This is the first of the four talks I’ll be offering on the Noble Eightfold Path. I would like to start by going over the Four Noble Truths because the Noble Eightfold Path is the fourth of these Truths and can’t really be separated from the other three. The Buddha discovered these Truths on the… Continue reading The Noble Eightfold Path – Text for the first of four Dharma talks by RM Shiko Rom
Author: Pam Johnson
Dharma Camp by Roger Groghan
1 23 16 By The Fire Cooler with showers and bits of mist around we are in a beyond the gates retreat a semi-monastic experiment the Dharma Shop with tools and a bell housing herders and oxen going in and out of the world as it is and in and out of the zendo as… Continue reading Dharma Camp by Roger Groghan
One-handed Left-handed Omelette Making: Practicing in ordinary daily life by Kim Woodward
I had surgery on my right wrist about a week ago. This is the same reconstructive surgery I had on my left wrist eight months ago. After the surgery they wrapped my wrist in a rigid splint. I’m not supposed to do anything with my right hand for the next four weeks. The first two… Continue reading One-handed Left-handed Omelette Making: Practicing in ordinary daily life by Kim Woodward
Self by Kim Woodward
Am I myself? Or is that me looking back from the window pane? Surely I am real for I can pull the shade. And yet, who is pulling the shade?
Thoughts on the Five Thoughts by Kim Woodward
Friends from the sangha were over for dinner a few weeks ago and, as usual, we recited the five thoughts before the meal. One related that they had had dinner with a friend who had found the thoughts “horrible”. I was surprised. The other said she currently finds them a bit harsh. We recite them… Continue reading Thoughts on the Five Thoughts by Kim Woodward
Practicing the Dharma by Rev. Helen Cummings
The following text was written in preparation for an audio Dharma talk, the fourth talk given for the Bear River Meditation Group class series in February/March 2015 on The Four Practices of Bodhidharma. The audio file of Reverend Helen’s talk is available here. Reverend Helen is a Zen monk training at Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery. She will respond to… Continue reading Practicing the Dharma by Rev. Helen Cummings
Seeking Nothing by Rev. Helen Cummings
The following text was written in preparation for an audio Dharma talk, the third of four talks given for the Bear River Meditation Group class series in February/March 2015 on The Four Practices of Bodhidharma. The audio file of Reverend Helen’s talk is available here. Reverend Helen is a Zen monk training at Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery. She will… Continue reading Seeking Nothing by Rev. Helen Cummings
Adapting to Conditions by Rev. Helen Cummings
The following text was written in preparation for an audio Dharma talk, the second of four talks given for the Bear River Meditation Group class series in February/March 2015 on The Four Practices of Bodhidharma. The audio file of Reverend Helen’s talk is available here. Reverend Helen is a Zen monk training at Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery. She will… Continue reading Adapting to Conditions by Rev. Helen Cummings
Suffering Injustice by Rev. Helen Cummings
The following text was written in preparation for an audio Dharma talk, the first of four talks given for the Bear River Meditation Group class series in February/March 2015 on The Four Practices of Bodhidharma. The audio file of Reverend Helen’s talk is available here. Reverend Helen is a Zen monk training at Shasta Abbey Buddhist… Continue reading Suffering Injustice by Rev. Helen Cummings
Self Arising by Kim Woodward
I was driving back from Shasta Abbey last weekend and listening to a teaching by Mark Epstein, a Buddhist practitioner and teacher and clinical psychiatrist, on working with the emotions. Mark was teaching that it is a common error to think that meditation is a tool to eliminate the emotions. Instead, the practice is to… Continue reading Self Arising by Kim Woodward