Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Via Tricycle // Groundhog Days


Groundhog Days
By Taylor Plimpton
 
We’re almost a full year into the pandemic, and by now every day may seem like the one that came before. Within the monotonous and the mundane, one writer finds the wisdom of “this is it.”
Read more »

Via Daily Dharma: Establish a Direct Connection

When you set your intention on chanting correctly, melodically, and as crisply and clearly as possible, you become focused. It quiets the monkey mind and establishes a direct connection to the dharma.

—Interview with Myokei Caine-Barrett by Linda Heuman, “A Right to the Dharma”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Monday, February 8, 2021

Via IMS // IMS Turns 45: Join the Party, February 14!

 


IMS Turns 45:
Join the Party, February 14!


Ananda said to the Blessed One, “This is half of the holy life, lord:
admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie.”

“Don’t say that, Ananda. Don’t say that.
Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the WHOLE of the holy life.”
– The Buddha
(45th verse of the Samyutta Nikaya)


Friends, companions, and comrades in the Dharma:
You Are Invited
To a Celebratory Event on the 45th Anniversary of the Insight Meditation Society
Sunday, February 14, 2021
4 pm – 5:30 pm ET

Join us for a special gathering of our community…
Festivities will include:
Reflections on our past and our future;
Honoring our lineage and its teachings;
Taking Refuge and the Five Precepts together in Sangha;
Lovingkindness practice;
And more!

Special Appearances by:
IMS co-founder Sharon Salzberg
IMS co-founder Jack Kornfield
Steve Armstrong
Christina Feldman
Trudy Goodman
Devon Hase
Yong Oh
Rachel Lewis
Kamala Masters
Neesha Patel
Winnie Nazarko

And more of your beloved IMS teachers.

This event is entirely FREE and open to all.
Please come celebrate 45 Years of IMS with us and thank you for your friendship, companionship, and camaraderie in this holy life!


REGISTER NOW

This event is free, but for those who want to make an anniversary donation to IMS, you may CLICK HERE




IMS is a spiritual refuge for all who seek freedom of mind and heart. We offer meditation retreats rooted in the Early Buddhist teachings of ethics, concentration and wisdom. These practices help develop awareness and compassion in ourselves, giving rise to greater peace and happiness in the world.

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Parinirvana Day, or Nirvana Day

 

Buddha
2018 -

Parinirvana Day, or Nirvana Day is a Mahayana Buddhist holiday celebrated in East Asia. By some it is celebrated on 8th of February, but by most on 15th of February. It celebrates the day when the Buddha achieved Parinirvana, or complete Nirvana, upon the death of his physical body.

Retiro de Verão 2016 #22 | Compaixão e Ação no Mundo (8º dia, tarde)

Via Daily Dharma: Use Whatever Tool You Have

We don’t have to agonize about “How can I serve? How can I make a difference?” Instead, we can pick up whatever tool is at hand— Oh! It’s a cup! Oh! It’s a hammer! 

—Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, “Bodhisattvas Have More Fun”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via BBC Crowd Science: Including research in meditation

 

click the pic or make the jump here

Dame Judi Dench and Benedict Cumberbatch Unite Us | Red Nose Day 2021

The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture

 

The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture

From Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups, by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, ChangeWork, 2001
 
Below is a list of characteristics of white supremacy culture which show up in our organizations. Culture is powerful precisely because it is so present and at the same time so very difficult to name or identify. The characteristics listed below are damaging because they are used as norms and standards without being pro-actively named or chosen by the group. They are damaging because they promote white supremacy thinking. They are damaging to both people of color and to white people. Organizations that are people of color-led or a majority people of color can also demonstrate many damaging characteristics of white supremacy culture.
 
1. Perfectionism
2.  Sense of Urgency
3. Defensiveness
4. Quantity Over Quality
5. Worship of the Written Word
6. Only One Right Way
7.  Paternalism  
8. Either/Or Thinking
9. Power Hoarding
10. Fear of Open Conflict   
11. Individualism
12. Progress is Bigger, More
13. Objectivity
14. Right to Comfort
 

Sunday, February 7, 2021

When Things Fall Apart

 

Disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we’re holding back. They teach us to perk up and lean in when we feel we’d rather collapse and back away.
 
—Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - February 7, 2021 💌

 

"There is not an experience that goes down in your life that doesn’t have the potential to help liberate you. It is so perfectly designed and there is not irrelevancy in the system. When you finally want to get free, everything, every single thing in your life is grist for the mill."

 - Ram Dass -

Via Tricycle // Listening with Empathy With Cuong Lu

 

Listening with Empathy
With Cuong Lu
Do you listen with your ears or with your heart? Learn the art of compassionate listening with Zen teacher, author, and former prison chaplain Cuong Lu. 
Watch now »

Via Daily Dharma: Opportunities to Examine Your Life

 Any time we are abruptly thrown off course, it is an opportunity to reexamine our lives, our values, and where we are headed.

—Judy Lief, “Welcome to the Real World”  

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Saturday, February 6, 2021

Via Daily Dharma: Practice Reacting

 Regardless of our circumstances, if we are Buddhist practitioners, we can have control over how we react to our thoughts and feelings.

—Interview with Charles Johnson by E. Ethelbert Miller, “Black Coffee Buddhism”  

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE