Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via FB

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via GBF \\ "Being an Island of Order in a Sea of Disorder" - Larry Robinson

Another dharma talk has been added to the GBF website, podcast and YouTube channel: 

"Being an Island of Order in a Sea of Disorder" - Larry Robinson 

______________

Here is the link to the most recent dharma talk by Larry Robinson:

Being an Island of Order in a Sea of Disorder – Larry Robinson

______________

As practitioners, how can we respond when things fall apart?

Larry Robinson invites us to find refuge and stability amid chaotic and uncertain times by leaning into the core Buddhist teachings and practices. He frames our current historical moment as a “dark age” where things seem to fall apart, but reminds us that history moves in cycles and renewal always follows. 

Larry highlights the importance of taking refuge in the Three Jewels—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha—and cultivating the Brahma Viharas, the four divine abodes: 

1. Loving-kindness (metta)
2. Compassion (karuna)
3. Sympathetic joy (mudita)
4. Equanimity (upekkha)

These qualities help create “islands of order” amid disorder, which can attract and inspire new patterns of peace and understanding. He also shares a beautiful St. Francis prayer inviting us to be instruments of peace through love, pardon, faith, hope, and light.

Larry offers practical and heartfelt ways to cultivate equanimity in daily life, such as his morning walks connecting with nature, practicing gratitude by counting blessings, and embracing impermanence without resistance. He underscores the Buddhist insight that suffering awakens compassion and that compassion connects us to the community of all beings, not just the immediate Sangha. He encourages embracing uncertainty and “not knowing” as a profound spiritual practice, illustrated by the story of the Chinese farmer who responds “maybe” to life’s ups and downs, reminding us that what appears good or bad is never fixed. 

Through poems, personal stories of grief and joy, and reflections on impermanence, Larry gently guides us to open-hearted acceptance, reminding us that even in dark times, the earth always turns toward the morning light and that hope beyond hope—true faith—is found in trusting things as they are. 

--
Enjoy 850+ free recorded dharma talks at https://gaybuddhist.org/podcast/

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Intoxication

 

TRICYCLE      COURSE CATALOG      SUPPORT      DONATE

RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Intoxication Intoxication is unhealthy. Refraining from intoxication is healthy. (MN 9) What are the imperfections that defile the mind? Negligence is an imperfection that defiles the mind. Knowing that negligence is an imperfection that defiles the mind, a person abandons it. (MN 7) One practices thus: “Others may become negligent by intoxication, but I will abstain from the negligence of intoxication.” (MN 8) There are these two worldly conditions: pleasure and pain. These are conditions that people meet—impermanent, transient, and subject to change. A mindful, wise person knows them and sees that they are subject to change. Desirable conditions do not excite one’s mind nor is one resentful of undesirable conditions. (AN 8.6)

Reflection We have within us a natural instinct to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. One of the Buddha’s great insights is that both are hardwired into our minds and bodies and are thus an inevitable aspect of the human condition. Knowing this and accepting it as true allows us to watch the interplay of the two without needing to change what is happening. A wise person is mindful of both pleasure and pain, regarding them evenly. Daily Practice Practice becoming aware of feeling tones, both pleasant and painful, as they arise accompanying all experience. Cultivate a posture of noticing each one, acknowledging how it feels, and letting it change into something else, as it will naturally do. Give up the hopeless task of chasing after pleasure and fleeing pain and simply appreciate, with equanimity rather than excitement or resentment, the changing nature of experience. Tomorrow: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning. Donate »

© 2025 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: Real Faith

 

Browse our online courses »

Real Faith Real solid faith is irreversible. Even if hundreds of thousands of people oppose us and say no to our actions on the path to liberation, we won’t be intimidated and change our beliefs. Khenpo Sodargye, “Faith in Buddhism” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

The Surrender of Equal Taste By Anam Thubten Learn how to use prayer and Tara embodiment to overcome our inherent resistance to change.  Read more »

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via The Tricycle Community \\ Three Teachings on the “Heart Sutra”

 

Browse our online courses » August 28, 2025 Emptiness and Compassion    Recited in temples around the world and chanted by millions of practitioners each day, the Heart Sutra is arguably the most important scripture in Mahayana Buddhism.  The Heart Sutra is said to contain the essence of the Buddha’s teachings and reveal the fundamental nature of reality. It’s a profound expression of the Buddhist doctrine of emptiness, shunyata—and the compassion that goes hand-in-hand with the realization of emptiness.  For many practitioners, this doctrine can be perplexing and difficult to grasp. What does it really mean to accept our bodies, sensory experiences, and all of reality as empty? How would this awareness change the way we live?  As the Buddha taught it, the principle of emptiness is anything but nihilistic. Instead, it is the very foundation of compassion and liberation. If we can recognize that all things are fundamentally boundless and devoid of a separate, fixed existence, we find the keys to free ourselves from all causes of suffering. This realization of emptiness is thus described as the “perfection of wisdom,” or as Thich Nhat Hanh translated it, “the insight that takes us to the other shore.”  Discover the profound wisdom of the Heart Sutra in this week’s Three Teachings, which provide three unique lenses on the text’s core teachings and enduring importance.  Forward today's teachings to a friend » The Heart Sutra: The Foundation of Understanding With Rev. Dosung Yoo The essence of the Heart Sutra is shunyata, emptiness. In this Dharma Talk series, Won Buddhist minister Rev. Dosung Yoo explores the doctrine of emptiness as the foundation of liberation and the ultimate antidote to suffering.   Watch now » Losing Ourselves in the Heart Sutra By Jayarava Attwood What does it mean when the Heart Sutra says that there is “no form”? New scholarship suggests that the text may be describing the results of a meditation practice known as the yoga of non-apprehension, which enables an experience of the absence of sense perceptions.  Read more » What’s in a Mantra? By Donald S. Lopez Jr.  The Heart Sutra culminates in the prajnaparamita mantra: gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha. Celebrated Buddhism scholar Donald Lopez takes a close look at the mantra of the perfection of wisdom—“the mantra that completely pacifies all suffering”—and its role in the sutra.  Read more » Follow Us