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10 Perfections (pāramī) to Cultivate on the Path
The doctrinal list known as the 10 Perfections, or pāramī, has only a small place in the earliest layer of the Buddhist teachings, but by the time the Pāli Canon was being fully assembled and the Mahāyāna revolution was well-underway, the list became one of the central frameworks for describing the qualities that aspiring Buddhas, or…
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Self-judgment, karma and Selflessness (anattā)
How self-judgment is interwoven with the unfolding of Action and its Results, or kamma/karma, and the implications for our sense of self, leading to the subtle and difficult teaching of Selflessness, or anattā.
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Grief and Mourning, after the Oakland Ghost Ship fire
Here’s some background on this terrible fire that shocked our community. I knew someone who died in it, and people in the Satsang community also lost friends. The talk touches on grief and mourning, and the room was really heavy. I’m glad we had the space to gather.
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The 3 Characteristics (tilakkhaṇa)
The 3 Characteristics or Marks (tilakkhaṇa) of all conditioned things. These three comprise the core insights that begin the path of Liberation from Suffering in the Theravāda tradition. 1. Impermanence, the constancy of Change (anicca) 2. Unsatisfactoriness, the first Noble Truth, Suffering (dukkha) 3. Selflessness, Emptiness of Independent Essence (anattā)
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The 5 Ethical Precepts (sīla)
Buddhism as a liberation path is a gradual purification of the heart that takes root as we see more clearly, stop clinging so much, and grow out of confusion about who we are into the maturity called wisdom. Wisdom is expressed partly as understanding: everything changes, and many things hurt, but there’s an openness, a…
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The gratification, the danger, and the escape
A classical teaching on why it’s so hard to let go, but why we must, if we want to find freedom from suffering. Talk given at Insight Meditation Satsang, Yoga Tree Telegraph.
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Theravada Refuge & Precepts Pūjā
Every week at Satsang, we do a short chanting ceremony called a pūjā, or devotional ritual. We chant a few ancient verses in Pāli, the language of the early Buddhist texts. These verses are excerpts from a longer sequence of chants done daily in Theravāda monasteries, emphasizing the basic lay (non-monastic) practices of going for refuge…
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Chants: lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu
We do this chant at the end of the Satsang meditation period. It’s an ancient mantra beloved in both the Buddhist and Hindu Yoga traditions, and translates roughly as: May all beings be at ease. OM, Peace, peace, peace. If you want to use it as a mantra to repeat, you could omit the “oṃ…