Seattle Insight Meditation Society

When we open to the gift of Sangha there is but one response – gratitude. Gratitude is made up of connection, appreciation, generosity and love. Being a part of Sangha provides us the opportunity to serve others, express our generosity and to inspire a fellow practitioner. Gratitude goes hand in hand with forgiveness. Together they diminish the influence of greed, hatred and delusion and fill our practice with motivation, reassurance and enthusiasm. This week we will consider the role Sangha plays in cultivating Metta. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/1839/Default.aspx

Kalyana mitrata – spiritual friendship – is at the heart of Sangha. This spiritual friendship keeps us all strong and committed as we walk this path to awakening together. We sit with one another and at the same time we sit for one another. Together we can have the courage to move into the unknown, to abandon our habits of mind and to step into our Buddha nature. We can experience both the relative and ultimate realities of practice. This week we will consider what it means to be a spiritual community. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/1838/Default.aspx

Brahma Viharas means ‘divine abodes’ in Pali, the language of the original Buddhist teachings. The term refers to four meditation practices that can help enrich our lives, developing concentration, fearlessness, happiness and a greater ability to love. The techniques, known as lovingkindness (metta), compassion (karuna), joy in the happiness of others (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha) cultivate our natural capacity for an open and loving heart.

At a glance Buddhism and/or mindfulness appears to be an individual practice. Each of us meditate, study and contemplate the Dhamma individually leaving us to mistakenly believe that liberation of the mind is personal. True investigation, however, arises in relationship. We need the tension, uncomfortabilities, laughter and passion that comes from “relationship with” to experience the depth and freedom of liberation. This week we will consider the shadow side of Sangha - division. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/1837/Default.aspx

We spend a lot of time in contemplations around the Buddha and the Dhamma. Rarely do we spend time contemplating the nature and importance of Sangha even through most of us are aware that Buddha held the Sangha as the whole of the practice. Throughout the month of July, we will explore the nature of Sangha, both the Noble Sangha which has existed for over 2,500 years and our Sangha at Seattle Insight. This week we will consider what makes Sangha a place for refuge. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/1836/Default.aspx

For most of us, our self-image is our most treasured possession. We carefully cultivate, mold, and protect it so it says just what we want it to say about us. We usually look past our blindspots so our image holds mostly our projected ideals, and we will do whatever it takes to defend it as if this image were our final stand upon sanity. What is interesting about our image is how many people see through it. In fact others usually have a better sense of our personality and temperament than our own assessment. That is why feedback is so difficult. We sense others may be seeing the truth of our personality while we fight to keep it hidden. When we look a little closer, we will see that our image is maintained through presentation. Some of that display is our actions, but most of it is the noise we make through our self-proclamations. Whether the noise is internally induced through our narrative and storyline or externally created through power, drama, outrage, morality, righteousness, or just simple narcissism, makes little difference. The bottom line is that noise keeps our image alive and energetic and keeps us looking away from the more valid experience of ourselves contained in the quiet. As our spiritual path unfolds, we sense that our carefully cultivated image may be a smokescreen that keeps us from a deeper level of self-understanding. As the quiet of our meditation is nurtured, we fall into periods of stillness and the ease that accompanies it. We begin to suspect that the noise is not the final answer to our self-discovery. A question may arise around what the commotion of our lives is all about and how this endless noise making translates into a life of ease. When we make noise, we are not listening. Even the noise of our thoughts disrupts the communion of connection, and it is only through listening that our perceptions change and insights occur. A good question to ask ourseleves from time to time is, “Am I listening or waiting to speak?” The ground of our spiritual growth is the quiet in our lives, and we can only see as clearly as we live that quiet. As we quiet, our image becomes less important, slips into the background, and is never really missed. The image becomes more translucent and amorphous, coming and going as our opinions rise and fall. We see it as an appendage left over from evolution, with less and less viability in this era. As silence and listening rise to the surface, we realize that "just being" is the reward. Not being something - just being alive is all we need. Aliveness has been there all along the way, but we were too busy proclaiming how important we are to recognize its worth. Now we begin to rest and be nurtured in the arms of stillness. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/1834/Default.aspx

This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/1833/Default.aspx

Meditation as an Act of Love (Saturday)

When we develop meditation as loving awareness, we cultivate a way of life that is a beautiful way to live and that develops wisdom and balance. This kind, gentle awareness brings mindfulness and metta (Kindness) practice together as one. We pay attention well to what we love and we learn to be present with a warm, open view for whatever shows up. Join us to explore meditation as an act of love.

This week we will take a little time away from our series on the Continua of Practice and bring in the all important issue of sangha for the new year. There are many benefits to sangha. Meditation is the process of seeing our self-centered motivations and releasing those motives so we are no longer held within the grip of I, me, and mine. It is a full and rich practice to use relationships to reveal these inward processes and dynamics, and the sangha provides a context for the honesty and accountability necessary to move our practice into the social domain. Silent retreats show us some of the fundamental processes of mind that move us throughout the day, but interactions reveal a complexity of motives that are not usually seen when we are sitting in silence. Another benefit is associating with good people. As the Dharma works on our perceptions we start seeing life from an angle very few people access. We may harbor fears of being weird or even going crazy. While most people are living life within the filter of their fears and desires, we may feel we are becoming more remote and aloof in our distaste for materialism or self-aggrandizement. It begins to feel like the cultural currents are moving in one direction and we are swimming in the opposite. We may fear we are being directed away from a “common sense” approach to living. Having others around us that are seeing life the way we do can be very helpful in steadying our own commitment to truth. The sangha strengthens our resolve to uncover a truth that is forever present and obvious to anyone willing to look. We are not gathering to be special, we are gathering to be authentic and natural. The spirit of sangha is also the spirit of shared sincerity. If we have ever had a passionate teacher in school, we immediately understand the link between our own curiosity and the enthusiasm of the teacher. Sincerity is contagious and when our individual commitment wanes it is a relief to renew ourselves through the passion of others. It is inspiring to see others work with their difficulties and come to terms with their actions. The sheer force of honesty in another touches all of our hearts and rekindles our own commitment in a similar direction. Again and again we realize we cannot undertake this practice on our own. This is a shared commitment and our success is dependent upon life in its entirety. One of the truths we begin to understand as our Dharma deepens is that we were never isolated and alone. Our earlier feelings of isolation came from viewing life through our desires and fears. As life returns to its original interconnected relationships, sangha seems obvious. Becoming more conscious is what life does, and we are a single thread in a very intricate and complex mosaic. All we can do is work on ourselves, cooperate and help others along the way, and enjoy what is in front of our eyes. We gather to confirm our joy. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/796/Default.aspx

Lyndal offers some reflections about moving into the new year. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/795/Default.aspx

This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/794/Default.aspx

This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/793/Default.aspx

This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/792/Default.aspx

Each of us has the capacity to be fully awake in any given moment. This capacity does not come from our individual hard work but from the inherent capacity of mind. Awareness of this capacity is revealed through the five faculties (also called the five spiritual powers) which are faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. In this series Tuere explores the qualities of each faculty separately and how they harmonize together to bring balance and understanding to the practice of Buddha’s teachings. (The recording begins as Tuere is already speaking.) This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/791/Default.aspx