Dhamma Talks
Karma In The 21st Century
During this talk, Peter again emphasized how different 21st century culture is from the time of the Buddha. During that era, it was assumed that a person's karma was determined by what clan he or she was born into, and karma was equivalent to fate. The Buddha's...
Right Speech in the 21st Century
This dhamma dialogue continues on the theme introduced last week on the contemporary meaning of the teachings of the Buddha found in the discourse on the Four Noble Truths. In particular, the topic reviews the classical characteristics of Samma Vaca, Right Speech,...
How We Know Virtue
In another of a series of dialogues during which Peter explores ways to transpose the wisdom of the Buddhist teaching called The Four Noble Truths, modern ways of validating the usefulness of virtue to support peace of mind and clarity regarding our daily lifestyle...
Interdependence Day, 2013
During this talk, Kitty explored the complexity of relationships that are inherent to reality and to human experience. Since this talk occurred on the eve of American Independence Day, Kitty commented upon how dependent the colonists in rebellion were to the...
Being An American Buddhist
Robert has been practicing his awakening process through involvement in Korean Zen and American Vipassana (Theravada) for the last ten years. He recently attended a one-day sitting practice with a Soto Zen master. During this talk, he describes the benefit he's...
Wisdom In The 21st Century
Continuing with the theme of relating the teachings that can be understood and applied in our current era, Peter noted that current psychological research on characteristics of wisdom relate easily to the classical Buddhist doctrines of Wholesome Understanding and...
The Middle Way In The 21st Century
Continuing the theme developed during Peter's talks this year, we explored the value of thinking of and applying ways to alleviate suffering using the Four Noble Truths. While beginning the discussions of the Noble Eightfold Path, we spent one night on the Middle...
2013 Weekend Retreat Report
It is customary for those who've participated in a retreat to have the opportunity to talk about their experiences, in order to integrate the retreat into their daily life, and to inspire others to also deepen their practice by going on retreat. This is the report...
Peter’s Two Week Retreat Report
Reporting on significant retreat experiences is encouraged in our community, as it supports the integration of the meditation practice into life at home. It's also hoped that the reports will encourage others to go on retreats as well. This retreat was a bit...
Using Body Awareness Skillfully
During this dialogue, Kitty followed up on Judy's previous talk about mindfulness of the body. After reviewing the talk, she invited the sangha to share their experiences of using body awareness to interrupt the internal self-talk that seems to define our existence....
