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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

A Small Precepts Ceremony at Shasta Abbey by Andrea Spark

Last month a member of our meditation group took part in a ceremony in the Buddha Hall at Shasta Abbey in which she solemnly vowed to live her life within the mandala of the Buddhist Precepts. The celebrant for the ceremony was Rev. Astor Douglas, assisting her were Rev. Master Shiko Rom, Rev. Master Jisho… Continue reading A Small Precepts Ceremony at Shasta Abbey by Andrea Spark

Just Sitting by Barry Magrid

“Just sitting means just that. That ‘just’ endlessly goes against the grain of our need to fix, transform, and improve ourselves. The paradox of our practice is that the most effective way of transformation is to leave ourselves alone. The more we let evrything be just what it is, the more we relax into an… Continue reading Just Sitting by Barry Magrid

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