“We do not confront the world; rather, the world confronts itself, temporarily masquerading as each of us.” – David Barash
Blog
The Key To Stillness (Part 1): Dharma Talk (Episode 140)
“This mind of ours is already unmoving and peaceful. Our practice is simply to see the Original Mind.” – Ajahn Chah
A Still Forest Pool: Dharma Talk (Episode 139)
“Try to be mindful, and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool. All kinds of wonderful, rare […]
Metta, Vipassana, and Creativity: Dharma Talk (Episode 138)
Just as a musician learns musical etudes to develop and refine their capacities for musical expression, a contemplative can learn meditative etudes – exercises that nurture the capacities of the […]
From Perch to Flight – Yin to Yang Meditation
In many ways, the perch is the cornerstone concept from which both steadiness of being (samatha) and deeper understanding (vipassana) emerge. Yin Meditation encourages a receptivity to all experience, and in this approach the perch functions as a place of safety and rest when deemed necessary by the meditator.
The August Pause: Season Finale (Episode 137)
Many thanks to all the listeners and members of the River Bird Sangha. We look forward to reconnecting in September.
Robert Wright: Existential Psychological Threats (Episode 136)
“I would say that cognitive empathy is a strength that needs to be built, cognitive empathy being the ability to look at things from the perspective of other people. And […]
Lauri Glenn: Self-Compassion in Practice (Episode 135)
“When we meet difficulty with a kind and loving heart, compassion naturally arises. Often easy to feel for others, self-directed compassion can get blocked by old belief patterns and cultural […]
Linda Modaro: The Dharma of Experience (Episode 134)
“We aren’t looking to get away from our personal lives [in this approach]… but we’re given permission to bring what’s alive in our lives into our meditation practice.” – Linda […]
Your Joints, Your Qi – How Yin Yoga Harmonizes Qi: A Holistic Model – Part 3
The third installment of this series focuses on the most physical mechanism by which I believe Yin Yoga harmonizes Qi, namely how Yin Yoga impacts the state of energy in the joints.
The Subjectivity of Conventional and Absolute Reality: Dharma Talk (Episode 133)
“It would be well if you directed your mind to the deathless element.” – Venerable Sariputta, senior disciple of the Buddha
How Yin Yoga Harmonizes Qi: A Holistic Model – Part 2
The second installment of this essay series will lay out a theoretical framework for how Yin Yoga can help support the harmonization of Qi from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
On Transcending Tribalism: Dharma Talk (Episode 132)
“The political problems that impede the evolution of international governance are rooted in human psychology – mainly in what is sometimes called “the psychology of tribalism.” This psychology consists largely […]
Linda Modaro: Spiritual Friendship and the Development of View (Episode 131)
“So much can go bongo tingo in conversations, what with misunderstandings and mixed intentions… and yet, so much can go right to the heart of the matter. Bringing our meditation […]
On Seeing Clearly: Dharma Talk (Episode 130)
“… the path is not about seeing something in particular; instead, it’s about seeing clearly. And we have the potential to do that, a potential that has to be realized.” […]
Howard Axelrod: Skills of Perception (Episode 129)
“…seeing clearly is an ongoing balancing between seeing within a framework and seeing beyond a framework, between seeing with knowledge and seeing with wonder.” – Howard Axelrod
How Yin Yoga Harmonizes Qi: A Holistic Model – Part 1
This essay series will draw out some of the many hypothetical mechanisms of how the practice of Yin Yoga can be a powerful tool for harmonizing one’s Qi.
The Power of Writing: Dharma Talk (Episode 128)
“One benefit of a journaling practice is that it enables me to ‘look upon’ my thinking with a little more distance and objectivity. The activity of writing itself (a Yang […]
Buddha Knowing Dharma: Dharma Talk (Episode 127)
According to Joseph Campbell, mythology concerns the cosmological, sociological, pedagogical, and mystical dimensions of life. “If the mystical dimension is not there, you don’t have a mythology, you have an […]
Robert Wright: More Dharma of Bob (Episode 126)
“It’s hard to build coherent international governance on a foundation of incoherent nations. An America lacking in cohesion, divided along red-blue lines, won’t have the political will to do ambitious, […]
Expanding the Zone of Peace: Dharma Talk (Episode 125)
“When we practice with all conditions, we gain improvisational skills for life; we learn how to creatively adapt to things outside our comfort zone, thereby widening the experience of peace […]