by Kelly Branan The World We Think We See I’d like to begin with an old Buddhist story. Perhaps you’ve heard it before. Several blind men were asked to describe an elephant. One reached out and touched its leg. “The elephant,” he said confidently, “is like a tree.” Another grasped the trunk. “No,” he replied….
Nature as Teacher of Dharma
by Rio Branham Intro I have to be honest. I’m cheating a bit today. I’m going to share a re-write of a talk I gave at retreat last year. I was working on a different talk about stories, but, as fate would have it, I was too stuck in my own stories to get it…
At the Peak of Light, She Turns – A Dharma Talk on Guanyin
Summer Solstice Sunday I. Begin With the Name We just did something ancient. We sat together, and we listened. Not to fix. Not to advise. Not to correct or redirect or make someone else’s experience into a teaching moment for ourselves. We just… listened. We held what was shared, and we let it be what…
Right Mindfulness — This Moment Is Not For Sale
A Dharma Talk by Rojin Genyo (Steve LeFevre) You are seen. You are heard. You are welcome here. You are not alone. Nothing to fix. Nothing to prove. Nothing to achieve. Just this life— as it is. Tonight we continue our journey along the Noble Eightfold Path. We’ve explored Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech,…
The Seed Opens – Entrusting Ourselves to the Oneness of Life
by Gwen Juvenal (Shoka Itsuro) Welcome to the celebration! For something vital, something extraordinary is happening right here and now. And its fragrance fills this room. Perhaps you noticed it during meditation. Perhaps you’ve noticed it before and simply called it by another name. This fragrance is here now. Not reserved for after we finally…
The Whole of the Way
by Rio Branham Intro A phrase that we sometimes say here is that Spiritual Friendships are the whole of the way. I want to dive a little bit deeper into it and what it means to me and why we say it. We usually ask to see who is here for the first time. But…
It’s the Hope That Kills You
by Kelly Branan I want to begin by naming something that may already be in the room today. Many of us are tired. Not just physically tired, but existentially tired. Tired of carrying uncertainty. Tired of waiting for things to improve. Tired of hoping and being disappointed. For some of us, the word hope itself…
Everyday Mind as the Pure Land
by Kelly Branan When we hear the words Pure Land, many of us imagine somewhere else. A distant realm. A peaceful afterlife. A place free from conflict, free from grief, free from the messiness of human life. And if we’re honest, there’s a part of us that really wants that. A place untouched by disappointment….
Recognizing Our Clinging
by Kelly Branan Today I want to talk about clinging, not as an abstract Buddhist idea, but as something intimate, ordinary, and deeply human. Because most of us do not walk around thinking: “Ah yes, today I am participating in attachment and craving.” Clinging rarely announces itself directly. It disguises itself as: It often sounds…
This Is Water: Waking Up from Autopilot
By Laura Rose Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here today. I want to begin this talk with a story– a parable that has stayed with me since I first heard it in high school, and one I still come back to often. It goes like this: There are these two young fish swimming…
Everyday Nembutsu 