This the third talk in a Dharma series called “Scriptures, Sutras, Invocations – Chanted, Spoken, Unspoken”, prepared by Reverend Helen Cummings for the Bear River Meditation Group in July, 2017 Talk 3: Unspoken Scriptures and Unsung Sutras and Our Practice Books! The printed page! And by extension, a well packaged audio presentation – YouTube or a… Continue reading Talk Three: Unspoken Scriptures and Unsung Sutras and Our Practice by Reverend Helen Cummings
Category: Articles
Talk Two: Sung Scriptures, Litanies, Invocations and Our Practice by Reverend Helen Cummings
This is the second of three Dharma offerings in the series Scriptures, Sutras, Invocations – Chanted, Spoken, Unspoken by Reverend Helen Cummings, a Senior Teacher of Buddhism at Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery. The text version of the teaching is below. Link to Audio Talk 2: Sung Scriptures, Litanes, Invocations and Our Practice For centuries the monks… Continue reading Talk Two: Sung Scriptures, Litanies, Invocations and Our Practice by Reverend Helen Cummings
Talk One: Recited Scriptures and Our Practice by Rev. Helen Cummings
This is the first of three Dharma offerings in the series Scriptures, Sutras, Invocations – Chanted, Spoken, Unspoken by Reverend Helen Cummings, a Senior Teacher of Buddhism at Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery. The text version of the teaching is below. Link to Audio. Talk 1: Recited Scriptures and Our Practice The Scripture on the… Continue reading Talk One: Recited Scriptures and Our Practice by Rev. Helen Cummings
The Noble Eightfold Path, Talk 4 by RM Shiko Rom
This is the final talk on the Noble Eightfold Path. Today I’m going to talk about the Concentration group, which consists of Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Meditation, the last three factors of the Path. The Buddha spoke about Right Effort as the effort to abandon unwholesome states and to encourage wholesome states. It… Continue reading The Noble Eightfold Path, Talk 4 by RM Shiko Rom
The Noble Eightfold Path, Talk 3 by RM Shiko Rom
This is the third talk on the Noble Eightfold Path. Today I will be talking about the moral discipline group, which consists of Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. In the Serene Reflection Meditation (Soto Zen) tradition, the 16 Precepts would need to be included in what we think of as moral discipline. These… Continue reading The Noble Eightfold Path, Talk 3 by RM Shiko Rom
The Noble Eightfold Path, Talk 2 by RM Shiko Rom
This is the second talk on the Noble Eightfold Path. Today I’m going to talk about Right Understanding and Right Thought, the first two steps or factors of the Path, which make up what is called the Wisdom group. The eight Path factors are: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right… Continue reading The Noble Eightfold Path, Talk 2 by RM Shiko Rom
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
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
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