In this Dharma talk, Bhante Buddharakkhitaexplores the Four Brahmavihāras—the Buddhist heart practices of loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity—through metaphors of Wi-Fi, electricity, and heart power; offering accessible guidanc... Read more
How Our Words Shape the Heart
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbm8bxymhzE[/embed]
Of the Noble Eightfold Path, we have wise view, wise intention, wise speech, wise action, wise livelihood, wise effort, wise mindfulness, and wise concentration. Wise speech is a big part of pr... Read more
The Happiness of Generosity
Dear Sangha,
The Buddha called dana—generosity—the first perfection of the heart and the beginning of the path. He taught that when we give with a joyful mind, free of expectation, something extraordinary happens:
We loosen the grip of greed and f... Read more
Practicing with Clarity
If you had to guess, how frequently does the mind go negative? Psychologists say its about 80% of the time. So much of our day our minds are in a place of worry, anxiety, or some kind of judgment of ourselves or others. All of these thoughts are states ... Read more
Healing the Divide
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpVMQTCXssU[/embed]
The Buddha taught that while others may behave in ways that are disappointing, shocking, or cruel; we shall not be cruel -- thus, we shall incline our hearts.
He said that even the inclination... Read more
The Bliss of Blamelessness
[embed]https://youtu.be/F9tcViVeVtI[/embed]
How can we deepen an inner sense of freedom?
In Buddhism, ethics are very important. We have something called the Five Precepts—ethical guidelines for how we can live our life to be a good, safe person in th... Read more
True Generosity: The Gift of Letting Go
The practice of generosity takes us out of the acquisitional paradigm of happiness that most of us get — particularly if you grew up in a Western culture — that your happiness and well-being will ripen when you get that degree, that job, that house, tha... Read more
Kindness is Not Always Comfortable
[embed]https://youtu.be/5OyMD6D4Kn0[/embed]
It’s beautiful to explore Wise Speech, because it is a life practice we can turn to everyday to deepen our understanding of how our communication can create or relieve suffering in ourselves and in the world.... Read more
Mind the Gap
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUzFSQ2hfpY[/embed]
A very famous thing we like to do in mindfulness practice is to not scratch your itches, or to not move during meditation. Not because it’s wrong to move—it’s not. The invitation is: Can you no... Read more
Practice as Protection
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KyS65fjrL4&t=1738s[/embed]
I wanted to talk to day about practice as protection. It’s something I noticed when I began Buddhist practice and meditation, which for me was in my early 20s. I met with a group in Oa... Read more