not sure, at least at first, whether you belonged or not, and something happened that convinced you one way or the other? What happened?4. Have you ever reached out to help someone feel they belong? Have you ever held back from reaching out in that way? 00:05:54 - Reflections
Spiral Dynamics and SpiritualitySpiral Dynamics Values Profile ‘This I Believe’ responsesSpiritual Collectives00:00:35 - Book Reccommendation - Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides - Geoffrey L. Cohen 00:04:34 - Spiral Dynamics Values Profile 2: Handout 1
2024-0-30 | Day 4/Part 1 | Integrated Intensive | Trust in community | Peg Syverson by Appamada
00:00:26 - Peg Offers an exercise relating to Spiral dynamics00:08:45 - Participants Get into groups of 3 for 30 minutes00:08:52 - Reflections and Teachings
Looking at what part of the Change Process you are in now.00:00:26 - Dharma Talk00:03:35 - Writing Exercise/Assignment00:08:56 - Peg offers the Groups of 3 exercise00:09:37 - Breakout rooms for 15 minutes in groups of 300:09:46 - Reflections/Teachings
2024-11-01 | Day 6/Part 2 | Integrated Intensive | Trust in Community | Peg Syverson by Appamada
Reflections on a Burnt Match~ Trudy JohnstonWhat if your lifewas as brief as a match struck,fierce and bright, maybe helping othersto shine,then gone.What if your life was as brief as thespume rising from a crashing wave,as it makesits finalflourish.What if your lifewas as momentaryas the shifting shadowson the paintingbehind the sofa.Would it matter?Would it matter?Did the match, the wave, the shadowmatter?They did, in their thereness.The way the air or the lightaround them shifted.Whole worlds tilting because of this momentbecause of each moment.The world is made of myriad seen andunseen moments.The one second the cymbalstrikes in the orchestra,everything turningaround everything else.Bringing the Light (for Judy Parfett)~ Jo ClarkeSlowly the courage grew until,Like the universe, without holding back,The no’ melted to a ‘yes’, and you shone.No shying away from this pain filled life,With its tsunami of catastrophe.Difficult births and traumatic deaths,Relationships sting and wars take us to our knees.Choosing to embrace all of it, always, without flinchingAnd with a truthfulness, that says it how it is.Your bravery makes our eyes smart.Your honesty an antidote to betrayal anddeep fake`.In offering to restore joy you invited us back to zazen,To sit with all of it, all of life.With your wholehearted embrace of lifeAnd your courageous truth tellingYou light the spaces for us, sparkling and vibrant.We have been gifted your openness and clarityAnd we come back, sit with you,Upright with possibility.Sitting alongside your unrelenting steadfastness,Your joyful practice radiates warmth,As the spotlight spreads to illuminate all.Thank you for reminding us, we sit forAll beings everywhere, and for life as it is.And YOU never shrink from life as it is.View From a Zendo - Post Retreat~ Ryan Van WykThe final bell has been rungThe final words have been chantedThe final bows have been exchangedThe retreat supplies returned to their placesThe assembly has departedI am all that remainsA great empty spaceOnly moments ago bursting with lifeActivity infused with wakeful energySteady abiding through days of stillnessThe silence settling in the emptiness feels differentPerhaps the silence of presenceIs of a different quality than the silence of absenceA cry begins to rise withinTraveling from the heart to mouthPlease return to this placeFind your way back to these seatsPersist in this practiceContinue awakening together
00:18:14 - Laurie Winnette - Offers a Dharma Activity - 1 - What is your current level of commitment at Appamada? - 2 - Do you have difficulty balancing your home life and spiritual life - work/life/other activities? If the answer is yes, what does it look like and how does it feel? 3- Think about the activities at Appamada that you are involved with, and ask yourself the question, are they nourishing to you? If so, How? And if it isn’t, consider why it isn’t? - 4 - Are there activities or groups that you are interested in? - 5 - And if so, Do you need information about what they are.00:24:27 - Reflections
Jukai ReflectionsRyan Van WykWhat is this vow that invites us to somehow be both more and less at the same time?Not exactly restrictive or prohibitive and yet something is relinquished.There is a paradox here; in committing to embody these qualities that have been passed on andlived out by generations of ancestors, we are also committing to be more truly ourselves.Perhaps this vow is as simple as wholeheartedly embodying the unique expression of love thatwe are, and to again and again and again releasing all the habits, conditions, lessons, beliefs,reactions, and patterned behaviors that obscure that expression. This vow is fulfilled in the moment by moment shining of the natural loving light that is actually who we are. When we are ourselves, Zen is Zen.So my friends, let us support each other in taking up the vow to again and again return tomeeting the world, each other, and ourselves from a place of uprightness, to waking up to whatwe do, and to letting the flower of our life force bloom.
2024-10-14 | Depth In Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 29 Fengxue's Iron Ox | Thomas Cleary by Appamada
2024-10-07 | Depth In Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 28 The Three Embarassments | Thomas Cleary by Appamada
00:00:26 - Dharma Talk00:11:19 - Exert from 'Shift into Freedom' - (10 minutes)00:22:12 - 'Shift' Exercise Guided by Loch Kelly - ( 7 minutes)00:29:14 - Reflections
Book Reference Sailing Home~ Norman Fischerhttps://www.amazon.com/Sailing-Home-Odyssey-Navigate-Pitfalls/dp/1556439962
https://morningstarzensangha.blogspot.com/2019/03/koans-as-pointers-two-monks-roll up.html#:~:text=According%20to%20this%20case%2C%20%E2%80%9CThe,'One%20gains%3B%20one%20loses
20240923 | Depth In Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 26 Yangshan Points to Snow | Thomas Cleary by Appamada
Links for two sources quoted from:Walking Around~ Pablo Nerudahttps://poets.org/poem/walking-aroundEverything Is Enlightenment ~Joan Sutherlandhttps://www.lionsroar.com/everything-is-enlightenment/
00:00:26 - Dharma Talk00:05:13 - Qualities that help to guide our actions - 1. Brahmavihara's: Loving kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic joy, Equanimity00:05:35 - 2 - A sense of Humour. 3 - Honesty. 4 - A sense of Curiosity. 5 - Independence/Agency. 6 - A sense of self worth. 7 - Creativity00:07:04 - Joel offers an Experiment - 00:08:21 - Participants Write for 3 Minutes -Choose one of these qualities, that, if you were to be in any kind of difficult situation, could Imagine approaching that person, that shares that value with you. - How would you tell this person about the times that this value has guided your actions. 00:08:30 - Reflections00:16:44 - Joel Continues00:18:30 - Joel Offers another writing activity - What can I learn with the other involved in this situation, what is the most compassionate, helpful and liberating thing I can learn00:19:44 - Participants write for 1 minute00:19:57 - Reflections
What Joel offered was adapted from “Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides" Author Geoffrey L. Cohen Buddhist underlying values: • Loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity • Sense of Humor • Honesty • Bringing a sense of curiosity and learning to life’s challenges • Independence or agency and a sense of self-worth • Creativity
00:00:26 - Jon-Eric outlines the talk00:04:16 - The Skandhas - a buddhist framework for the mind00:11:41 - The Kleshas (also known as Mental afflictions)00:17:01 - Hakomi00:20:57 - Guided Meditation - 8 minutes00:27:52 - Jon-Eric Invites Reflections
2024-09-09 | Depth In Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 24 Look Out for the Snake | Thomas Cleary by Appamada
00:00:26 - Robin opens up the final talk of this intensive - Trust in Mind00:10:40 - Robin and Joel Choral Read Hsin Hsin Ming with Robin’s Interpretation00:18:01 - Robin Offers a dharma Activity - 3 minutes to sit - 15 minutes to write - and 5 minutes each to share (in pairs) - sharing what you wrote, or any experience you’ve had throughout the intensive - what you are feeling in your body00:18:08 - Sharings and Reflections00:28:48 - Hsin Hsin Ming - Popcorn Style - Each Participant takes any line and speaks it into the circle
00:00:26 - Sandra Opens up day 3 - Trust in Mind00:04:08 - Sandra Read the Hsin Hsin Ming00:31:10 - Trust in Mind: The Rebellion of Chinese Zen Author - Mu Soeng00:32:28 - Dharma Activity - 3 minutes of silence - write for 10 minutes - 5 mins sharing (in pairs) - Write from a place of compassion and equanimity - noticing how your body feels
00:00:26 - Robin begins - Trust in MindO0:05:55 - Continuing with - Hsin Hsin Ming Translation - Robin and Joel00:31:33 - Robin Offers a Dharma Activity - writing your own version/interpretation of a segment of the Hsin Hsin Ming00:35:42 - Participants write for 20 minutes00:35:51 - Robin invites Participants to share what they wrote00:37:58 - 1st Sharing/interpretation of a segment of the Hsin Hsin Ming00:42:41 - 2nd Sharing/Interpretation00:45:27 - 3rd Sharing/Interpretation00:46:29 - 4th Sharing/Interpretation00:49:41 - 5th Sharing/Interpretation
2024-09-06 | Day 2/Part 2 | Intensive - Trust in Mind | Sandra Medina Bocangel00:00:26 - Dharma Talk00:45:55 - Dharma Activity - In Pairs - 3 minutes to sit in silence - 5 minutes writing - 5 minutes each sharing - Write about any situation, with any particular person, or yourself, an encounter, and write about feelings thoughts, sensations in your body - During the sharing, just notice what is happening in your partner, their body language - looking with open curiosity.
00:00:26 - Robin opens the Intensive - ‘Trust in Mind’00:03:53 - Hsin Hsin Ming00:13:41 - Sitting and just noticing what arises00:16:02 - Reflections00:21:27 - Robin reads the Hsin Hsin Ming - and Joel reads the Translation of the Hsin Hsin Ming00:25:21 - Dharma Activity - Robin invites people, over the next few days, to write their own translation of the Hsin hsin Ming00:33:01 - Robin describes how the Dharma Activity will look over the next few days00:36:33 - Participants write for 15 minutes
For my names they are many,Trudy, child, tinker, mucky pup, daughter, sister, friend, schoolgirl,lover, student, drop out, nun, student,shop owner, Hema, teacher, wife, mother, housewife,student, counsellor, therapist, supervisor, trainer, grandmother, student, teacher, trainer, student, great grandmother, and now a new name, anda new family, that join the listof things I have been and I have done. All flow, and all ebb, each part becoming the next thing, althougheach part is also entire unto itself.What names do we give ourselves,what names do we cherish, or loathe.Which names trap us, and which free us.There is a koan, “Show me your original face before you were born”now my koan is“Tell my your name before you given one”~Trudy Johnston
Join us on Monday nights: https://appamada.org/main-calendarLuzu Faces the Wall:Case: Whenever Luzu saw a monk coming, he would immediately face the wall. Nanquan, hearing of this, said, "I usually tell them to realize mastery before the empty aeon, to understand before the buddhas appear in the world; still I haven't found one or a half. Luzu that way will go on till the year of ass.”
00:00:20 - Dharma Talk - Trust00:24:49 - Laurie Offers a Dharma Activity00:25:54 - Participants sit for 3 minutes, then share for 2 minutes each (Groups of 3) ( minutes total)00:26:06 - Laurie Invites Feedback
“Losing the Trail”~Noah Charney.These Trees Tell a Story: The Art of Reading Landscapes. Yale University Press;New Haven and London: 2023. Pages 25-26. Following the trail is the easiest way to be lost. Sure, that trail might takes us to a preordained destination faster, but we’ll have no idea where we are when we get there. While we’re on the trail, we lose track of what’s around us and where we are in space—we are lost. We put our trust in the trail, ceding responsibility. We give up our awareness, our senses, our minds. Our interface with the landscape boils down to just two numbers: the total length of the trail and the distance we’ve traveled. Staring at the path a few feet in front of us, we are not fully engaged with the surrounding world. Step off that path and suddenly we have to look up. Look at the shape of the land and decide how steeply we want to climb. Look at the trees in the distance and pick a target to walk toward. Keep looking behind so that we will recognize the forest when we encounter it from the other direction on our return trip. Study the shrub layer for gaps to duck through, following the occasional animal trails worn through the denser areas. Use the network of deer paths when traversing steep slopes to gain level footing. Keep an eye out for poison ivy, rose thorns, and ticks waving their arms in hopes of catching a ride. Study the patterns of light for clearings. Monitor the changing habitats near and far: white tops of sycamores in the distance signaling a creek; chestnut oaks nearby telling us we’ve reached the drier hilltops; the banjo-like plunk of a lone green frog calling from the wetland ahead that we hope to steer around. Keep an eye on the rising sun and remember where south is as we walk. This whole time, we maintain a map of the landscape in our heads, filling in the details as we go. That is how we get to know the world and our place in it. My practice perspective on “Losing the Trail”~ Flint SparksDo I dare step off the narrow path of certainty and predictability? If I do, I suddenly and naturally look up — and look out at the shape of the landscape I find myself in and decide how to take the next step. I look at the ways I have imagined my life and its fantasied destinations and then I pick a target to walk toward, knowing it is an illusory horizon, so I hold it lightly. I shouldn’t forget to look behind so that I will recognize where I came from and how it influences where I am going. Surprisingly I realize, no matter where I walk, no matter what direction, I am always home. Studying the layers of my mind and my heart for spacious openings, following the occasional trailheads worn through the denser areas of experience, I use the network of paths used by others when traversing the most challenging terrain to gain some footing. I keep an eye out for painful patterns, habits that harm, and old familiar beliefs hoping to catch a ride. I study the patterns of light and dark for clarity and openings. I monitor my changing relationships both near and far: a smile inviting connection; a dark mood signaling familiar trouble; the timber of a voice that reminds me to take extra care as I meet. I’d best keep an eye on the rising sun of love and kindness and I hope to remember to take curiosity and compassion as my two walking poles. The map of the landscape I draw in my mind begins to shift and adapts to the every changing conditions as I go along. That is how I get to know the world of freedom and my place in it. This how I come to know the true wonder of the circle of the Way.
2024-08-26 | Depth In Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 22 Yantou's “Bow and Shout” | Thomas Cleary by Appamada
Dharma Teachings for us today: • Suffering and dissatisfaction are woven into the fabric of life - of losing and finding/breathing in - breathing out • Freedom and beauty are equally woven into the fabric of life - of losing and finding/breathing in - breathing out • The liberating realizations of the Buddha ~ everything changes and everything is interdependent - help us understand this weaving and this fabric - which is nothing more than losing and finding/breathing in - breathing out • All of this is already being lived out in every moment whether we notice it or not. The reality of life is just this everyday living, and when we can relinquish our small, individual perspectives we are better able to offer our care in the world — losing and finding/breathing in - breathing out
2024-08-19 | Depth In Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 21 Yunyan Sweeps the Ground | Thomas Cleary by Appamada
2024-08-18 | Dharma Talk | Great Expectations | Ann Lipscomb00:00:26 - Dharma Talk - Great expectations00:20:09 - Ann Offers the Dharma Activity00:22:41 - Participants get into pairs for 22 minutes - 2 minute sit - 5 minutes to write - 15 minutes to share00:22:51 - Ann Invites Feedback
00:00:26 - The Universe Loves a Good Question00:07:11 - Sitting with Joko Beck00:09:10 - Reflections00:18:14 - Ellen continues with the Dharma Talk00:28:27 - Questions: 1/What has been a question that has guided your practice? 2/What has been your experience of asking questions?
The way is long – let us go together;the way is difficult – let us help each other;the way is joyful – let us share it;the way is ours alone – let us go in love;the way grows before us – let us begin.R: recognizeA: acceptI: investigateN: non-identification
00:00:48 - Becky opens up the session00:12:18 - Becky invites people to briefly share their experience with singing00:29:07 - Becky leads everyone in singing 'Simply Breathe'00:35:27 - Reflections on singing 'Simply Breathe' together00:42:43 - Sitting for 30 minutes00:43:19 - Becky leads everyone in singing The Four Practice Principles00:45:53 - Becky begins to bring the class to a close - and invites reflections
00:00:26 - Dharma Talk - ‘Moshan Lioran- The Mountain and the Path’00:11:04 - Sitting Together - 'Like a Mountain'00:14:47 - Koan - Guanxi Xian00:21:34 - Jessica Invites Thoughts and Discussion
00:01:14 - Poem - What is Our Life About - By Ezra Bayda (see Below)00:17:39 - Laurie Explains the Dharma Activity (see Below on YouTube)00:19:34 - Participants go into pairs for 26 minutesExerciseGet into pairs. Decide who will speak firstEach person will take 10-15 minutes to do the clinging exercise separatelyEach person will share their experience of the exercise with the other for 5 minutes. Return to group1. Think of a time (it could be now when you were caught in the illusion of a separate self. Not the worst situation, something small.2. Notice the clinging that arises. Recall without judgment your feelings sensations. and state of mind3. Practice letting go by relaxing the tightening of the mind and body. It is a relaxing of your grasp on how you want things to be. Say to yourself, "I don’t need things to be my way. don’t need them to be any way….content either way, because no matter what happens, the universe is trulydivine1. Notice the clinging that arises. Recall without judgment your feelings sensations. and state of mind2. Practice letting go by relaxing the tightening of the mind and body. It is a relaxing of your grasp on how you want things to be. Say to yourself, "I don’t need things to be my way. don’t need them to be any way. um content either way, because no matter what happens, the universe is trulyWhat is Our Life About?Ezra BaydaOur aspirations, our calling, our desire for a genuine life,is to see the truth of who we really are—that the nature of our Being is connectedness and love,not the illusion of a separate self to which our suffering clings.It is from this awareness that Life can flow through us;the Unconditioned manifesting freely as our conditioned body.And what is the path?To learn to reside in whatever life presents.To learn to attend to all those thingsthat block the flow of a more open life;and to see them as the very path of awakening—all the of the constructs, the identities,the holding back, the protections,all of the fears, the self-judgments, the blame—all that separates us from letting Life be.And what is the path?To turn away from constantly seeking comfortand trying to avoid pain.To open to the willingness to just be,in this very moment,exactly as it is.No longer ready to be caughtin the relentlessly spinning mind.Practice is about awakening to the true Self;no one special to be, nowhere to go.Residing in the Heart, just Being.We are so much more than just this bodyjust this personal drama.As we cling to our fear,and our shame, and our suffering,we forsake the gratitude of living from our natural Being.So where, in this very moment, do we cling to our views?Softening around the mind’s incessant judgment,we can awaken the heart that seeks to be awakened.And when the veil of separation rises,Life simply unfolds as it will.No longer caught in the self-centered dream,we can give ourselves to others,like a white bird in the snow.Time is fleeting.Don’t hold back.Appreciate this precious life.
Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment, and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words. ~David Whyte
00:10:19 - Poem - Accepting This00:14:20 - Robin Offers Part 1 - Dharma Exercise - Writing00:17:36 - Robin Offers Part 2 - Dharma Exercise - Sharing00:18:38 - Participants Go Into Groups Of 2 for 15 Minutes00:18:44 - Robin Invites Everyone to Share and ConnectAccepting ThisYes, it is true. I confess, I have thought great thoughts, and sung great songs—all of it rehearsal for the majesty of being held.The dream is awakened when thinking I love you and life begins when saying I love you and joy moves like blood when embracing others with love.My efforts now turn from trying to outrun suffering to accepting love wherever I can find it.Stripped of causes and plans and things to strive for, I have discovered everything I could need or ask for is right here— in flawed abundance.We cannot eliminate hunger, but we can feed each other. We cannot eliminate loneliness, but we can hold each other. We cannot eliminate pain, but we can live a life of compassion.Ultimately, we are small living things awakened in the stream, not gods who carve out rivers.Like human fish, we are asked to experience meaning in the life that moves through the gill of our heart.There is nothing to do and nowhere to go. Accepting this, we can do everything and go anywhere.light will someday split you open…. ~hafizLight will someday split you open Even if your life is now a cage.Little by little, You will turn into stars. Little by little, You will turn into The whole sweet, amorous Universe.Love will surely burst you wide open Into an unfettered, booming new galaxy.You will become so free In a wonderful, secret And pure Love That flows From a conscious, One-pointed, Infinite Light.Even then, my dear, The Beloved will have fulfilled Just a fraction, Just a fraction! Of a promise He wrote upon your heart.For a divine seed, the crown of destiny, Is hidden and sown on an ancient, fertile plain You hold the title to.O look again within yourself, For I know you were once the elegant host To all the marvels in creation.When your soul begins To ever bloom and laugh And spin in Eternal Ecstasy-O little by little, You will turn into God.~Hafiz
2024-07-07 | Dharma Talk | Practice Discussion - The Teacher Student Relationship | Ann Lipscomb by Appamada
Sometimes ~ David WhyteSometimesif you move carefullythrough the forest,breathinglike the onesin the old stories,who could crossa shimmering bed of leaveswithout a sound,you cometo a placewhose only taskis to trouble youwith tinybut frightening requests,conceived out of nowherebut in this placebeginning to lead everywhere.Requests to stop whatyou are doing right now,andto stop what youare becomingwhile you do it,questionsthat can makeor unmakea life,questionsthat have patientlywaited for you,questionsthat have no rightto go away.~ David Whyte
00:02:00 - Koan - 'Not Helping'00:08:47 - Exercise - in Groups of - 1. Reflect on the Koan for 5 minutes - 2. Speak to what it brings up in you, if anything00:08:55 - Joel Invites Participants to ShareKoan taken from :Zen Master Raven: Sayings and Doings of a Wise Bird - 2002 - Robert Aitken'Not Helping'After a talk by Raven about the Precepts, Woodpecker said, “The Cowbird lays her eggs in the Wren’s nest and the two wrens have to hustle to feed the cowbird’s baby as well as their own. I don't see why the wrens stand for it, especially since the cowbirds baby is a lot bigger, and theirs has a huge appetite. Maybe the wrens are really Bodhisattvas, selflessly devoted to helping others”. Raven said “They arn't helping the Cowbirds”
00:00:27 - Equanimity - The 7th Factor of Enlightenment00:16:26 - Ann Invites Questions/Comments00:21:12 - Part 2 - Laurie Offers a Reminder of the 7 Factors of Enlightenment00:35:52 - Laurie Invites Comments/Reflections
00:00:31 - The 6th Factor of Enlightenment Concentration00:22:33 - Reflections/Questions
00:00:29 - The Fifth Factor of Enlightenment - Tranquility (Passaddhi)00:14:21 - Activities of Tranquility00:14:59 - Disenchantment00:17:43 - Restraint00:26:10 - Part 2 with Laurie00:26:41 - Dharma Activity on Tranquility00:27:08 - A Practice on Remembering how to do Tranquility under Pressure00:28:19 - Laurie Begins Leading the Guided Meditation to Recall Tranquility in the Body00:33:59 - Moving on to the Writing Aspect00:34:45 - Participants Write for 5 Minutes, and Share together in Pairs for 3 MinutesTranquility in Action PracticePractice for remembering/recollecting tranquility on the fly, when under pressure. A. Think of a stressful situation that you may have experienced and maybe didn’t handle it as well as you might have.B. Recall the meditation this morning that Ann offered. C. With all that in mind, how would you respond to the original situation, to others and to the world?Write about your experience and what you might change and/or your experience with the meditation.Share with another person. Return to group for 5 min.
00:00:26 - Recap00:01:24 - Energy - The Third Factor of Enlightenment00:17:01 - Joy - The Fourth Factor of Enlightenment00:25:41 - Ann introduces and Offers a Dharma Activity about - Joy - The fourth Factor of Enlightenment00:27:43 - Ann Begins the guided Meditation00:42:32 - Reflections
00:00:27 - Ann talks about the 2nd factor of enlightenment - Investigation00:11:18 - Day 3 Part 2 - Laurie Introduces an Exercise00:13:02 - Something that happened to you - Form - What happened - Just the facts00:13:49 - Feeling - Just write Positive, negative, neutral00:14:18 - Perception - Your perception of the event - Your view of the event00:14:56 - Volition - Intention that arises out of this event00:15:09 - Background consciousness - What was your background consciousness when it occurred00:15:47 - 10 minutes to write - then 5 minutes each to share in Groups of 200:16:04 - Laurie talks about the - Five Aggregates
00:00:26 - Exercise 1 - Laurie Introduces an Exercise on Preparing to Become Mindful by Naming Present Moment Experience00:08:54 - Exercise 2 - Ann Leads the Guided Meditation00:08:19 - Ann Leads into the Guided Meditation00:20:55 - Ann Invites Reflections
O00:00:27 - Laurie Opens the Intensive and Introduces 'The 7 Factors of Enlightenment'.
00:00:27 - Ann Introduces the Talk00:01:31 - Inciting Joy (the 1st Incitement) by Ross Gay00:19:36 - Ann Introduces the Activity for the Connection Rooms00:21:00 - Participants Discuss in Pairs for 20 Minutes00:21:12 - Ann Invites Comments
00:00:31 - Light After Darkness00:01:40 - The Light Inside the Dark: Zen, Soul, and the Spiritual Life - John Tarrant00:28:22 - Robin Invites Questions/Comments
00:00:40 - Ann Introduces and Offers Offers a Reading from 'Not Always So' by Susuki Roshi’ Ordinary Mind, Buddha Mind’00:18:05 - Ann Invites Questions and Comments
Depth in Practices continues reading and discussing Noble Truth, Noble Paths. Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
Depth in Practices continues reading and discussing Noble Truth, Noble Paths. Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
Depth in Practices continues reading and discussing Noble Truth, Noble Paths. Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
Depth in Practices continues reading and discussing Noble Truth, Noble Paths. Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
00:01:39 - A reading from ‘Opening to Oneness: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to the Zen Precepts, Nancy Baker00:20:53 - Reflections and Questions
00:00:26 - Day 2 - Overview, and 'whats next'00:02:26 - Guided Meditation00:28:27 - Participants meet in groups of 4 (16 Mins)00:28:37 - Reflections, Questions, comments
00:00:27 - Laurie Opens up Day 200:02:53 - Questions00:13:40 - Laurie describes the next exercise00:15:40 - Laurie Leads a 20 minute meditation00:38:29 - Questions for the small group exercises00:40:36 - Participants go into groups for 10 minutes00:40:46 - Reflections
00:00:33 - Welcome, and Guidelines for the intensive00:07:07 - Dharma Talk with Laurie Winnette00:27:13 - Laurie describes the meditation - Describe where you were? What was happening? How were you feeling before this other person (or pet) demonstrated lovingkindness to you?What did they do or say that caused you to feel their lovingkindness?Describe how you felt afterwards. How do you feel just thinking about the experience?00:32:22 -Laurie Leeds a Loving Kindness Meditation
00:25:45 - Please Call Me By My True Names By Thich Nhat Hanh (see Below)00:30:53 - Sandra Invites QuestionsUnhindered: A Mindful Path Through the Five Hindrances - By Gil fronsdalePoem: Please Call Me By My True NamesBy Thich Nhat Hanh in October 2004Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow—even today I am still arriving.Look deeply: every second I am arriving to be a bud on a Spring branch,to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,learning to sing in my new nest,to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,to fear and to hope.The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that is alive.I am a may fly metamorphosing on the surface of the river.And I am the bird that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.I am a frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond.And I am the grass-snake that silently feeds itself on the frog.I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.And I am the arms merchant,selling deadly weapons to Uganda.I am the twelve-year-old girl,refugee on a small boat,who throws herself into the oceanafter being raped by a sea pirate.And I am also the pirate,my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.I am a member of the politburo,with plenty of power in my hands.And I am the man who has to pay his “debt of blood” to my people dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.My joy is like Spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.My pain is like a river of tears, so vast it fills the four oceans.Please call me by my true names, so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once,so I can see that my joy and pain are one.Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up and the door of my heartcould be left open,the door of compassion.MB
Depth in Practices continues reading and discussing Noble Truth, Noble Paths. Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
Depth in Practice continues reading and discussing Noble Truths, Noble Path.Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
Depth in Practice spends a second week discussing Case 20: Dizang asked Fayan, "Where are you going?" // Fayan said, "Around on pilgrimage." // Dizang said, "What is the purpose of pilgrimage?" // Fayan said, "I don't know." //Dizang said, "Not knowing is most intimate.”Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
00:00:27 - Readings and Teachings from 'Not Always So' by Shunryu Suzuki00:11:02 - Joel Invites participants to Pracitce with the Breath whilst Sitting Zazen00:11:44 - Participants sit for 5 Minutes00:12:06 - Stephanie Says a few words about her Practice00:23:13 - Poem - Dirge in Woods by George Meredith (See Below)00:24:20 - Poem - A Parting Guest (See Below)00:25:14 - Poem - Nature - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (see Below)00:26:04 - Stephanie Opens the Floor up for Questions00:23:13 - Dirge in WoodsBY GEORGE MEREDITHA wind sways the pines, And belowNot a breath of wild air;Still as the mosses that glowOn the flooring and over the linesOf the roots here and there.The pine-tree drops its dead;They are quiet, as under the sea.Overhead, overheadRushes life in a race,As the clouds the clouds chase; And we go,And we drop like the fruits of the tree, Even we, Even so.00:24:20 - A Parting GuestWhat delightful hosts are they -- Life and Love!Lingeringly I turn away, This late hour, yet glad enoughThey have not withheld from me Their high hospitality.So, with face lit with delight And all gratitude, I stay Yet to press their hands and say,"Thanks. -- So fine a time! Good night."By James Whitcomb Riley00:25:14 - NatureHenry Wadsworth Longfellow1807 –1882As a fond mother, when the day is o'er, Leads by the hand her little child to bed, Half willing, half reluctant to be led, And leave his broken playthings on the floor,Still gazing at them through the open door, Nor wholly reassured and comforted By promises of others in their stead, Which, though more splendid, may not please him more;So Nature deals with us, and takes away Our playthings one by one, and by the hand Leads us to rest so gently, that we goScarce knowing if we wish to go or stay, Being too full of sleep to understand How far the unknown transcends the what we know.Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen Paperback –Jun. 2003by Shunryu Suzuki (Author)
00:02:00 - A short reading from ‘Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki 00:03:50 - Reading from: Seeds for a Boundless Life: Zen Teachings from the Heart by Zenkei Blanche Hartman 00:05:33 - The Niagara River By Kay Ryan (see below)00:08:50 - The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac by Mary Oliver 00:15:47 - Peonies by Mary Oliver 00:21:37 - Ann Invites QuestionsThe Niagara RiverBy Kay Ryan1945 –As thoughthe river werea floor, we positionour table and chairsupon it, eat, andhave conversation.As it moves along,we notice—ascalmly as thoughdining room paintingswere being replaced—the changing scenesalong the shore. Wedo know, we doknow this is theNiagara River, butit is hard to rememberwhat that means.The Fourth Sign of the Zodiacby Mary Oliver
00:00:43 - Recap of the Book so Far00:07:23 - Peg Begins Reading ‘Not Two’ - Part 3 - Chapter 10 - Becoming who you are
00:00:33 - Flint and Peg Begin00:06:12 - 'What if You Knew' - By Ellen Bass00:10:22 - Peg describes an Activity 'Walk and Talk'00:11:46 - Participants Walk In Pairs for 30 Minutes00:11:55 - Reflections/CommentsWhat if You KnewWhat if you knew you'd be the last to touch someone?If you were taking tickets, for example,at the theater, tearing them,giving back the ragged stubs,you might take care to touch that palm,brush your fingertipsalong the life line's crease.When a man pulls his wheeled suit case too slowly through the airport, when the car in front of me doesn't signal,when the clerk at the pharmacy won't say Thank you, I don't remember they're going to die.A friend told me she'd been with her aunt.They'd just had lunch and the waiter,a young gay man with plum black eyes, joked as he served the coffee, kissed her aunt's powdered cheek when they left.Then they walked half a block and her aunt dropped dead on the sidewalk.How close does the dragon's spume have to come? How wide does the crackin heaven have to split?What would people look like if we could see them as they are,soaked in honey, stung and swollen, reckless, pinned against time?By Ellen Bass
00:46:03 - Joy Chose You - By Donna AshworthJOY CHOSE YOUJoy does not arrive with a fanfareon a red carpet strewnwith the flowers of a perfect lifejoy sneaks inas you pour a cup of coffeewatching the sunhit your favourite treejust rightand you usher joy awaybecause you are not ready for heryour house is not as it should befor such a distinguished guestbut joy, you seecares nothing for your messy homeor your bank balanceor your waistlinejoy is supposed to slither throughthe cracks of your imperfect lifethat's how joy worksyou cannot truly invite heryou can only be readywhen she appearsand hug her with meaningbecause in this very momentjoy chose you.
00:00:27 - Flint and Peg Describe the Activity for small Groups of 300:03:00 - The Sangha Brings forth Questions for Flint and Peg
00:00:27 - Dharma Talk00:20:46 - Poem - Another theory of Time00:28:30 - ReflectionsAnother Theory of Time- Marie HoweSo, I tell my daughterwe are eating dinner, reading through the book of storiesI'm worried about Jason. If I seem distracted, that's what's on my mind.And she says, Take it out of your mind,then dips and eats a dumpling, and says, But don't take out Jason.And this morning at the deli I say, I'm grumpy becauseit's the first day of school, and I'm thinking of so many things.and she says, Take them out, and I say, How do I do that?and she says, Think about Now.I bite into my egg and cheese on a sesame bagel, and it is good. It is.Although it does bother mehow she always wants to sit at the tiny deli counterso near the garbage binseating meatballs for breakfast.Then she ways, I can't remember the future or the past.The local high school girls order iced coffee and whole wheat bagelswith nothing on them. My girl eats her meatballs,and I stare past the cutouts of ham and turkey taped to the windowand think about the moment I want so much to leavehow small it is sometimes, this Nowhow constricting, me with my bad teeth and ageing elbows.as person after person tosses their trash inches behind my backbefore walking out the open door.
2024-04-03 | Day 4 | Forms and Roles as Practice | Head Student Sandra Medina Bocangel by Appamada
00:00:33 - Peg Reads a Poem ‘Enlightenment’ by Vijay Seshardi00:05:54 - Offering Comprehensive Instruction on Posture/Sitting Zazen00:32:51 - Questions/Reflections00:35:00 - Peg Offers Instruction on a Practice (Groups of 3) - 'Narrating on Present Moment Experience Whilst Sitting in the Zazen Posture'00:37:48 - Participants Join Groups of 3 for 10 Minutes00:37:57 - Reflections/CommentsVijay Seshadri1954 –“It’s all empty, empty,” he said to himself.“The sex and drugs. The violence, especially.”So he went down into the world to exercise his virtue,thinking maybe that would help.He taught a little kid to build a kite.He found a cure, and then he found a cure for his cure.He gave a woman at the mercy of the weather his umbrella, even though icy rain fell and he had pneumonia.He settled a revolution in Spain.Nothing worked.The world happens, the world changes,the world, it is written here, in the next line,is only its own membrane—and, oh yes, your compassionate nature,your compassion for our kind.
00:00:59 - Peg Reads Huineng Poem00:02:18 - Peg reads a section of the Fukanzazengi (Eihei Do- gen ) regarding ZazenHuineng PoemDeluded, a Buddha is a sentient being; Awakened, a sentient being is a Buddha.Ignorant, a Buddha is a sentient being; With wisdom, a sentient being is a Buddha.If the mind is warped, a Buddha is a sentient being; If the mind is impartial, a sentient being is a Buddha.When once a warped mind is produced, Buddha is concealed within the sentient being.If for one instant of thought we become impartial, Then sentient beings are themselves Buddha.In our mind itself a Buddha exists, Our own Buddha is the true Buddha.If we do not have in ourselves the Buddha mind, Then where are we to seek the Buddha?By: Huineng
00:19:39 - Questions/Reflections00:22:52 - Flint Prepares for, and Offers an Exercise00:33:33 - Instruction for connection Groups of 3 People (20 Minutes)
2024-04-01 Day 2/Part 1 | Integrated Intensive | Forms and Roles as Practice | Flint Sparks by Appamada
00:01:48 - Peg anf Flint read Fukanzazengi - Eihei Do-gen (P.p 30 Appamada Chant Book)00:11:28 - Flints Asks ‘What was it like to hear it read out in this way’?00:26:49 - Flint Reads a poem by Marie Howe (see Below)00:32:33 - Peg reads a Poem by DogenEasterTwo of the fingers on his right handhad been brokenso when he poured back into that hand it surprisedhim—it hurt him at first. And the whole body was too small. Imaginethe sky trying to fit into a tunnel carved into a hill. He came into it two ways: From the outside, as we step into a pair of pants. And from the centre—suddenly all at once. Then he felt himself awake in the dark alone. - Marie Howe
2024-04-02 I Inquiry I Nothing happening is a very good day I Trudy Johnson by Appamada
Ordinary things are all Extra-Ordinary | Joel Barna00:02:31 - A Reading from 'After Buddhism' by Stephen Batchelor00:07:36 - Joel gives instructions on how to write a Pantoum Poem (Please see below)00;11:56 - Joel’s Pantoum00:13:18 - Joel explains how to format the 8 lines into a Pantoum 00:15:09 - Participants Write for 10 Minutes00:15:19 - Instruction for Connecting Rooms/Groups00:15:49 - Participants go into Breakout Rooms/Groups for 10 Minutes00:15:58 - Some of the Participants share their Pantoums00:22:31 - Joel begins to bring the meeting to a closePantoum Instructions below:1. A line about something that’s become ordinary for you;2. Where does this ordinary thing happen?3. A line about time: When did you notice this ordinary thing had become ordinary?4. Other surrounding events: what happens before it? what happens after it?5. What is a single feeling you have about this ordinary thing?6. What do you most wish to say about this ordinary thing? (You may wish to imagineyourself speaking to a person you think will listen: it could be yourself.)7. A line showing us an object that’s associated with this ordinary;8. Something about your body and this ordinary.Then arrange the lines in this order:1st verse12342nd verse25463rd Verse57684th Verse7381
The Depth in Practice group discusses Case 20: Dizang asked Fayan, "Where are you going?"// Fayan said, "Around on pilgrimage." // Dizang said, "What is the purpose of pilgrimage?" // Fayan said, "I don't know." // Dizang said, "Not knowing is most intimate." //Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
The Depth in Practice group discusses Case 19: A monk asked Yunmen, “Not a single thought arises: is there any fault or not?” // Yunmen said, “Mt. Sumeru.” // [According to Jain cosmology, Mount Meru (or Sumeru) is at the center of the world surrounded by Jambūdvīpa, in the form of a circle forming a diameter of 100,000 yojans. (description from Wikipedia)]Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
The Depth in Practice group continues discussing Case 18: A monk asks Zhaozho, "Does the dog have Buddha Nature?" // Zhaozho says, "Yes." // The monk says, "Since it has, why is it then in this skin bag?" // Zhaozho replies, "Although he knows better he deliberately transgresses." // Another monk comes along: "Does the dog have Buddha Nature?" // "No," Zhaozho says. (The Japanese word "Mu" means " no.") // The monk says, "All beings have Buddha Nature, why not this dog?" // "Because he still has a mind," Zhaozho answers. //Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
Horizonless IntimacyDear Friends,I captured this image as I took an early morning walk along the beach in Bray, Ireland (County Wicklow) this past Monday morning (7/28/08). I was looking across the Irish Sea as the sun made its way upthrough the clouds. If I would have been able to see beyond the horizon where the sea and the sky appear to meet, I would have found northern Wales on the other shore. In fact, on the previous afternoon while walking along another stretch of beach just south of Bray near Newcastle I ran upon a granite marker tucked among the boulders of the seawall protecting the railroad that passed nearby. On the opposite side of the the railway from the nearly hidden marker was an abandoned and decaying building.The marker indicated that it was from this site and this tiny station that underwater telegraph cables were first laid beginning in the late 1880's, connecting Ireland and Wales. These connections were in use through the early 1930's. What happened then? I suppose technology changed what was possible. Horizons for communication were extended and expanded.If my view across the Irish Sea could have extend even further that morning, beyond the Welch border, I would have encountered the midlands of England where I had just spent the previous two weeks teaching and walking on the moors of Derbyshire. Further still and the English Channel would have come into viewand then the Netherlands, France, and the whole European continent. Where would it have ended? With a higher or more complete view, when obstructions or limitations are released, when horizons vanish, what can be seen? Apparently there is no end to the great view of a liberated mind, which I am onlyimagining, even while my particular human senses are, of course, quite limited. These past three weeks have been very concentrated for me - many days of teaching and very deepencounters. I worked with a number of wonderful people who were wholeheartedly offering themselves to a process of assisted self-discovery in mindfulness. They were curious about what they could see and what horizons they might explore as their self-identifications relaxed into the more diffuse awareness andwarmth of intimacy. In my reading this morning, I ran across this brilliant statement by the late Irish poet John O'Donohue: "In the human face infinity becomes personal."As I turned my attention to the vastness of the morning sky, into the cold wind, and toward the glistening sea last Monday, my awareness expanded and opened, inviting the unbound possibilities of my heart and mind to know themselves more fully. In the very next moment, in the reflected light of that same morning sun as I turned and looked into the eye of my friend Donna with whom I was walking, that vastness became personal, close, and alive. This is also what I saw in the faces of the participants in the retreats over these past three weeks. In the reflected presence they offered to each other, they began to see their own brilliance and fullness, flaws and limitations, all perfect because they were whole. This is the same infinitely transformative potential I see in the faces of each person who brings themselves forward in our Inquiry Groups, who come to practice discussion, and who sit in the zendo every day. We offer ourselves to each other so we can remember our vulnerable humanness and, in the bargain, get a glimpse of thedivine. "In the human face infinity becomes personal." What are the limits of this liberating intimacy? Our spiritual ancestors suggest that it is boundless. Let's turn to face each other again and again, and in that reflected presence, discover this truth to be our own.~Flint
The Depth in Practice group discusses Case 18: A monk asks Zhaozho, "Does the dog have Buddha Nature?" // Zhaozho says, "Yes." // The monk says, "Since it has, why is it then in this skin bag?" // Zhaozho replies, "Although he knows better he deliberately transgresses." // Another monk comes along: "Does the dog have Buddha Nature?" // "No," Zhaozho says. (The Japanese word "Mu" means " no.") // The monk says, "All beings have Buddha Nature, why not this dog?" // "Because he still has a mind," Zhaozho answers. //Additional links for this session: Buddha Nature: https://justthiszen.blogspot.com/2012/03/buddhathief-nature-buddhathief-nature.htmlKim’s take: https://justthiszen.blogspot.com/2012/03/do-dogs-have-buddha-nature-by-kim.htmlChinese: https://justthiszen.blogspot.com/2009/05/dog-from-wumenguan.htmlDepth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
00:00:33 - Dharma Talk00:02:43 - The Guest HouseThis being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honourably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight.The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.Rumi00:03:30 - “An Ordinary Day,” by Norman MacCaigI took my mind a walk or my mind took me a walk– whichever was the truth of it.The light glittered on the water or the water glittered in the light. Cormorants stood on a tidal rockwith their wings spread out, stopping no traffic. Various ducks shilly-shallied here and thereon the shilly-shallying water. An occasional gull yelped. Small flowers were doing their level bestto bring to their kerbs bees like aerial charabancs. Long weeds in the clear water did Eastern dances, unregardedBy shoals of darning needles. A cow started a moo but thought better of it… And my feet took me homeand my mind observed to me, or I to it, how ordinary extraordinary things are orhow extraordinary ordinary things are, like the nature of the mind and the process of observing.By MacCaig00:05:35 - Joel leads a 6 minute Body Scan00:30:32 - Joel takes us through a contemplation of the 3 poisons (2 minutes)00:39:09 - Joel Invites ReflectionsMB
2023-10-08 | Class 9 | Taking Up the Way of Supporting Life | With Joel Barna & Robin Bradford00:00:26 - Joel Opens up the Meeting00:02:20 - Joel Talks About the Precept ‘Taking Up the Way of Supporting Life and Not Killing’00:15:06 - Poem by David Whyte - No Path00:17:43 - Joel Guides Us All Into Sitting for 10 Minutes00:19:01 - Robin Talks About the Precept ‘I Vow to Take Up the Way of Supporting All Life’, and Discusses the use of Language around the Precepts00:29:20 - Robin Invites Comments00:43:41 - Robin Introduces the Topics for the breakout Room Exercises00:43:46 - !st Question - Is a “no kill” animal shelter working if animals suffer due to poor living conditions?00:44:45 - 2nd Question - Can someone following the precepts eat meat?00:45:39 - 3rd Question - Can one consume fossil fuels (drive a car, fly in a plane) knowingly contributing to climate crisis?00:45:55 - 4th Question - Is euthanasia – the “painless killing of a patient with an incurable disease” – okay?00:46:45 - Guidance for Connection Rooms - In Groups for 15 Minutes - sit for 1 minute - Discuss from the heart. Actively listen. Speak to essence. Notice what’s simultaneously happening in your body - where is there tightness, where is there heat, maybe boredom, withdrawal - just notice00:49:15 - Robin Invites Reflections01:03:37 - The Next Precept - To Not Disparage the Triple Treasures - Joel will be sending out Materials for this precept soonNo Path ~David WhyteThere is no path that goes all the way.Not that it stops us lookingfor the full continuation.The one line in the poemwe can start and follow straight to the end.The fixed belief we can hold,facing a stranger that saves us the trouble of a real conversation.But one day you are not just imagining an empty chairwhere your loved one sat.You are not just telling a storywhere the bridge is down and there’snowhere to cross.You are not just trying to pray to a God you imagined would keep you safe.No you’ve come to the place where nothing you’ve donewill impress and nothing you can promise will avertthe silent confrontation,the place whereyour body already seems to know the way having keptto the last its own secret reconnaissance.But still, there is no path that goes all the wayone conversation leads to anotherone breath to the next untilthere’s no breath at alljust the inevitablefinal release of the burden.And then your life will have to start all over again for you to know even a little of who you had been.~David WhyteMB (Public)
00:00:19 - Class 6 Begins00:00:25 - Joel Weaves the Precept and Preliminaries Together00:01:26 - Training in the The Preliminaries - Joel Describes These…00:01:53 - The 1st Preliminary - The Rarity and Preciousness of Human Life00:04:45 - The Inevitability of Death00:05:29 - The Awesome and Indelible Power of Our Actions00:12:27 - Joel Describes the Activity for the Connecting Rooms00:14:43 - Questions for the Connection Rooms: What is stealing? How might it arise in my life?/How can I know what is freely given?/Do I steal from myself? If so, how?/What is generosity? Is it the same or different from giving freely? How might it be expressed without reinforcing a separate sense self? - Connection Rooms for 15 Mins in Groups of 300:14:56 - Thoughts/Reflections from the Connection Rooms00:35:29 - Joel Offers Some Words from Peg Syverson About Metta Practice00:40:29 - Joel Begins the Meta Practice00:42:47 - Joel Talks About Offering Dana to Appamada - (Appamada.org/contribute)00:45:13 - Next Months ClassMB (Public)
00:00:26 - Joel Offers an Overview of the Class00:03:11 - Sitting for 10 Minutes Offering Metta/Joel then Begins with the Precept ‘Speaking Truthfully’, and The 8 Fold Path’00:13:07 - Joel Invites Participants to Share their 'Recasting' of the Precept 'I Take Up the Way Of Speaking Truthfully00:35:54 - Jessica Talks About Hakomi and how to Cultivate Loving Presence00:47:09 - Joel Offers An Exercise for the breakout Rooms (15 Minutes long - 3/4 People in Each Room)00:51:38 - Joel Invites Reflections on the breakout Room Exercise00:55:28 - Joel Introduces 'Right Speech' and Gives The Readings for the Next Month - Chapters 6 and 7 inWaking Up To What You Do By Diane Eshin Rizzetto, Bringing the Class to a CloseMB - (Public)
2023-02-02 | Class 1 | Precepts | Joel Barna00:00:29 - Joel Gives Words of Gratitude, and Welcomes Everyone 00:02:34 - Please Pause Video Here if You'd Like to to Sit for 3 Minutes00:02:48 - Joel Invites the Participants to Introduce Themselves00:15:23 - Joel Offers an Overview Of the Class, Outlining the Offerings00:17:48 - Ann Talks About The Verse of the Robe and Sewing - How Buddha's Robe Relates to the Precepts00:33:46 - Joel Talks About The Buddhist Precepts - What Taking the Precepts Requires/Means00:52:16 - Joel Talks About the Learning Record01:01:27 - Participants Go Into Breakout Rooms 01:01:48 - Closing Comments/QuestionsBook Mentioned During the Class:Waking Up to What You Do: A ZEN Practice for Meeting Every Situation - A Zen Practice for Meeting Every Situation with Intelligence and CompassionMB (Public)
00:00:27 - Dharma Talk00:15:06 - Exercise - 1. Consider something that you struggled with (were stuck in for quite a while). 00:15:50 - 2. While you were suffering - Did you seek out for help? Or did you stay in solitude?00:16:11 - 3. How did you deal with it? Did you separate from other people? 00:16:46 - 4. In retrospect, what helped most in getting through your suffering, and did being aroung other people have an impact00:17:34 - Participants go into breakout rooms for 20 minutes - 10 minutes to write/10 minutes to share00:17:42 - Laurie invites Questions/reflections
Gateway to the Temple:Homage to Lahaina~ Flint SparksAt the entry gate of every temple, a great bellwaits.When struck, a deep resonant call is sentout,A powerful sound, but something closer togravity,Invisibly pulling us across the threshold into asacred space,Toward the promise of the perfected love wesecretly long for;A divine love which is equally terrifyingAs it beautifully consumes and nourishes us.On that Summer day in August there was nobell.No call was sent out;No signal, no warning announcing theimpending destruction.Only the savage wind,Tearing down the dry, ragged slopesCarrying one small sparkWhich would destroy a town.And now we gather in safety at the blackenedboundary,Not able to enter, although we long to help,Not able to turn away, even though thebearing witness is awful.Instead we find ourselves at this thin placebetween life and death,Called by the resonant silence of those whoare goneAnd the compassionate cry arising from ourown hearts.But isn’t it always like this for us?Hesitating to enter the frightening placeswhich could save us.Pausing, unable to move,Knowing we have to go there, to do what wehave to do.Crossing the turbulent threshold where loveand loss collide.Like the powerful winter swells pounding theshoreline,Impossibly rearranging mountains of sand,Over and over again.Life heaves itself into being, in all of its wildbeauty,And then inexorably sweeping it all away,Only to offer it all back, again and again.Maybe this is what the temple bell issignaling:The willingness to carry on, even knowing thedisturbing truth of impermanence anduncertainty;The faith to continue to care for each other,even when we’ve been emptied anddiscouraged;And a boundless hope which holds firm, evenas everything changes without warning.The temple gate is now in ashes,The great bell is silent.Can you hear it?
2024-03-03 | A reading written by Ed Browne ‘The Ten thousand Idiots’ | with Ann Lipscomb00:00:27 - A reading from The Most Important Point: Zen Teachings of Edward Espe Brown ‘The Ten thousand Idiots’00:12:28 - Reading ends00:13:55 - Ann opens up the floor for Questions/comments00:39:50 - Announcements
2024-02-18 | Dharma Talk | 'Skillfull Means, Practice, and Mistakes | Ellen Hippard00:00:20 - Dharma Talk 00:18:20 - Ellen Invites comments and reflections
The Depth in Practice group discusses the following case: Fayan asked Xiushan, “A hairsbreadth's difference is as the distance between heaven and earth'-- how do you understand?” Xiushan said, “A hairsbreadth's difference is as the distance between heaven and earth.” Fayan said, “How can you get it that way?” Xiushan said, “I am just thus--what about you?” Fayan said, “A hairsbreadth's difference is as the distance between heaven and earth.” Xiushan thereupon bowed.Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
Depth in Practice discusses the following koan: Magu, ringed staff in hand, came to Zhangjing; he circled the meditation seat three times, shook his staff once, and stood there at attention. // Zhangjing said, Right, right.” // Magu also went to Nanquan, circled the meditation seat three times, shook his staff, and stood there at attention. // Nanquan said, “Wrong, wrong.” // Magu said, “Zhangjing said ‘right’ — why do you say ‘wrong’?” // Nanquan said, “Zhangjing is right—it’s you who’s wrong. This is something that can be blown by the power of the wind—it inevitably disintigrates.” //Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
The Depth in Practice group continues to discuss the following koan: "Where have you come from?" // Yangshan said, "From the rice field." // Guishan said, "How many people are there in the rice field?" // Yangshan thrust his hoe into the ground and stood with his hands folded on his chest. // Gusishan said, "There are a great number of people cutting thatch on the South Mountain." // Yangshan took up his hoe and left immediately.Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
The Depth in Practice group discusses the following koan: "Where have you come from?" // Yangshan said, "From the rice field." // Guishan said, "How many people are there in the rice field?" // Yangshan thrust his hoe into the ground and stood with his hands folded on his chest. // Gusishan said, "There are a great number of people cutting thatch on the South Mountain." // Yangshan took up his hoe and left immediately.Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
00:00:26 - Robin Offers Teachings from. 'The Shamanic Bones of Zen'00:20:07 - Robin Offers Instructions for the Connection Rooms: ‘In what ways, if any, have you experienced Zen practice as embodied, connecting to nature and ancestors, and/or mysterious and beyond the logical mind?’00:25:29 - Robin Invites Reflections and CommentsThe Shamanic Bones of Zen: Revealing the Ancestral Spirit and Mystical Heart of a Sacred TraditionBy Zenju Earthlyn Manuel (Author), Paula Arai (Author)
Partipants spend a second week discussing Case 14, Attendant Huo Offers Tea: Attendant Huo asked Deshan, “Where have all the past saints gone?” // Deshan said, “What? What?” // Huo said, “I gave the command for an excellent horse like a flying dragon to spring forth, but there came out only a lame tortoise.” // Deshan was silent. // The next day, when Deshan came out of the bath, Huo served him tea. // Deshan passed his hand gently over Huo's back. // Huo said, “This old fellow has gotten a glimpse for the first time.” // Again, Deshan was silent.Depth in Practice meets virtually at Appamada. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
2024-01-28 | Way Seeking Mind Talk | Opening the Slammed Shut Door | Cassy ShoShin by Appamada
2024-01-13 | Day 3 | Satipatthana Intensive | Joy and the Factors for Awakening | Joel Barna 00:00:26 - Joy and the Factors for Awakening00:14:06 - Joel Offers An Activity - Please See below for Details00:16:55 - Joel Invites Reflections in Response to the Exercise00:26:19 - Joel Reads from Page 30 of the Chant Book - Instructions for Zazen00:35:48 - Joel Invites Comments and Thoughts00:40:04 - Satipatthana Meditation 'Awakening'Exercise - 20 minutes total: In small groups: Sit for five minutes, and consider whether you feel within yourself any or all of the factors of awakening, - which are • mindfulness, • desire for investigation-of-dharmas, • energy, • joy, • tranquillity, • concentration, • equipoise. There is no wrong answer -- it's just an investigation. Then take a two minutes each to share your perceptions. Then use the rest of the time to talk about what you heard from your group mates, and maybe about the fact that all of us have what we need for awakening.MB
00:00:26 - Dharma Talk - Mental Formations00:23:20 - Questions and Comments00:33:23 - Joel Offers the Next Exercise - (See Below for Instructions)Exercise - Total time 20 minutes: Sit for 5 minutes. At first, pay attention to your mental states and take note when they involve either grasping (lust) or aversion (anger). Note how such states show up in the body. For the last minute or so turn your attention to the spacious big mind that such thoughts arise in. See if your body and mind feel different- take 2 minutes each to share your experience with others in your group- Use the remaining time to reflect back what you have heard from othersMB
2024-01-12 | Day 2/Part 2 | Satipatthana Intensive | Joel Barna00:00:21 - dharma Talk - Satipatthana Intensive 'Feeling Tones'00:37:00 - Questions and CommentsMB
00:00:27 - Dharma Talk00:13:10 - 1st Exercise - Kim Describes the Exercise 'I Am Sitting’. (Please See Below for Instructions)00:15:28 - 2nd Exercise - 20 Minute meditation with Analyo 'Anatomy - Satipatthana' 00:35:11 - Part 2 - Elements and Space00:54:42 - Exercise - For 4 minutes contemplate the 4 elements: wind, fire, water and earth . ( See Exercise 3 Below)01:00:06 - Reflections on the 4 Elements ExerciseDay 2 Exercises:I Am Sitting Exercise 1For 4 minutes say to yourself "I am sitting"At first it may be hard and gradually make it soft. Then as ;you soften, say to yourself, "I am sitting, but this time being awake as when you walk outside to a blue sky and a cool breeze. And after enjoying that continue to say I am sitting, but this time become present to the glorious space you've become. Now take the remaining time to share one at a time your SAP experience. Soft...Awake...PresenceAbout 3-4 minutes each depending on the size of your group.Exercise 3 - 4 minutes contemplate the 4 elements: wind, fire, water and earth . Take about 4 minutes each to talk about where you went on this miraculous journey.MB
2024-01-11 | Day 1 | Satipatthana Intensive | Joel Barna 00:00:26 - Joel Opens up the intensive and offers Guidelines 00:02:55 - Book Mentioned - Satipatthana Meditation A Practice Guide - Analayo00:12:41 - A Reading from the Satipatthana Sutra00:38:53 - Joel brings the Readings to a CloseMB
Partipants discuss Case 14, Attendant Huo Offers Tea:Attendant Huo asked Deshan, “Where have all the past saints gone?”Deshan said, “What? What?”Huo said, “I gave the command for an excellent horse like a flying dragon to spring forth, but there came out only a lame tortoise.”Deshan was silent.The next day, when Deshan came out of the bath, Huo served him tea.Deshan passed his hand gently over Huo's back.Huo said, “This old fellow has gotten a glimpse for the first time.”Again, Deshan was silent.The Depth in Practice group meets virtually at Appamada. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
Participants discuss the koan about the blind donkey along with Reb Anderson's commentary on the koan and others, which can be found at: https://inquiringmind.com/article/1002_5_reb-anderson/ The Depth in Practice group meets virtually at Appamada every week. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you are interested in joining, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
poem Blessing for the Brokenhearted~Jan Richardsonhttps://verse.press/poem/blessing-for-the-brokenhearted-6973785118333689337
2023-12-11 | Depth in Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 13 Linji's Blind Ass-part 1 by Appamada
2023-12-04 | Depth in Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 12 Dizang Planting the Fields | Thomas Cleary by Appamada
2023-11-27 | Depth in Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 12 Dizang Planting the Fields | Thomas Cleary by Appamada
Final Day of Rohatsu Intensive~00:00:26 - Buddha's Enlightenment Ceremony - Teachings Offered By Laurie00:14:29 - The Song Of Zazen ~ Hakuin00:18:25 - Maka Hannya Haramitta Shingyo - Heart of the Perfect Wisdom Sutra00:21:30 - The Sutra on the Heart of Realising Wisdom Beyond
00:00:21 - Guided Excercise Revisiting the 4 Noble Truths and the 8 Fold Path - Laurie Winnette00:08:44 - Participants Go Into breakout Rooms for 50 Minutes
00:00:26 - Ellen Offers a Dharma Talk - Teachings - The eight Fold Path00:00:49 - The Bodhisattva vow and the Four Noble Truths are inseparable00:04:06 - The Eight Fold Path Components00:07:30 - Right View00:07:49 - Right Intention00:09:23 - The Buddha Names 3 Intentions that Cause Suffering - - Grasping, ill-will and Cruelty00:11:45 - First Category of the 8 Fold Path - The Wisdom Category - Right View - Right Intention - Supports the Ethics Category00:12:05 - Second Category of the 8 Fold Path - Ethics Category -Right Speech - Right Action and Right Livelihood00:16:34 - Third and Final Component of the 8 Fold Path - The Concentration Category - 00:17:06 - The Concentration Category - Right Effort - Right Mindfulness - Right Concentration 00:27:42 - Ellen Invites Questions00:29:35 - Book Recommended - Steps to Liberation: The Buddha's Eightfold Path Paperback – by Gil Fronsdal - Also Readings by Analyo00:31:33 - Awakening together - Embarking on a Year Long Study of the Eight Fold Path - Teachers Ryan and C.J. - https://www.awakeningtogetherzen.org/ email: awakeningtogethermn@gmail.com00:35:39 - Breakout Room Exercise - Laurie Offers Questions for the Exercise(Questions Below)10 Minutes to write - 25 Minutes to write. - 10 Minutes to share - then 10 minutes in the big group00:36:21 - HOSTILITY - 1) Think about ways anger and hostility appear in your life00:37:03 - 2) Do your actions cause harm, even in minor ways?00:37:22 - 3) How are you harmed (mentally) when you express hostility? 00:37:45 - 4) As you consider the affects of your hostility, how are you effected by this reflection? 00:38:17 - COMPASSION - 1) Reflect on your relationship to compassion.00:38:32 - 2) What role has compassion had in your life— both receiving of it and offering compassion to others?00:38:59 - 3) How does it feel to be compassionate? 00:39:04 - 4) How might it benefit you if you cultivated more compassion? 00:39:18 - 5) How can you have more self-compassion?00:39:27 - Participants Go into Breakout Rooms to Write for 25 Minutes - Share for 10 Minutes TogetherMB
00:00:27 - Laurie Opens up the Intensive - and Offers Guidelines for Practice00:08:29 - Opening Talk With Ellen Hippard
00:00:31 - Dharma Talk - Make the World Your Altar00:18:01 - Guidance for the Dharma Activity00:19:12 - Reflections
Poem by Hannah Emersonhttps://onbeing.org/poetry/keep-yourself-at-the-beginning-of-the-beginning/
The group continues discussion of the koan about Yunmen's two sicknesses.This track is a recording of a meeting of the Depth in Practice group at Appamada. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you would like to join, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
This week the group discusses a koan about Yunmen's two sicknesses. Also included are a reading about China during the time of master Yunmen and commentary on the koan.This track is a recording of a meeting of the Depth in Practice group at Appamada. Anyone is welcome to join the group! If you would like to join, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
2023-11-19 | Dharma Talk | A Reading from 'Seeds for a Boundless Life | with Ann Lipscomb00:01:56 - P.p 63. Ann reads an Exert from ‘Seeds for a Boundless Life’ by Blanche Hartman ‘Free from Thoughts of Yourself’00:14:51 - Ann’s Reflections00:19:52 - Ann Invites any comments/Reflections
Participants discuss Case 10-The Woman of Taishan as they read the following essay: https://tinyurl.com/OldWomanofTaishanThis track is a recording of a meeting of the Depth in Practice group at Appamada. Anyone is welcome to join the group. If you would like to join, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
Discussion of the case of the cat continues and is supplemented with this essay by Dogen: http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/DogenStudies/Who_Is_Arguing.htmThis track is a recording of a meeting of the Depth in Practice group at Appamada. Anyone is welcome to join the group. If you would like to join, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
Yes, the cat is still being discussed!This track is a recording of a meeting of the Depth in Practice group at Appamada. Anyone is welcome to join the group. If you would like to join, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
00:00:26 - Rupesh Opens the Dharma Talk with the Song ‘Do You Realize’ by The Flaming Lips00:02:53 - Dharma Talk00:13:17 - Rupesh Explains the Connection Room Exercise (Optional)00:14:31 - Participants Go Into Connection Rooms for 10 Minutes00:14:38 - Connection and ReflectionsDo You Realize by “The Flaming Lips”Do you realizeThat you have the most beautiful face?Do you realizeWe're floating in space?Do you realizeThat happiness makes you cry?Do you realizeThat everyone you know someday will die?And instead of saying all of your goodbyesLet them know you realize that life goes fastIt's hard to make the good things lastYou realize the sun doesn't go downIt's just an illusion caused by the world spinning roundDo you realize?Do you realizeThat everyone you know someday will die?And instead of saying all of your goodbyesLet them know you realize that life goes fastIt's hard to make the good things lastYou realize the sun doesn't go downIt's just an illusion caused by the world spinning roundDo you realizeThat you have the most beautiful face?Do you realize?
2023-11-05 | Class 10 | ‘I Vow to Not Disparage the Triple Treasures’ | with John Cooley &Joel Barna00:00:26 - Joels invites Everyone to Sit for 10 Minutes00:00:47 - Sitting for 10 Minutes00:01:01 - Introductions00:04:47 - Joel Names the 10th Precept: ‘I Vow to Not Disparage the Triple Treasures’- and Talks About the Grief Ceremony Held at Appamada Earlier that Day00:14:03 - John Cooley begins with the 10th Precept - ‘I Vow to Not disparage the Triple Treasures - Buddha, Dharma, Sangha’00:18:38 - Questions: 1. John Invites any Initial Impressions of this Precept - 2. Any Idea Why this Precept is Often Left Aside00:22:17 - Terminology, and Some Definitions of 'Disparage'00:23:35 -A Brief Outline of Pegs Talk on 'Do Not Disparage the Triple Treasure'- ( It can be found here: - https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c03ced75ffd204418037b7a/t/5c5f519653450a883a1ad0a4/1549750678199/Do+Not+Disparage+the+Triple+Treasure.pdf00:27:05 - Refuges as the Foundation of all Bodhisattva Vows00:28:28 - Susuki Roshi comments on work called Shushogi - A collection of Dogen's essential Teachings00:40:07 - The Three treasures are Understood in Myriad Ways00:44:01 - Not Disparaging the Triple Treasures00:51:55 - John Invites Any Impressions/reflections00:57:34 - John Introduces the Writing Exercise/Prompts -00:58:06 - Writing Prompts00:59:07 - Participants Write for 10 Minutes00:59:13 - Reflection on the Prompts/Writing Exercise01:06:24 - John Begins to draw the class to a close01:13:03 - John Closes the class by Reading the Precept one more time, along with Dogen's Capping PhraseThe 10th Precept wit Dogen’s Capping Phrase:I vow not to Disparage the Three TreasuresTo expound the Dharma with this body is foremostThe virtue returns to the ocean of realityIt is unfathomableWe just accept it with respect and GratitudeMB
2023-10-17 I Inquiry I Responsibility as a function of Light I Suzanne Kilkus by Appamada
TimeStamps00:00:26 - Announcements00:01:57 - Dharma Talk 'Resuming Big Mind'00:12:38 - Todd Invites Questions
TimeStamps and Poem by David Whyte00:00:26 - Joel Opens up the Meeting00:02:20 - Joel Talks About the Precept ‘Taking Up the Way of Supporting Life and Not Killing’00:15:06 - Poem by David Whyte - No Path00:17:43 - Joel Guides Us All Into Sitting for 10 Minutes00:19:01 - Robin Talks About the Precept ‘I Vow to Take Up the Way of Supporting All Life’, and Discusses the use of Language around the Precepts00:29:20 - Robin Invites Comments00:44:45 - Robin Introduces the Topics for the breakout Room Exercises00:45:26 - !st Question - Is a “no kill” animal shelter working if animals suffer due to poor living conditions?00:46:26 - 2nd Question - Can someone following the precepts eat meat?00:47:19 - 3rd Question - Can one consume fossil fuels (drive a car, fly in a plane) knowingly contributing to climate crisis?00:47:37 - 4th Question - Is euthanasia – the “painless killing of a patient with an incurable disease” – okay?00:48:47 - Guidance for Connection Rooms - In Groups for 15 Minutes - sit for 1 minute - Discuss from the heart. Actively listen. Speak to essence. Notice what’s simultaneously happening in your body - where is there tightness, where is there heat, maybe boredom, withdrawal - just notice00:51:16 - Robin Invites Reflections01:05:17 - The Next Precept - To Not Disparage the Triple Treasures No Path ~David WhyteThere is no path that goes all the way.Not that it stops us looking for the full continuation.The one line in the poem we can start and follow straight to the end.The fixed belief we can hold,facing a stranger that saves us the trouble of a real conversation.But one day you are not just imagining an empty chairwhere your loved one sat. You are not just telling a storywhere the bridge is down and there’s nowhere to cross.You are not just trying to pray to a God you imagined would keep you safe.No you’ve come to the place where nothing you’ve donewill impress and nothing you can promise will avertthe silent confrontation, the place whereyour body already seems to know the way having keptto the last its own secret reconnaissance.But still, there is no path that goes all the wayone conversation leads to anotherone breath to the next untilthere’s no breath at alljust the inevitable final release of the burden.And then your life will have to start all over again for you to know even a little of who you had been.~David Whyte
This track is a recording of a meeting of the Depth in Practice group at Appamada. Anyone is welcome to join the group. If you would like to join, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
This track is a recording of a meeting of the Depth in Practice group at Appamada. Anyone is welcome to join the group. If you would like to join, please go to the calendar at appamada.org to find the link for the group. If you would like to donate to Appamada, please go to appamada.org and click on the contribute button at the bottom of the page.
If you'd like to join us online we meet on Monday nights at 7pm, central time. The link is on the calendar at Appamada.org. We'd love to have you!!!!
In this session, participants read about the Wild Fox koan from these two texts: https://everydayzen.org/teachings/baizhangs-fox/Norman Fischer on the Wild Foxhttps://tricycle.org/beginners/buddhism/what-is-karma/Karma
2023-09-04 | Depth In Practice | Book of Serenity-Case 8 part 1 | Thomas Cleary by Appamada
2023-09-12 I Inquiry I Emily Dickinson and the Fire of Friendship I Flint Sparks by Appamada
00:00:25 - Joel outlines Some of the Class Content 00:01:24 - Joel Introduces the Sitting 00:03:02 - Participants Sit for 5 Minutes 00:03:14 - Joel Introduces the Precept - 'I Take up the Way of Letting Go of Anger 00:06:57 - One Mind, Three Brains - The Triune brain 00:08:25 - We Remember Trauma with our Feelings and our Bodies 00:09:38 - To Treat Traumatic Memories we have to Wake Up the Thinking Brain 00:13:11 - Talking From an Internal Family Systems View Point 00:24:21 - Joel Talks About other Sources/Perspectives 00:24:31 - Book Mentioned - Mind of Clover by Robert Aitken - 00:26:24 - In Some Ways, by Taking up the precepts, we are Swimming against the Stream, of Part of what Makes us Human 00:27:53 - What is it that makes this Precept and these Psychological tools for dealing with this Precept, part of Zen Practice? 00:35:03 - A Lead into the Prompt for the breakout Rooms 00:37:40 - Prompt for the Breakout Rooms - Meeting parts around Anger 00:49:21 - Breakout Rooms of 3 People for 15 Minutes - Sharing what came up for you 00:49:29 - Participant Reflections/Sharings - A Conversation about' When Protectors show up' - (in IFS terms) 00:59:50 - Joel Brings the Class to a Close
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2023-09-03 | Dharma Talk | Practicing At Tassajara | Ann Lipscomb And John Cooley by Appamada
2023-08-29 I Inquiry I Helplessness Hopelessness Groundlessness I Flint Sparks by Appamada
2023-04-06 | Day 5 Part 2 | April Integrated Intensive | Peg Syverson And Flint Sparks by Appamada
2023-08-19 | Intensive on Anapanasati Sutta | Activity Day #2 | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
2023-08-19 | Intensive on Anapanasati Sutta | Dharma Talk Day #2 | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
2023-08-18 | Intensive on Anapanasati Sutta | Dharma Talk Day #1 | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
2023-08-20 Dharma Talk | Joko Beck: Seeing Beliefs and Strategies | Joel Barna by Appamada
I would love to live Like a river flows, Carried by the surprise Of its own unfolding.
~ John O’Donohue in Fluent
00:00:19 - Class 6 Begins 00:00:25 - Joel Weaves the Precept and Preliminaries Together 00:01:26 - Training in the The Preliminaries - Joel Describes These… 00:01:53 - The 1st Preliminary - The Rarity and Preciousness of Human Life 00:04:45 - The Inevitability of Death 00:05:29 - The Awesome and Indelible Power of Our Actions 00:12:27 - Joel Describes the Activity for the Connecting Rooms 00:14:43 - Questions for the Connection Rooms: What is stealing? How might it arise in my life?/How can I know what is freely given?/Do I steal from myself? If so, how?/What is generosity? Is it the same or different from giving freely? How might it be expressed without reinforcing a separate sense self? - Connection Rooms for 15 Mins in Groups of 3 00:14:56 - Thoughts/Reflections from the Connection Rooms 00:33:39 - Joel Talks About Ellen Hippard's Talk on 'Rupture and Repair', 2nd July 2023 - (Written Copy Available via Email Request) 00:36:37 - Joel Leads us into a Metta Practice 00:38:14 - Joel Offers Some Words from Peg Syverson About Metta Practice 00:40:29 - Joel Begins the Meta Practice 00:45:32 - Joel Talks About Offering Dana to Appamada - (Appamada.org/contribute) 00:47:57 - Next Months Class MB
00:00:20 - Joel Opens the Class wit a Brief Ceremony to Help Situate Us in Big Mind 00:01:20 - We Chant the 'Verse of the Robe' Together 00:02:42 - Figuring Out the Boundaries of the Class 00:07:16 - Joel Offers a Talk On the Precept - I Take Up the Way of Engaging in Sexual Intimacy Respectfully and with an Open Heart 00:16:51 - Article - The Birds are Singing, but Not for Me’. Link - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/22/opinion/hearing-aging-deafness.html By David George Haskell 00:20:26 - Ways in Which we are Different from Other Species - Desire and Bonds 00:30:17 - Joel Leads us into Breakout Rooms with Clear Instruction - Looking at the List of the Precepts - Speaking truthfully - Speaking of Others with Openness and Possibility - Meeting Others on Equal Ground - Cultivating a clear Mind - Taking Only What is freely given, and giving Freely of all that I Can - The Way Of Letting go Of Anger - The Way Of Supporting Life, Consider How These other precepts help inform us of the Precept ‘I Take Up the Way of Engaging in Sexual Intimacy Respectfully and with an Open Heart’ 00:31:44 - Joel Explains the Format of the Breakout Rooms - Sit for 5 minutes - Write for 10 Minutes Individually - 3 Minutes Each to Share What you are Willing/wish to Share - if you Do not wish to Share, Please take your 3 minutes to sit with others in Silence - 5 minutes for reflecting together/sharing - 25 minutes in Total 00:33:45 - Breakout Rooms Begin - Instructions in Above TimeStamp - 00:30:17 and 00:32:44 00:33:58 - Discussion Around Recording 00:37:02 - Reflections and Sharings for this Particular Precept were not Recorded
To Offer Dana Please Go to: Appamada.org/contribute MB
The Facts of Life ~ Pádraig Ó Tuama
That you were born and you will die. That you will sometimes love enough and sometimes not. That you will lie if only to yourself. That you will get tired. That you will learn most from the situations you did not choose. That there will be some things that move you more than you can say. That you will live that you must be loved. That you will avoid questions most urgently in need of your attention. That you began as the fusion of a sperm and an egg of two people who once were strangers and may well still be. That life isn’t fair. That life is sometimes good and sometimes better than good. That life is often not so good. That life is real and if you can survive it, well, survive it well with love and art and meaning given where meaning’s scarce. That you will learn to live with regret. That you will learn to live with respect. That the structures that constrict you may not be permanently constraining. That you will probably be okay. That you must accept change before you die but you will die anyway. So you might as well live and you might as well love. You might as well love. You might as well love.
[from Sorry For Your Troubles]
The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another. James Baldwin
To Begin With, the Sweet Grass Mary Oliver 1. Will the hungry ox stand in the field and not eat of the sweet grass? Will the owl bite off its own wings? Will the lark forget to lift its body in the air or forget to sing? Will the rivers run upstream? Behold, I say — behold the reliability and the finery and the teachings of this gritty earth gift. 2. Eat bread and understand comfort. Drink water, and understand delight. Visit the garden where the scarlet trumpets are opening their bodies for the hummingbirds who are drinking the sweetness, who are thrillingly glorious. For one thing leads to another. Soon you will notice how stones shine underfoot. Eventually tides will be the only calendar you believe in. And someone’s face, whom you love, will be as a star both intimate and ultimate, and you will be both heart-shaken and respectful. And you will hear the air itself, like a beloved, whisper: oh, let me, for a while longer, enter the two beautiful bodies of your lungs. 3. The witchery of living is my whole conversation with you, my darlings. All I can tell you is what I know. Look, and look again. This world is not just a little thrill for the eyes. It’s more than bones. It’s more than the delicate wrist with its personal pulse. It’s more that the beating of the single heart. It’s praising. It’s giving until the giving feels like receiving. You have a life - just imagine that! You have this day, and maybe another, and maybe, still another. 4. Someday I am going to ask my friend Paulus, the dancer, the potter, to make me a begging bowl which I believe my soul needs. And if I come to you, to the door of your comfortable house with unwashed clothes and unclean fingernails, will you put something into it? I would like to take this chance. I would like to give you this chance. 5. We do one thing or another; we stay the same, or we change. Congratulations, if you have changed. 6. Let me ask you this. Do you also think that beauty exists for some fabulous reason? And, if you have not been enchanted by this adventure —your life — what would do for you? 7. What I loved in the beginning, I think, was mostly myself. Never mind that I had to, since somebody had to. That was many years ago. Since then I have gone out from my confinements, though with difficulty. I mean the ones that thought to rule my heart. I cast them out, I put them on the mush pile. They will be nourishment somehow (everything is nourishment somehow or another). And I have become the child of the clouds, and of hope. I have become the friend of the enemy, whoever that is. I have become older and, cherishing what I have learned, I have become younger. And what do I risk to tell you this, which is all I know? Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world.
00:04:48 - Joel Invites People to sit for 5 Minutes and offers a Prompt 00:05:52 - Please Pause the Video Here to Sit for 5 Minutes 00:06:10 - Joel Introduces the Precept - ‘I Take Up the Way of Cultivating a Clear Mind' and Talks About Attachments, Delusions, and the Brain 00:19:03 - Joel Invites Questions 00:25:42 - Becky's Song - ‘How Simple Can I Make This' 00:28:43 - Joel goes through the Instructions for the connection Rooms 00:35:01 - Connection Rooms - 1.Take 3 Minutes Each 2. Share reflections on How you might use Substances, Media, Social Interactions, even Meditation as Ways of Distraction. 3. Offer Recognition to the Part that is Seeking Relief/Withdrawal 00:35:13 - The Qualities of Self 00:36:27 - 8 Qualities the Big S-Self possesses - Compassionate, Creative, Curious, Confident, Courageous, Calm, Connected, Clarity 00:36:45 - The 5 'P's - Presence, Persistence, Perspective, Playfulness, Patience 00:36:59 - Joel Invites People to Share their Reflections 00:42:12 - Joel Reflects on Right Use of Power --Up Power Role 150% Responsibility/Down Power Role 100% Responsibility/(Taking Care of Impact) 00:48:36 - Coming to the End, Joel reads a Quote from: 'For A Future to Be Possible:A Guide to the Five Mindfulness Trainings' by Thich Nhat Hanh (Author) 00:52:20 - sitting with Asoka for a Little While - Sending Metta and Love 00:53:48 - Thank you’s and Farewells
To paint a bird's portrait~ Jacques PrevertFirst of all, paint a cagewith an open door.Then paint something attractivesomething simplesomething beautifulsomething of benefit for the bird.Put the picture on a treein a garden, in a wood, or in a forest.Hide behind the treewithout speaking, without moving…Sometimes the bird arrives quicklybut sometimes it may take long yearsbefore deciding.Don't be discouraged. Wait.Wait for years if necessary.The rapidity or the slowness of the arrivalof the bird doesn't have any relationshipwith the result of the picture.When the bird comes, if it comes,observe the most profound silenceWait until the bird enters the cageand when it has enteredclose the door softly with the brush.Then erase all the bars one by the onetaking care not to touch any of the bird’sfeathers.Then paint the portrait of the treechoosing the most beautiful of thebranchesfor the bird.Paint also the green foliageand the fresh wind, the sun’s dustand the noise of the beasts of the grassin the summer's heatand then, wait for the bird to start to sing.If the bird doesn't singit's a bad sign,a sign that the painting is not quite right.But if it sings it's a good signa sign that you can sign.So, very gently, you pull outone of the bird’s feathersand you write your name in a corner ofthe painting.
Poems read :~Trudy JohnstonMaybe love is like a mackerel lineWhen I was about 7 my parents took me fishing in a small boat.We each cast a line, a mackerel line,a single thread holding many hooks,over the side and into the waiting seas.The line spooled into the inky depthsand when I finally pulled it upthere was one wriggling fish, some seaweed and an old flip flop attached, That which was wanted and the abandoned detritus of a careless world. Maybe love is like that.We cast our longing overboard, watching it sink into the dark unknown.There is no way we can determine what we will land. Love and kindness and connectionand pain and failure. The present moment and our histories all tangled, and all caught fromexactly the same place. To catch one, we have to open to catching everything that comes with it. I’ve been finding the depthof love, and the preciousness of itinextricably caught up withpain too. Love brings up things most unlike itself. And I’m not returning any of it.~Mary TurnerAll day my heart says nothing but thank you (inspired by a poem of the same name by Jeanne Lohmann)All day my heart says nothing but thank youI breathe the words with every stepStill walking heel to toe with all of youMy mind can still see the peonies falling open like your beautiful facesI am saying thank you, yes, to all that comesAnd practicing dying with all that falls awayGratitude comes easily after such connectionThe gifts and openings of our shared humanitySwimming in the merciful ocean, just being a fishAnd with wholehearted joy I am saying thank you as IRemember how it is to be nothing and everything all at onceThe boundless love with which the dharma passes warm hand to heart
That Is Not Your Mind!: Zen Reflections on the Surangama Sutra by Robert Rosenbaum “A central tenet of Soto Zen is that we don’t practice to become enlightened. We meditate because it’s a natural expression of the fundamental enlightened nature we share with all beings. This is true, but it won’t be grounded in the reality of our lives if we don’t acknowledge the personal needs that bring us to practice.Whatever our original motivations, something unexpected happens: our self-centered goals begin to morph into wider, stranger shapes. Like a Möbius strip, a small twisting-turn changes our topology, and we enter a different dimension; instead of feeling we are on a solitary quest, seeking a Way hidden somewhere in the wilderness, we discover the Way is also, always, seeking us.”Small Kindnesses~ Danusha LamérisI’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you” when someone sneezes, a leftover from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying. And sometimes, when you spill lemonsfrom your grocery bag, someone else will help you pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other. We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder, and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.We have so little of each other, now. So far from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange. What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these fleeting temples we make together when we say, Here, have my seat,” “Go ahead—you first,” “I like your hat.”What is the Greatest Gift?~ Mary OliverWhat is the greatest gift?Could it be the world itself – the oceans, the meadowlark, the patience of the trees in the wind?Could it be love, with its sweet clamor of passion? Something else – something else entirelyholds me in thrall.That you have a life that I wonder aboutmore than I wonder about my own.That you have a life – courteous and intelligent –that I wonder about more than I wonder about my own. That you have a soul – your own, no one else’s –that I wonder about more than I wonder about my own. So that I find my soul clapping its hands for yoursmore than my own.
2023-05-07 | Precept Class 4 | Meeting People on Equal Ground | Joel Barna00:00:44 - Joel Offers a Brief Suggestion for Meditation Practice00:01:48 - Joel Welcomes Everyone and and Offers Appreciation00:03:23 - Joel Talks About The Precept 'Meeting Each Other on Equal Ground' and The Right Use Of Power00:06:06 - Joel Talks about the Three Types of power: Personal Power; Role Power; Status Power00:06:12 - ’Three Types of Power’ Slides00:13:44 - Joel Continues with the 3 Types of power, adding Collective and Systemic Power00:13:50 - Types of Power Slides including Collective and Systemic Power00:20:17 - Participant's Reflections on Right Use of Power Materials and Meeting People on Equal Ground01:01:42 - Joel Introduces an Exercise:Power Parameters /Self reflection01:02:08 - Power Parameters Self Reflection Slide01:05:33 - Participants move into Connection Rooms of 2 People for 15 minutes01:05:51 - Reflections on the Exercise01:10:47 - Concluding Remarks from Joel01:13:31 - Offering DanaMB
What is Our Life About?Our aspiration, our calling, our desire for a genuine life,is to see the truth of who we really are –that the nature of our Being is connectedness and love,not the illusion of a separate self to which our suffering clings. It is from this awareness that Life can flow through us;the Unconditioned manifesting freely as our conditioned body.And what is the path?To learn to reside in whatever life presents;To learn to attend to all those things which block the flow of a more open life; and to see them as the very path to awakening –all the constructs, the identities, the holding back, the projections,all the fears, the self-judgments, the blame – all that separates us from letting life be.And what is the path?To turn away from constantly seeking comfort and from trying to avoid pain. To open to the willingness to just be, in this very moment, exactly as it is. No longer ready to be caught in the relentlessly spinning mind.Practice is about awakening to the true Self:no one special to be, nowhere to go, just Being.We are so much more than just this body, just this personal drama.As we cling to our fear, and our shame, and our suffering,we forsake the gratitude of living from our natural being.So where, in this very moment, do we cling to our views?Softening around the mind’s incessant judgment, we can awaken the heart that seeks to be awakened.And when the veil of separation rises, Life simply unfolds as it will.No longer caught in the self-centered dream, we can give ourselves to others, like a white bird in the snow.Time is fleeting. Don’t hold back. Appreciate this precious life.Ezra Bayda. Being Zen. Shambhala:Boston. 2002
2023-04-23 Dharma Talk | Things That I Learned in Chaplaincy Study | Robin Bradford by Appamada
2023-04-09 Dharma Talk | Precepts, Sewing, and the Impact of Jukai | Joel Barna by Appamada
2023-04-04 | Day 3/Part 1 | April Integrated Intensive | Flint Sparks and Peg Syverson by Appamada
2023-04-08 | Day 7/Part 2 | April Integrated Intensive | Flint Sparks and Peg Syverson00:00:20 - Teachings and Offering of the Final Dharma Activity00:08:24 - Peg and Flint Explain the Connection Room/Walk and Talk Exercise00:10:41 - Connection Rooms -Looking at:-Inner most request/Vow - Embodiment/Expression -Sangha/Care(45 Minutes in Pairs)00:10:55 - Sangha Reflections and Closing Circle00:52:23 - Closing FarewellsMB
2023-04-08 | Day 7/Part 1 | April Integrated Intensive | Peg Syverson and Flint Sparks00:00:33 - Peg’s Section - Peg Begins with The buddhist teachings on social and communal harmony00:15:33 - Flints Section - Flint Begins by Asking Everyone to Offer Bodhichitta to the Person Next to Them00:43:16 - Participant ReflectionsMB
00:00:20 - Teachings00:03:59 - Connection Room Exercise - Think of a time/moment where you met or felt met in this Sangha (Flint Explains in more Detail here)00:11:01 - Connection Rooms/Meetings of 4 for 30 Minutes 00:11:15 - Reflections
2023-04-07 | April Integrated Intensive | Peg Syverson Reads An Exert From 'Not Two'00:00:53 - Peg Continues to Read from 'Not Two - The Appamada Story - By Peg Syverson, with Flint Sparks and the Appamada SanghaMB
00:12:30 - Summer Vacation By William Wordsworth (Read By Maria)00;16:18 - Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey00:21:09 - The Group Reads ‘Torei Zenji Ezra Bayda Conversation 2’MB
2023-04-05 | Day 4/Part 2 | April Integrated Intensive | Flint Sparks and Peg Syverson by Appamada
2023-04-05 | Day 4/Part 1 | April Integrated Intensive | Peg Syverson and Flint Sparks by Appamada
2023-04-04 | Day 3/Part 2 | April Integrated Intensive | Flint Sparks and Peg Syverson 00:09:56 - Clayton Maxwell Recites ‘I am a Little Church, (No Great Cathedral)’Participants Share their Vows/AspirationsI am a little church (no great cathedral)I am a little church (no great cathedral)far from the splendour and squalor of hurrying cities-I do not worry if briefer days grow briefest,I am not sorry when sun and rain make AprilMy life is the life of the reaper and the sower;my prayers are prayers of earth's own clumsily striving(finding and losing and laughing and crying)childrenwhose any sadness or joy is my grief or my gladnessaround me surges a miracle of unceasingbirth and glory and death and resurrection:over my sleeping self float flaming symbolsof hope, and I wake to a perfect patience of mountainsI am a little church(far from the franticworld with its rapture and anguish)at peace with nature-Ido not worry if longer nights grow longest;I am not sorry when silence becomes singingwinter by spring, I lift my diminutive spire tomerciful Him Whose only now is forever:standing erect in the deathless truth of His presence(welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness)E.E.Cummings
2023-04-03 | Day 2/Part 2 | April Integrated Intensive | Flint Sparks and Peg Syverson by Appamada
2023-04-03 | Day 2/Part 1 | April Integrated Intensive | Peg Syverson And Flint Sparks by Appamada
2023-04-02 | Day 1 | April Integrated Intensive | Flint Sparks And Peg Syverson by Appamada
Reference material supporting this talk.Jane Hirshfield Podcast :https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ezra-klein-show/id1548604447?i=1000602612435Article:https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/03/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jane-hirshfield.html?action=click&module=audio-series-bar®ion=header&pgtype=Article
2023-03-11 | Zen - Practice of the Awakened Life | Ellen Hippard00:00:19 - Class 3 - The Awakening Poems of the First Buddhist Women - Introduction00:03:10 - Ellen Outlines the First Section of the Class: Looking at Poems00:06:06 - Ellen Outlines the Second Section of the Class: Writing Our Own Poems - Third Section will Be Questions/Comments00:07:21 - Ellen Introduces the First Poem: The Awakening Poem By Mahapajapati - Susan Murcott Version00:11:52 - Sitting for 1 Minute. Please Pause Video here to Partake00:12:03 - Matty Weingast’s Version of the Same Poem - 'Mahapajapati - Protector of Children'00:13:16 - Please Pause Video Here to Sit For 1 Minute00:13:27 - Ellen Invites Participants to Write Down Any Comments or Questions Regarding the Last Two Poems - (2 Minutes)00:13:45 - Participant's Comments and Questions00:13:57 - Ellen Moves on to the Next poem 'Mitta'00:14:53 - Ellen Reads the 2nd Version 'Mitta’ From The Harem00:15:22 - One Minute (Pause Here)To Write Down Any Comments/Reflections and Questions From the last Two Poems00:15:28 - Moving on to the Next Poem 'Mitta - Friend'00:16:31 - Two Minutes to Write and Contemplate00:16:37 - Moving on to 'Soma"00:19:23 - Pause Video Here for 1 Minute to Sit00:19:29 - The Reading of 'Soma - Happiness'00:20:56 - Sitting for Two Minutes Contemplating, Writing Down Any Questions and Comments00:21:02 - Taking 15 Minutes to Write your Own Poems Poems00:21:36 - Sharing of Participant’s Poems/Contributions and Comments00:42:02 - 2 Readings/Versions of 'Vimala'00:44:24 - Patachara - ‘When They Plough their Fields and Sew Seeds in the Earth’00:48:20 - Patachara-‘Wondering Robe’00:49:41 - Closing CommentsBooks Mentioned During the Class:First Buddhist Women: Poems and Stories of Awakening by Susan MurcottThe First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns Matty WeingastThe Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women by Zenshin Florence Caplow (Author), Reigetsu Susan Moon (Author)
00:00:26 - Joel Offers an Overview of the Class00:03:11 - Sitting for 10 Minutes Offering Metta/Joel then Begins with the Precept ‘Speaking Truthfully’, and The 8 Fold Path’00:13:07 - Joel Invites Participants to Share their 'Recasting' of the Precept 'I Take Up the Way Of Speaking Truthfully00:38:43 - Jessica Talks About Hakomi and how to Cultivate Loving Presence00:49:58 - Joel Offers An Exercise for the breakout Rooms (15 Minutes long - 3/4 People in Each Room)00:54:26 - Joel Invites Reflections on the breakout Room Exercise00:58:18 - Joel Introduces 'Right Speech' and Gives The Readings for the Next Month - Chapters 6 and 7 inWaking Up To What You Do By Diane Eshin Rizzetto, Bringing the Class to a Close
2023 - 02 - 19 Dharma Talk | The Precepts And “Jerks” — Outer And Inner | Joel Barna by Appamada
2023-03-04 | Class 2/3 | Zen - Practice of the Awakened Life | Ellen Hippard00:00:25 - Class 2 - Practicing At Home with Everyone00:04:16 - Preparing a Place to Sit00:06:03 - Participant's Home Altars00:38:48 - Ellen Talks About the Forms that We Do At Home (Approaching the Altar)00:46:21 - Ellen Invites Questions and Comments00:48:09 - Approaching Your Seat00:54:05 - Ellen Invites Questions on Approaching and Taking Your Seat00:55:26 - Ellen Talks About Getting Up From Your Seat and Kinhin00:58:02 - Ellen Invites Any Ending Comments and Questions
2023-02-21 I Inquiry I Making Our Best Effort on Each Moment I Flint Sparks by Appamada
2023 - 02 - 05 Dharma Talk | Bodhichitta. The Spark That Ignites The Bodhisattva Vow | Ellen Hippard by Appamada
2023 - 02 - 12 Dharma Talk | Shenpa And The Bodhisattva’s Vow | Jon Eric Steinbomer by Appamada
2023-02-18 | Class 1 | Zen - Practice of the Awakened Life | Ellen Hippard00:00:25 - Class 1 - Zen - Practice of the Awakened Life00:02:05 - Ellen Reviews the Online Forms00:03:11 - Experimenting with Bowing: Bowing Quickly, Followed by Mindfully00:04:59 - Reflections and comments00:09:06 - "Forms are Good Manners" - Shōhaku Okumura in SOTO ZEN, AND, Everyone Makes Mistakes00:16:40 - Ellen Invites Thoughts and Questions00:28:00 - Ellens Talks About Zazen Posture as Integral to the Enlightened Activity of Sitting Zazen00:30:30 - Ellen Invites Everyone to Experiment with Sitting Posture/Finding Your Balance Point00:40:06 - Ellen Talks About 'The Grounded Part of the Posture' and Relaxation as 'The Crown jewel of Posture00:42:28 - Ellen Invites Questions and Comments about Posture00:43:27 - Ellen Introduces the Meditaion 'G.A.P' Grounded-Aware-Prescence00:44:52 - Ellen Offers a 10 Minute ‘G.A.P’ Mediation, Gently Guiding Participants00:55:39 - End of Class 1 - Ellen Takes Us Through 'What's Next': Class 2 - Shikantaza (Just Sitting) - Class 3 - Women's Place In Buddhism Historical00:56:52 - Ellen Bows Us Out
2023-02-04 | Class 1 | Precepts Class | Joel Barna00:00:20 - Joel Gives Words of Gratitude, and Welcomes Everyone 00:02:12 - Please Pause Video Here if You'd Like to to Sit for 3 Minutes00:02:33 - Joel Invites the Participants to Introduce Themselves00:15:45 - Joel Offers an Overview Of the Class, Outlining the Offerings00:18:31 - Ann Talks About the The Verse of the Robe and Sewing - How Buddha's Robe Relates to the Precepts00:34:07 - Joel Talks About The Buddhist Precepts - What Taking the Precepts Requires/Means00:52:38 - Joel Talks About the Learning Record00:59:59 - Joel Explains the breakout Room Exercise/Sharing01:01:51 - Participants Go Into Breakout Rooms 01:02:09 - Closing Comments/QuestionsBook Mentioned During the Class:Waking Up to What You Do: A ZEN Practice for Meeting Every Situation - A Zen Practice for Meeting Every Situation with Intelligence and Compassion MB
2023-01-23 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
2023-01-21 | Day 2 | Integrated Intensive | Todd Bankler00:00:19 - January 2023 Integrated Intensive/A talk Offered By Todd Bankler 00:24:10 - Questions and Reflections
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”Martin Luther King Jr.
2023-01-17 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
2023-01-15 | Dharma Talk | Reading the World Sutra with Zen Mind | Krzysztof Piekarski by Appamada
2023-01-08 Dharma Talk | Inconceivable Joy And Buddhist Intention | Todd Bankler by Appamada
2023-01-09 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
2023-01-02 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
2022 - 12 - 18 Dharma Talk | Joel Barna | Joko Beck’s “Relationships Don’t Work" by Appamada
2022-12-20 I Inquiry I Harmonizing All Being for the Holidays I Flint Sparks by Appamada
2022-12-19 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
2022-12-12 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
2022-12-05 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
2022-12-04 Dharma Talk | The Vulnerability of Cultivating I Don’t Know Mind | Krzysztof Piekarski by Appamada
2022-11-28 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
2022-11-20 Dharma Talk | Right View and the Four Nobel Truths | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
2022-11-13 Dharma Talk | Concentrating and Making Friends with Hindrances | Joel Barna by Appamada
2022-11-22 I Inquiry I Bringing Forth a Life of Gratitude and Generosity I Flint Sparks by Appamada
2022-11-21 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
2022-11-14 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
Sometimes ~ David Whyte
Sometimes if you move carefully through the forest, breathing like the ones in the old stories, who could cross a shimmering bed of leaves without a sound. you come to a place whose only task is to trouble you with tiny but frightening requests, conceived out of nowhere but in this place beginning to lead everywhere. Requests to stop what you are doing right now, and to stop what you are becoming while you do it, questions that can make or unmake a life, questions that have patiently waited for you, questions that have no right to go away.
Sometimes ~ Sheenagh Pugh Sometimes things don't go, after all, from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail, sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well. A people sometimes will step back from war; elect an honest man; decide they care enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor. Some men become what they were born for. Sometimes our best efforts do not go amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to. The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow that seemed hard frozen: may it happen for you.
2022-11-07 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
Poems read during talk:
Praise Song for the Day ~ Elizabeth Alexander Gate A-4 ~ Naomi Shehab Nye Let Them Not Say ~ Jane Hirschfield One Vote ~ Aimee Nezhukumatathil
2022-10-31 | Depth in Practice | Through Forests of Every Color | Joan Sutherland by Appamada
2022- 10 -06 | Day 1 | Orientation | Creativity In Practice With Peg Syverson | October Intensive
2022-10-07 | Day 2 | Creativity In Practice | Dharma Talk With Peg Syverson | October Intensive
2022-10-04 I Inquiry I Awareness of the Boundless, Effortless Sky I Laurie Winnette by Appamada
~ Hafiz How did the rose ever open its heart And give to this world all its beauty? It felt the encouragement of light against its being Otherwise we all remain too frightened.
~ Hafiz How did the rose ever open its heart And give to this world all its beauty? It felt the encouragement of light against its being Otherwise we all remain too frightened.
2022-09-11 Dharma Talk | Translating the Teaching of No-Self | Krzyzstof Piekarski by Appamada
Ann reads from Norman Fisher's book, "When You Greet Me, I Bow", followed by discussion.
When Cold and Heat Visit
A monk asked Dongshan, "When the cold visits us, how can we avoid it?" Dongshan said, "Why not go where there is no cold?" The monk asked, "Where is the place without cold?" Dongshan said, "When it is cold, the cold kills you. When it is hot, the heat kills you."
Blue Cliff Record Case 43: Dongshan's Cold and Heat
2022-08-23 I Inquiry I The Dance Between the Inevitable and the Possible I Flint Sparks by Appamada
2022-07-23 | Day 6 | Integrated Intensive with Laurie Winnette | Teachings plus Exercises | Reflections and Closing Circle
Time Stamps: Beginning - Days Reflections 07.04 to 27.:45 - Shift into Freedom Exercise 27:45 - Reflections 52:00 - Recap and Teachings 01:40:18 - Closing Circle
2022-07-22 | Integrated Intensive | Laurie Winnette | Day's Reflections Plus Shift Exercise 'Touching Into'
07:24 to 19:17 Shift Exercise 'Touching into"
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2022-07-21 | Day 4 | Integrated Intensive with Laurie Winnette | Dharma Talk Plus Day 5 Reflections
Two exercises:
06:05 to 10:14 - Smell/Shift Exercise 55:41 to 1:05:45 - Touch\Shift exercise
MB
2022-07-20 | Day 3 | Integrated Intensive | Laurie Winnette | Dharma Talk | Next Day Reflections
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2022-07-19 | Day 2 | Integrated Intensive with laurie Winnette | Dharma Talk | Next Day Reflections
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2022-07-18 | Day 1 | Integrated Intensive with Laurie Winnette | Dharma Talk Plus Next Day Reflections
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2022-06-20 | Depth in Practice | The Light Inside the Darkness | John Tarrant by Appamada
“It’s not all that hard to get enlightened; what is difficult is to keep giving up our sense of the world so that the world can come to us on its own terms, with its vast, pitiless, loving intelligence…we return to the simplest things with an immense recognition and gratitude…” [Stephen Mitchell in “The Light Inside the Dark” by John Tarrant, p. xv]
2022-06-13 | Depth in Practice | The Light Inside the Darkness | John Tarrant by Appamada
“What I refer to, or point toward when I speak in these terms is the tender experience I see in each of us — in you — when something breaks through to your heart, inviting tears to begin to form in your eyes, and causes a warm sense of well-being or goodness to gently flood into your body. That very real, visceral and emotional experience is the only evidence I have of something that may very well issue initially from my thoughts but seems to go well beyond them into an intimate space that is hard to touch, like the sounds of the gongs. You can feel those vibrations and even describe them, but they are more than your descriptions and more than your sensory responses, and that is part of their beauty. Hence, the “embodied inconceivable.” That is no mystery. It is the longed for and treasured conversations we share, moving through our individual bodies and through the space our bodies make together. It is the forrest, the sky, the ocean and wind, and the entire contingent universe we find ourselves in — together. It is the awe and gratitude, the humility and sheer joy which spring up beyond everyday answers and ordinary knowability. It feels like love to me.” ~ Flint Sparks
For When People Ask ~ Rosemary Wahtola Trommer
I want a word that means okay and not okay, more than that: a word that means devastated and stunned with joy. I want the word that says I feel it all all at once. The heart is not like a songbird singing only one note at a time, more like a Tuvan throat singer able to sing both a drone and simultaneously two or three harmonics high above it— a sound, the Tuvans say, that gives the impression of wind swirling among rocks. The heart understands swirl, how the churning of opposite feelings weaves through us like an insistent breeze leads us wordlessly deeper into ourselves, blesses us with paradox so we might walk more openly into this world so rife with devastation, this world so ripe with joy.
20220606 | Depth In Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-05-29 Memorial For 31 People Killed In Mass Shootings | Robin Bradford by Appamada
2022-05-30 | Depth In Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-05-23 | Depth In Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
The Very Short Sutra on the Meeting of the Buddha and the Goddess ~ Rick Fields Link to the poem read http://www.gritfish.com/index.php/deep-ecology/poets-view/2455-rick-fields
Two poems from talk:
Shaped by love ~Trudy Johnston
Shaped by love, Are we clay spinning on a wheel? Then where is the wheel, whose hands Are shaping this soft earth, Is the supple earth Choosing? Are we wood, with a craftsman’s hands Revealing through the grain And the sharp blows Of a chisel, the faces Of hidden love, Are we river beds, Shaped by the tumbling waters Meeting hardness And softness as we plunge towards The waiting sea. Life, life is hands And chisels And earth banks Holding and revealing What cannot be known, Only relinquishing Knowing Allows our full shape to emerge.
The Question ~ Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
for Jude Jordan Kalush
All day, I replay these words: Is this the path of love? I think of them as I rise, as I wake my children, as I wash dishes, as I drive too close behind the slow blue Subaru, Is this the path of love? Think of these words as I stand in line at the grocery store, think of them as I sit on the couch with my daughter. Amazing how quickly six words become compass, the new lens through which to see myself in the world. I notice what the question is not. Not, “Is this right?” Not, “Is this wrong?” It just longs to know how the action of existence links us to the path to love. And is it this? Is it this? All day, I let myself be led by the question. All day I let myself not be too certain of the answer. Is it this? Is this the path of love? I ask as I wait for the next word to come.
2022-05-16 | Depth In Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-05-09 | Depth In Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-05-03 I Inquiry I Using beautiful questions in the study of self I Suzanne Kilkus by Appamada
2022-05-02 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-04-24 | April Intensive | Day 4 | Head Student Exit Ceremony | N. Smaller & J Steinbomer
2022-04-25 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022 April Practice Intensive: Transmission | Joel Barna and Todd Bankler
2022-04-23 | Day 3 | Transmission | Todd Bankler
2022 April Practice Intensive | Transmission | Todd Bankler and Joel Barna
2022-04-22 | Day 2 | Transmission | Joel Barna
2022-04-18 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-04-11 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-04-05 I Inquiry I Transmitting the Dharma: From Buddha to You I Peg Syverson by Appamada
2022-04-04 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-03-28 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-03-20 Dharma Talk | Your Mistaken Belief: It Can Be Cured | Krzystoff Piekarski by Appamada
2022-03-21 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
“Seeds for a Boundless Life” ~ Blanche Hartman writes: “…We Zen Buddhists have a saying that with a blade of grass, we create a golden Buddha that is sixteen feet tall. That is our spirit, so we need to practice respect for things. I don’t mean that we should accumulate many leaves or grasses to make a big statue. But until we can see a big Buddha in a small leaf, we need to make much more effort. How much effort, I don’t know. Some people may find it quite easy, but for some people, like me, great effort is needed. Although seeing a large golden Buddha in a large golden Buddha is easier, when you see a large golden Buddha in a blade of grass, your joy will be something special. So we need to practice respect for things with great effort.”
2022-03-14 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-03-07 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-02-28 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-02-21 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-02-20 Dharma Talk | Cultivating Courageous Conversations | Jessica Steinbomer by Appamada
Utopia ~ Vislawa Szymborska
Island where all becomes clear. Solid ground beneath your feet. The only roads are those that offer access. Bushes bend beneath the weight of proofs. The Tree of Valid Supposition grows here with branches disentangled since time immemorial. The Tree of Understanding, dazzling straight and simple, sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It. The thicker the woods, the vaster the vista: the Valley of Obviously. If any doubt arises, the wind dispels them instantly. Echoes stir unsummoned and eagerly explain all the secrets of the worlds. On the right a cave where Meaning lies. On the left the Lake of Deep Conviction. Truths break from the bottom and bobs to the surface. Unshakable confidence towers over the valley. Its peak offers an excellent view of the Essence of Things. For all its charms, the island is uninhabited, and the faint footprints scattered on its beaches turn without exception to the sea. As if all you can do here is leave and plunge, never to return, into the depths. Into unfathomable life.
2022-02-14 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-02-08 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
Izumi Shikibu [Although the wind] ~ translated by Jane Hirshfield
Although the wind blows terribly here, the moonlight also leaks between the roof planks of this ruined house.
Corresponding link : http://www.deanrader.com/hirshfield.html
2022-01-31 | Depth in Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
2022-01-23 | Dharma Talk | Practice Period: Studying Together as Humans & Buddhas | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
“Listen to the sound of raindrops at midnight. The raindrops have the power to pierce not only moss but rock.” Dogen reflecting on Guishan
Winter Poem ~ Nikki Giovanni
Once a snowflake fell On my brow and I loved It so much and I kissed It and it was happy and called its cousins And brothers and a web Of snow engulfed me then I reached to love them all And I squeezed them and they became A spring rain and I stood perfectly Still and was a flower
2022-01-24 | Depth In Practice | The Light That Shines Through Infinity | Katagiri by Appamada
Feeling out a Channel ~ Saigyo
Ice wedged fast In the crevice of the rock This morning begins to melt Under the moss the water Will be feeling out a channel
For a New Beginning ~ John O’Donohue
In out-of-the-way places of the heart, Where your thoughts never think to wander, This beginning has been quietly forming, Waiting until you were ready for it to emerge.
For a long time it has been watching your desire, Feeling the emptiness growing inside you, Noticing how you willed yourself on, Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety And the grey promises that sameness whispered, Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent, Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled, And out you stepped onto new ground, Your eyes young again with energy and dream, A path of plentitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening. Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your whole life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit of adventure, Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk; Soon you will be home in a new rhythm For your soul(s) sense(s) the world that awaits you.
2022-01-16 | Day 4 | Head Student Entering Ceremony plus Closing Reflection/ and Circle of the Jan 2022 Intensive 'Silent Illumination'
Book Recommendation - Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening by Guo Gu
2022-01-16 | Day 4 | Silent Illumination | Peg Syverson and Flint Sparks - A Conversation
Book Recommendation - Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening by Guo Gu
2022-01-15 | Day 3 | Silent Illumination | Peg Syverson
Book Recommendation - Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening by Guo Gu
2022-01-14 | Silent Illumination | Day 2 | Flint Sparks
Book Recommendation - Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening by Guo Gu
2022-01-13 | Silent Illumination | Day 1 | Flint Sparks and Peg Syverson
Book Recommendation - Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening by Guo Gu
May all awakened beings extend with true compassion their luminous mirror wisdom. May the merit and virtue of our Inquiry, along with our everyday practices, extend to all beings everywhere. May all be relieved of suffering, free from fear, longing, aversion, and ignorance, and may the Way of Awakening go on endlessly.
A link to the talk by Lynne Moore - We Are All Sand Walkers
https://soundcloud.com/appamada-europe/gmt20211202-201148-recording
For Light ~ John O’Donohue
Light cannot see inside things. That is what the dark is for: Minding the interior, Nurturing the draw of growth Through places where death In its own way turns into life.
On the glare of neon times, Let our eyes not be worn By surfaces that shine With hunger made attractive.
That our thoughts may be true light, Finding their way into words Which have the weight of shadow To hold the layers of truth.
That we never place our trust In minds claimed by empty light, Where one-sided certainties Are driven by false desire.
When we look into the heart, May our eyes have the kindness And reverence of candlelight.
That the searching of our minds Be equal to the oblique Crevices and corners where The mystery continues to dwell, Glimmering in fugitive light.
When we are confined inside The dark house of suffering That moonlight might find a window.
When we become false and lost That the severe noon-light Would cast our shadow clear.
When we love, the dawn-light Would lighten our feet Upon the waters. As we grow old, that twilight Would illuminate treasure In the fields of memory.
And when we come to search for God, Let us first be robed in night, Put on the mind of morning To feel the rush of light Spread slowly inside The color and stillness Of a found world.
Empty-handed I entered the world Barefoot I leave it. My coming, my going – Two simple happenings That got entangled.
Kozan Ichikyo, a Zen monk who died in 1360 at the age of seventy-seven
This human body truly is the entire cosmos Each breath of mine, is equally one of yours, my darling This tender abiding in “my” life Is the fierce glowing fire of inner earth Linking with all pre-phenomena Flashing to the distant horizon From “right here now” to “just this” Now the horizon itself Drops away— Bodhi! Svaha. (Myogen Steve Stucky) December 27, 2013 (died December 31, 2013)
to what shall I liken this life? moonlight, reflected in dewdrops shaken from a crane's bill —Dogen
I got trouble in my mind lord, I believe I'm fixin' to die I got trouble in my mind lord, I believe I'm fixin' to die Well I don't mind dyin', I just hate to leave my children cryin' -- Blind Lemon Jefferson
Everything Is Enlightenment Joan Sutherland
https://www.lionsroar.com/everything-is-enlightenment/
2021-12-08 I Way-Seeking Mind on the Road to Dharma Transmission I Flint Sparks by Appamada
Ben's Inquiry Questions
These were Ben’s teachings... So my questions are: 1. How do we cultivate attention and a focus, in a mind that is incessantly so noisy, destructive and well, frankly a bully? • Learn to open - again and again - to the space in which it is all arising rather than being enchanted with contents of awareness. • Your mind will always be noisy and a bully if that is the mind you practice, feed, or privilege. • Noise quiets at times if you stay with posture and breath in a wholesome way. • The “bullying” is an indication that there are Parts which need attention and maybe some with with a teacher or a therapist. • What does the part think it is doing to help? • What is it afraid would happen if it stopped doing its job? • We can see that it is trying to protect, however seemingly misguided, but what is it protecting? This is the deeper question...
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How do we balance ‘not trying to get anywhere’ with evolving (& ‘working with our conditioning’)? • Work with your conditioning in therapy - touch on not only the protectors, but what is being protected (exiles). • As the managers relax and the exiles are relieved of their burdens, the True Self shines forth automatically because it has always been there, “always on your side”. • Non-striving is a way to approach awakening to our True Nature. It is not a general recommendation about how to live life!
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How do we know we are on the right path? • Are you a larger container for life energy? • Are you suffering more?
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Are there times when sitting Zazen is not a helpful / useful thing? • Yes, especially if you carry trauma - can’t move or speak - be silent and still. • Zazen is essential but not sufficient - hence the double helix • Remember, zazen is not just sitting on a cushion is a certain posture - that is shikantaza - “Just sitting” • Zazen is profound appreciation and acceptance of your life, just as it is, and which can be expressed in our sitting, walking, relating and working in the world - it is “forgiving ourselves for being ourselves”
REVIEW QUESTIONS ABOVE • Sit with others; allow them to care for you as you care for them...
A pdf copy of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi's "Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice" can be found at https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/Opening-hand.pdf
Daily Meal Verse
As we begin our meal, may we and all existence be relieved from self-clinging.
This food comes from the efforts of many workers, past and present, and its ten advantages give us health and well-being and promote strong practice.
We offer this meal of three qualities and six tastes to everyone, everywhere, and to all the life of the universe.
Seventy-two labors brought us this food; we should know how it comes to us. As we receive this offering, we should consider whether we understand its nature. As we desire the natural order of mind to be free from clinging, we must be aware of our greed. We take this food to support our life; we take this food to attain the Way. First, this food is for true practice; second, it is for our teachers and parents; third, it is for all nations and all beings. Thus we eat this food with everyone; We eat to stop all harming, to practice serving, and to accomplish the Awakened Way.
May we exist like a lotus, at home in the muddy water; Thus we bow to life as it is.
The Refuges Chant
I take refuge in Buddha
I take refuge in Dharma
I take refuge in Sangha. We take refuge in Buddha, before all being,
immersing body and mind deeply in the way, awakening true mind;
We take refuge in Dharma, before all being, entering deeply the merciful ocean of Buddha’s Way;
We take refuge in Sangha, before all being, bringing harmony to everyone, free from hindrance.
Now all being has completely taken refuge in Buddha, Now all being has completely taken refuge in Dharma,
Now all being has completely taken refuge in Sangha.
Bodhisattva’s Vow
Beings are numberless, I vow to free them; Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them Buddha’s Way is unsurpassable, I vow to become it.
Beings are numberless, we vow to free them; Delusions are inexhaustible, we vow to end them Dharma gates are boundless, we vow to enter them Buddha’s Way is unsurpassable, we vow to become it.
Beings are numberless, this vow to frees them; Delusions are inexhaustible, this vow to ends them Dharma gates are boundless, this vow to enters them Buddha’s Way is unsurpassable, this vow to embodies it.
2021-11-21 Dharma Talk | Nicole Marais: My Zen Journey So Far | Interviewed by Ann Lipscomb by Appamada
2021-11-09 I Inquiry I Embrace Within Embrace Within Embrace I Peg Syverson by Appamada
2021 - 11 - 07 | The Psychology Of Zen Koans Intensive-Day 2 | Todd Bankler by Appamada
Link to Joko Beck Dharma Talk (6): "Practice With Thoughts" (JUN/1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTc5RHNwr1I
2021-10-24-Dharma Talk | Letting go via The Four Noble Truths | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
2021-10-17 Dharma Talk | The Vastness And The Peanut Butter | Jessica Steinbomer by Appamada
2021-10-09 | October Intensive Day 2 | Discovering the Dharma Through Poetry | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
2021-10-08 | October Intensive Day 1 | Discovering the Dharma Through Poetry | Laurile Winnette by Appamada
Encouragement of our Practice Aspiration Chant : May all awakened beings extend with true compassion their luminous mirror wisdom. May the merit and virtue of this group, along with our everyday practices, extend to all beings everywhere. May all be relieved of suffering, free from fear, longing, aversion, and ignorance, and may the Way of Awakening go on endlessly.
An investigation into the Four Practice Principles by Joke Beck and Allan Kaprow, comparing “a self-centered dream” to “life as it is.”
Laurie referenced this article: https://tricycle.org/magazine/karen-armstrong-scripture/
2021-09-07 I Inquiry I So Many Years of Single-Minded Effort I Flint Sparks by Appamada
Mentioned in discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oR5nl82Jnk How tapping into Self-wisdom could help our society heal
Five online conversations, hosted by your Foundation for Self Leadership, start in Fridays @ 3 pm, September 3rd
Here is Starlit's poem and discussion: http://justthis.austinzencenter.org/2021/08/delight.html
Here is the guided meditation on smile that was done the meditation period before the talk: https://tinyurl.com/GuidedSmile
Ron Kurtz video link shared in meeting.
Introduction to the Hakomi Method with Ron Kurtz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcRda7-tsXU
Kim's Vow
I vow to live with a soft front and a strong back remembering the boundless support of the great Mother Earth, the ancestors, the grandmothers, the teachers, and spiritual friends so that I may live with a heart that is open and courageous enough to attend to my own suffering. May I heal what can be healed, let go of what is not mine to carry, and forgive my own limitations and the limitations of others; and may this open more space within me for life and love and joy to flow through.
I vow to be with and bear witness to the suffering of others. May I have the strength and wisdom to offer care and compassion and the skillful means to turn us just a little bit more towards freedom.
I vow to honor the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha dedicating myself to practice, study and spiritual friendship.
~ Kim Neuschel
Metta Prayer
This is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise,
May I be well, loving, and peaceful. May all beings be well, loving, and peaceful.
May I be at ease in my body, feeling the ground beneath my seat and feet, letting my back be long and straight, enjoying breath as it rises and falls and rises. May I know and be intimate with body mind, whatever its feeling or mood, calm or agitated, tired or energetic, irritated or friendly. Breathing in and out, in and out, aware, moment by moment, of the risings and passings. May I be attentive and gentle towards my own discomfort and suffering.
May I be attentive and grateful for my own joy and well-being. May I move towards others freely and with openness.
May I receive others with sympathy and understanding. May I move towards the suffering of others with peaceful and attentive confidence. May I recall the Bodhisattva of compassion; her 1,000 hands, her instant readiness for action. Each hand with an eye in it, the instinctive knowing what to do. May I continually cultivate the ground of peace for myself and others and persist, mindful and dedicated to this work, independent of results.
May I know that my peace and the world's peace are not separate; that our peace in the world is a result of our work for justice. May all beings be well, happy, and peaceful.
~ Kushin Seisho Maylie Scott
2021-07-04 | Dharma Talk | Softening the Grip of Our Core Beliefs | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
2021-06-25/26 | One Day Sit | Healing The Earth Through Spiritual Practice | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
The Writer ~ Richard Wilbur
In her room at the prow of the house Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed with linden, My daughter is writing a story. I pause in the stairwell, hearing From her shut door a commotion of typewriter keys Like a chain hauled over a gunwale. Young as she is, the stuff Of her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy: I wish her a lucky passage. But now it is she who pauses, As if to reject my thought and its easy figure. A stillness greatens, in which The whole house seems to be thinking, And then she is at it again with a bunched clamor Of strokes, and again is silent. I remember the dazed starling Which was trapped in that very room, two years ago; How we stole in, lifted a sash And retreated, not to affright it; And how for a helpless hour, through the crack of the door, We watched the sleek, wild, dark And iridescent creature Batter against the brilliance, drop like a glove To the hard floor, or the desk-top, And wait then, humped and bloody, For the wits to try it again; and how our spirits Rose when, suddenly sure, It lifted off from a chair-back, Beating a smooth course for the right window And clearing the sill of the world. It is always a matter, my darling, Of life or death, as I had forgotten. I wish What I wished you before, but harder.
The Cure
We think we get over things.We don’t get over things. Or say, we get over the measles but not a broken heart. We need to make that distinction. The things that become part of our experience never become less a part of our experience. How can I say it? The way to “get over” a life is to die. Short of that, you move with it, let the pain be pain, not in the hope that it will vanish but in the faith that it will fit in, find its place in the shape of things and be then not any less pain but true to form. Because anything natural has an inherent shape and will flow towards it. And a life is as natural as a leaf. That’s what we’re looking for: not the end of a thing but the shape of it. Wisdom is seeing the shape of your life without obliterating (getting over) a single instant of it.
by Albert Huffstickler
2021 - 06 - 15 - I Inquiry I Meeting Ourselves and Each Other I Flint Sparks by Appamada
If you would like to read the full article, link is below. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/post-pandemic-dont-want-to-reenter-society/619045/
Can you believe what you are seeing? ~ Trudy Johnston
Can you believe what you are seeing? or are you seeing what you believe?
Sitting, looking at the wall I can see how often I fail to see what is literally directly in front of me. I fail to see the gift that life is, how it includes every single thing that is in it. How what I’m seeing is always a flow of flux and change, that I am an integral part of, not separate. Instead I see what I want, or to make things solid, or to be as they were, or as I want them to be.
Many years ago, a guru taught me, “The world is as you see it.” Now I want to see it as it is. Can I believe what I’m seeing? I want to, I want to wake up to the magnificent perfect mess we live in, the marvelous miracle of lives lived with love and care and error. Life as a love song to itself. Can we believe what we are seeing?
2021-05-11 I Inquiry I Can You Believe What You Are Seeing Here? I Flint sparks by Appamada
2021-05-09 | Dharma Talk | Disc. The Teaching Just For You | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
"Song" by Allen Ginsberg
The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction
the weight, the weight we carry is love.
Who can deny? In dreams it touches the body, in thought constructs a miracle, in imagination anguishes till born in human-- looks out of the heart burning with purity-- for the burden of life is love,
but we carry the weight wearily, and so must rest in the arms of love at last, must rest in the arms of love.
No rest without love, no sleep without dreams of love-- be mad or chill obsessed with angels or machines, the final wish is love --cannot be bitter, cannot deny, cannot withhold if denied:
the weight is too heavy
--must give for no return as thought is given in solitude in all the excellence of its excess.
The warm bodies shine together in the darkness, the hand moves to the center of the flesh, the skin trembles in happiness and the soul comes joyful to the eye--
yes, yes, that's what I wanted, I always wanted, I always wanted, to return to the body where I was born.
San Jose, 1954"
Bodhisattva’s Vow Torei Zenji
When I, a student of the Way look at the real form of the universe, all is the never-failing manifestation of the mysterious truth of the Awakened Life. In any event, in any moment, and in any place, None can be other than the marvelous revelation of its glorious light. This realization made our ancestors and teachers extend tender care, with respectful hearts even to such beings as birds and beasts. This realization teaches us that our daily food, drink, clothes, and protections of life are the warm flesh and blood, the merciful incarnation of the Awakened One. Who can be ungrateful or not respectful even to senseless things, not to speak of humans? Even though they may be fools, be warm and compassionate toward them. If by any chance they should turn against us, become sworn enemies and persecute us, we should sincerely bow down with humble language in the reverent understanding that they are the merciful messengers of the Awakened One, who use devices to emancipate us from blind tendencies, produced and accumulated upon ourselves by our own egoistic delusion and attachment through countless cycles of space and time. Then on each moment’s flash of our thought there will grow a lotus flower and on each lotus flower will be revealed Perfection, unceasingly manifest as our life, just as it is, right here and right now. May we extend this mind to all beings so that we and the world together may attain maturity in the wisdom of the Awakened Life.
Flint’s modern translation
The world is always asking you to open up and be more loving.
Look closely and you will begin to learn things that are more interesting than the things you think about everyday.
No matter what you love, what you hate, or what you imagine, everything belongs somehow.
When you truly open to this way of looking and living you will learn how to care for what used to scare you.
Do your best to be friendly, even when it’s hard.
Sometimes people are difficult or even mean. Think of them as strict teachers in a school where you learn about these hard, confusing, or scary things.
When you have good friends with you in this kind of school, things begin to look really different. There is a lot more love… and more of everything else, too…but you can do it.
Just keep going. Offer your love back as best you can. If you do, you and your friends will grow together in ways you could have never imagined.
Inquiry Vow
Open your drama eye and see that what you seek is right in front of you. ––already and always!
When you see––what you realize__will bring you to your knees with humility and lift you up with gratitude ––for receiving your life and giving back your life.
Dharma gate never close, but you can refuse to step through.
Expect nothing. Appreciate everything. Tell the truth and love everyone.
2021-04-18 | Dharma Talk | Setting Our Intention As We Reenter The World | Robin Bradford by Appamada
“…the key to Chan enlightenment—the ‘place’ from which it is possible to be fully realized and not merely talked or thought about—is direct communicative crises. That is, enlightenment has to do with relationship—not with and one individual’s attainments—and in particular with the kind of relationship in which everything is at stake and nothing is in principle excluded as impossible. In short, Chan enlightenment should not be seen as private and experiential in nature, but as irreducibly and intimately social.” [Liberating Intimacy, Peter Herschock, p. x]
A Bodhisattva Vow through Care
Beings are numberless, I vow to care for them all; Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to remove obstructions to care; Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them all with diligent mindful care; Buddha’s way is unsurpassable, I vow to embody it with care and love.
Beings are numberless, we vow to offer care for them all together; Delusions are inexhaustible, we vow to remove obstructions to care together; Dharma gates are boundless, we vow to enter them all with diligent mindful care together; Buddha’s way is unsurpassable, we vow to embody it with care and love together.
Beings are numberless, this vow frees infinite care; Delusions are inexhaustible, this vow ends all obstacles to care; Dharma gates are boundless, this vow enters the inconceivable world of care; Buddha’s way is unsurpassable, this vow embodies profound care.
Poems read in our talk.
Small Kindnesses ~ Danusha Laméris
I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you” when someone sneezes, a leftover from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying. And sometimes, when you spill lemons from your grocery bag, someone else will help you pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other. We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot, and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile eat them and for them to smile back. For the waitress to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder, and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass. We have so little of each other, now. So far from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange. What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here, have my seat,” “Go ahead—you first,” “I like your hat.”
Eagle Poem ~ Joy Harjo
To pray you open your whole self To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon To one whole voice that is you. And know there is more That you can’t see, can’t hear; Can’t know except in moments Steadily growing, and in languages That aren’t always sound but other Circles of motion. Like eagle that Sunday morning Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky In wind, swept our hearts clean With sacred wings. We see you, see ourselves and know That we must take the utmost care And kindness in all things. Breathe in, knowing we are made of All this, and breathe, knowing We are truly blessed because we Were born, and die soon within a True circle of motion, Like eagle rounding out the morning Inside us. We pray that it will be done In beauty. In beauty.
Since this talk is loaded with visuals, please watch it on YouTube if you can @ https://youtu.be/FgyZkYrXeLM
Appamada Intensive led by Peg Syverson and Flint Spark. Way Seeking Mind talk & Head Student Entering Ceremony for Kim Mosley
The following is a teaching from the Buddha as recorded in the Dhammapada and translated by Thomas Byrom:
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. Speak or act with an impure mind And trouble will follow you As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. Speak or act with a pure mind And happiness will follow you As your shadow, unshakable. How can a troubled mind Understand the way?
Your worst enemy cannot harm you As much as your own thoughts, unguarded.
But once mastered, No one can help you as much, Not even your father or your mother."
2021-01-05 I Inquiry I Emily Dickinson’s "The Bustle in the House” I Joel Barna by Appamada
2020-11-15 | Dharma Talk | Bringing forth presence through curiosity | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
2020-11-10 I Inquiry I Loving Kindness in the Time of Transition I Flint Sparks by Appamada
2020-09-27 | Dharma Talk | What Is The Role Of The Sangha In Civic Life? | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2020-09-06 | Dharma Talk | Questions About Practice & Appamada | Laurie Winnette by Appamada
2020-08-25 | Inquiry | Where Does The Temple Begin, Where Does It End | Flint Sparks by Appamada
2020-08-16 | DharmaTalk | What Neuroscience Can't Tell Us About Zen | Mason McClay And Ann Lipscomb by Appamada
2020-08-09 | Dharma Talk | Understanding The Practice Of Understanding (Time) | Krzysztof Piekarski by Appamada
2020-08-02 | Dharma Talk | Personal Reflections on Resilience and the Brahma Viharas | Joel Barna by Appamada
2020-05-10 | Dharma Talk | Exploring the Brahmaviharas in our Lives | Joan Harman by Appamada
2020-05-03 | Dharma Talk | The Sutra Of Questions Regarding Death And Transmigration | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2020-01-19 | Dharma Talk | Four Noble Truths and Three Teachers | Peg Syverson by Appamada
2019-12-01 | Dharma Talk | Inquiry into Buddha Dharma Sangha | Peg Syverson by Appamada