Plans go sideways all the time, things happen. How do we greet those moments? And how do we learn to recognize all the places we're stuck? Once we can begin to let go, then we can let things be without getting caught up in the first place. This is the freedom the Buddha promised, "liberation through not clinging." Recorded Dec. 7, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Th...
Dec 10, 2024•25 min
The topic of gratitude is quite common at this time of year and Mary discusses the idea of gratitude as a heart practice which also encompasses love and connection. Using the writing bell hooks as a starting point she invites us to let gratitude allow us to love and let our hearts be opened. The Buddha points out that "gratitude and contentment are the highest blessings" - definitely worth pursuing. Recorded Nov. 30, 2024 in the virtual world. Books mentioned: All About Love by bell hooks, See N...
Dec 02, 2024•25 min
Suffering and Joy seem incompatible, but in this talk Mary shows how they are not mutually exclusive. Joy is not dependent on outside circumstances. As teacher Larry Ward has said, "Joy is possible in the midst of suffering and without ignoring the suffering." Using the wisdom of several authors, Mary talks about how we can access joy without waiting for everything to be okay. With our practice we create the conditions for joy to arise at any time. Recorded Nov. 23, 2024 in the virtual world Boo...
Nov 26, 2024•24 min
In this talk Mary discusses two seemingly different ideas of what a foundation can be in our practice. There is the stillness and grounding of meditation practice and the foundation offered by the Eightfold Path. They are not mutually exclusive and in fact, work together on the path to liberation. Recorded Nov. 16, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Thanks. Visit Mary...
Nov 19, 2024•23 min
The results of the 2024 presidential election in the United States have brought up several levels of grief, fear, anger, despair and many more emotions for several of us. In this talk Mary reflects on where we are right now, how to hold our experience, and how to move forward. Connection, community, practice and finding hope in the words and experiences of those who have walked this path before are vital in these challenging days. Stay connected, and don't miss the joy. Recorded Nov. 9, 2024 in ...
Nov 12, 2024•27 min
The Buddha said that the beautiful qualities of loving kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity are a natural arising of our insight practice. It's important to know that these qualities are present for each of us, especially in these moments of great challenges to our world. Learning to access them, whether through the traditional heart practices, or in other ways, helps us to take care of ourselves. Mary talks about finding this inner wellspring to support our journey. Recorded No...
Nov 05, 2024•24 min
There is a lot of stress in our lives today. As the Buddha said, there is always dukkha . How do we take care of ourselves in these moments? Of course practice is always a resource but how do we take care of ourselves in other ways. In this talk Mary discusses various ideas for resourcing ourselves in these challenging times. Recorded Oct. 24, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included auto...
Oct 29, 2024•19 min
The Buddha was remarkable in offering the teachings in many different ways. In this talk, Mary reflects on the Five Spiritual Faculties, sometimes called the Path of Wisdom. Faith, Energy, Mindfulness, Concentration and Wisdom support us in our daily lives on our path from delusion to clarity and awakening. The beauty of the teachings are that they are accessible to each of us and we can put them to use throughout our daily lives. Recorded October 19, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text wit...
Oct 22, 2024•25 min
In this talk Mary reflects on the story of Milarepa and the Demons and invites us to imagine a spiritual path that has us befriend all parts of us, even the challenging bits. Although not part of the original tale, we're asked to invite our demons in for tea and shift our relationship with the present - no matter what it is. Recorded October 12, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included au...
Oct 15, 2024•22 min
The Pali word Sati is generally translated as mindfulness, but it can mean so much more. In this talk Mary reflects on all the different, yet similar meanings of the word, emphasizing how close it is to the idea of equanimity - being with the present moment, without preference or needing it to be different. Drawing from Bhante Gunaratana's classic, Mindfulness in Plain English , Mary offers ways to make this core teaching meaningful for each of us. Mary also reflects on the power of Sati during ...
Oct 08, 2024•21 min
The Buddha taught us that all we have are our actions and our actions take place in this moment. But are we fully living in the moment? When we investigate the tentativeness of life - the recognition that nothing is certain - we can shift our relationship to the present and live in a way that is grounded in our core values. Mary discusses this idea and how to move towards a life that allows us to find our own way with the here and now. Recorded Sept. 29, 2024 in the virtual world for Insight Com...
Oct 01, 2024•24 min
Oftentimes we try to get good at meditation when in reality meditation is a practice for how we move through the world. The invitation of practice is to be with each moment as it arises, without judgement or preference. When we develop this awareness during practice, we can carry it with us throughout our lives 'off the cushion'. In this talk, Mary discusses the idea of choiceless awareness, a way to simple be in the moment, grounded in equanimity and wisdom. Recorded Sept. 22, 2024, in the virt...
Sep 24, 2024•34 min
A common reminder in meditation practice is that our experience can not be different from the way it is as much as we would like it to be. The same invitation to be present with the moment applies through all aspects of our life. The root of so much dukkha is our inability to be with reality. Acknowledging the moment as it is takes us closer towards liberation. Recorded Sept. 5, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like...
Sep 10, 2024•19 min
The Eight Worldly Winds are a teaching on equanimity. Recognizing the winds of pleasure and pain, gain and loss, praise and blame, fame and disgrace that blow for all of us is important in our journey towards liberation. The Buddha says each of us feel these winds and it's important to see them as part of the human condition and not personal. Letting go of the stories of attachment to some winds over others is a key to our liberation. Recorded August 31, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text ...
Sep 03, 2024•23 min
Mary reflects on 16 years of teaching the Saturday Afternoon Sit class. In looking at all the changes that can happen in 16 years. it became clear that so often we get hung up on finding a 'there'. We spend our time and energy working to achieve something that will get us where we want to be, only to find out there is always something else. As the Buddha teaches, there is only the present, and how we work with the present will lead us to or away from liberation. Send me a text with any questions...
Aug 28, 2024•18 min
In this very personal talk Mary reflects on the Five Remembrances and how they invite us to embrace our humanity, open to vulnerability and live each day as if it were our last. Recorded August 17, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Thanks. Visit Mary's website for more info on classes and teachings....
Aug 20, 2024•24 min
The Buddha taught that fixed views and self-view were some of the biggest obstacles to liberation. We are stuck in beliefs about others and ourselves that may or may not be true, but which have tremendous impact on how we relate and react to the world. In this talk, Mary discusses the different types of views, how they develop, and what we can do to extricate ourselves from their rigidity and move towards freedom. Recorded August 10, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or...
Aug 12, 2024•21 min
The Eightfold Path is the Buddha's teaching on how to live in a way that ends suffering and moves us towards liberation. It is a guide for living in this world and our experiences of the human condition. Mary offers a broad overview of the path and how we can put them to use in our own lives. Recorded August 4, 2024 for Insight Community of the Desert in the Virtual World Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included a...
Aug 06, 2024•35 min
When we can slow it down, it may be easier to navigate the complexities of life. In this reflection, Mary talks about being fully present for the uncomfortable and comfortable moments that we have throughout each day and how it may be that present time awareness is like slow-motion. It's also important that we do this with a kind and gentle gaze. Recorded July 27, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - i...
Jul 30, 2024•17 min
This is a moment where the reality of groundlessness - impermanence - is front and center in our lives. What we should realize is that the world is constantly shifting and our inability or unwillingness to be with uncertainty can cause so much stress and pain. Mary discusses how to be radically open to our lives and the world and how recognizing that the foundation is always moving is a foundation in and of itself and one we can stand with. Recorded July 20, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a t...
Jul 23, 2024•22 min
The invitation to relax, observe and allow is a wonderful meditation instruction, but it's also a way we can bring mindfulness to our everyday lives. It's a practice of equanimity, awareness and liberation - simple yet profound. Recorded July 11, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Thanks. Visit Mary's website for more info on classes and teachings....
Jul 16, 2024•26 min
Continuing last week's theme of experiencing liberation in this moment, Mary looks at Stephen Batchelor's teachings on embracing our existence and opening to the everyday sublime which is available to each of us at any moment. Recorded July 6, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Thanks. Visit Mary's website for more info on classes and teachings....
Jul 09, 2024•22 min
In this podcast, Mary reflects on the teachings of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu and his concept of "everyday nirvana". If we can follow the Buddha's direction to not cling to anything as I or mine, we will have the freedom and liberation offered by this path. That letting go can happen at anytime - our meditation practice creates the conditions for it - and it's important that we begin to notice our experience of everyday nirvana as we purify the mind and let go. Recorded June 29, 2024 in the virtual worl...
Jul 02, 2024•30 min
The Paramis are 10 qualities of the heart that it is said we need to develop for awakening. Sylvia Boorstein says they are the natural inclination of the heart and are gifts that we give to each other - they are a path of kindness. These qualities, which include generosity, willingness, and patience, are something we can work with in our daily lives. In this talk Mary gives an overview of these qualities of the heart that allow us to be free. Recorded June 22, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a...
Jun 25, 2024•33 min
One of the heart practices - or brahma viharas - is Mudita, or appreciative joy. This challenging practice invites us to be happy for the wholesome good fortune of others, even those people we may not like. This is a challenging practice because we live in a competitive society that teaches us either we are a winner or a loser and if someone else is winning then we're in trouble. Mudita breaks down this false idea and reminds us of our shared humanity and our shared joy. Recorded June 15, 2024 i...
Jun 17, 2024•29 min
Samsara is the cycle of birth and death that we experience before enlightenment and it is also considered the suffering in this world. In this brief talk, Mary reflects on the reality of our lives and how fighting against difficulties only intensifies them. Recognizing that things are messy and finding a way to make peace with that is the beginning of our path to liberation. Recorded June 8, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if y...
Jun 11, 2024•16 min
In Buddhist teachings there are the ideas of conventional and ultimate reality. In Mahayana tradition they're known as the two truths of relative and absolute. These two ideas enable us to move through the world dealing with the ins and outs of our everyday lives (convention/relative) reality, while using the teachings of impermanence, no-self, and dukkha as a foundation as we move towards liberation (ultimate/absolute). Understanding the difference between the two is vital to avoid falling into...
Jun 04, 2024•19 min
We have all been hurt in our lives, to a greater or lesser extent. This hurt often brings up challenging emotions which we can run from or make space for. Healing happens when we become willing to turn towards the difficulty. This healing involves taking care of ourselves and Lama Rod Owens suggests that this healing is necessary before we can begin to forgive others. Jumping right to forgiveness can be a spiritual bypass if we're simply going through the motions. In this talk Mary discusses how...
May 27, 2024•20 min
The idea of an undefended heart seems counterintuitive right now especially with all the suffering in the world. We think that putting up walls will keep us safe but instead the armor just isolates us. The Buddha invited us turn towards the reality of our lives and the world and open to all. In this talk Mary discusses the need for an undefended heart, what gets in the way and how to move towards the freedom we receive by opening our hearts to each moment. Recorded May 19, 2024 for Insight Commu...
May 21, 2024•31 min
In the Buddha's wisdom he invited us to reflect regularly on our mortality which flies in the face of a society which tells us we can be immortal if we just do it all right. The denial of reality and craving for the impossible causes so much suffering and disconnection. When we turn to face the reality of our lives and our shared humanity, we experience a freedom and a connection with others grounded in wisdom and compassion. Recorded May 11, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any que...
May 13, 2024•26 min
