By Gwen Juvenal Happily ever after. Or perhaps: And I lived happily ever after. That was my hope. I don’t know that I ever said it that way. I was an adult. I knew life was complicated. I knew marriage required work. I knew people suffered and plans changed. But I still carried a story…
Retreat & Return
By Rio Branham Welcome Home I want to talk today about meditation and retreat. Yes I will talk specifically about our silent meditation retreat coming up, but I want to discuss these topics more broadly. Retreat means to take a step back, to withdraw from something, often something harmful or unhelpful. There are a few…
The End of Measuring
By Steve LeFevre You are seen. You are heard. You are welcome here. You are not alone. You are enough. Every Sunday we sit together and recite these words. I’ve said them dozens of times. Maybe hundreds. But every once in a while, a single sentence jumps off the page and refuses to let go….
Taking Refuge
Every week in Buddhist communities around the world, people recite some version of: I take refuge in the Buddha.I take refuge in the Dharma.I take refuge in the Sangha. But what does it actually mean to take refuge? We all take refuge in something. We take refuge in entertainment, work, money, relationships, status, certainty, distraction,…
The Meaning of Life
By Kelly Branan Good morning, everyone. I’m glad you’re here. I want to start with a question that has probably followed every one of us around at some point in our lives. What is the meaning of life? It’s one of those questions that usually doesn’t show up when everything is going well. It comes…
The Purple Pill
by Kimmy dojinyo For today’s Dharma Talk, I would like to share something I have been thinking a lot about lately: The Purple Pill. Before you get up and leave, no, this Dharma Talk is not brought to you by “big pharma.” This isn’t one of those commercials that interrupts your favorite show every 7…
Right Concentration
By Steve LeFevre For the past several months, we have walked the Noble Eightfold Path together. Right View. Right Intention. Right Speech. Right Action. Right Livelihood. Right Effort. Right Mindfulness. Today we arrive at the final step. Right Concentration. If you’re anything like me, when you hear those words, you think: “Oh. This is the…
Cracks in the Plaster: Uncovering Buddha Nature
By Laura Bennett Good morning, everyone. Before I get into my talk, I’d like to start with a question, and I’d love for you to sit with it for a moment before I go any further. What comes to mind when you think of Buddha-nature? Take a breath. Let whatever arises, arise. An image, maybe….
Let’s Talk About Sex
A Dharma Talk from our archives – by Christopher Kakuyo Leibow A Dharma Talk: Sex, Sexual Ethics, and the Third Precept I want to talk about sex today, and I want to start with this quote from the Buddha: “One is not called noble who harms living beings. By not harming living beings one is…
The Stories The Bind Us
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….
