Dharma Reflections
Sangha: Beautiful Friendship
Full of trust you left home And soon learned to walk the Path – Making yourself a friend to everyone And making everyone a friend. – from “Mitta ~ Friend” by Matty Weingast, The First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns* Insight Dialogue teacher Jan Surrey points out that, in a “life in…
Read MoreFinding Peace in Samsara
By Mike Dannehy Oh the hell of the world This Samsara In the Middle East Oil gushes Children die Murder rampant This media This News Is fed to me Yes I must watch I sit Inflamed in thought Broken hearted Angry Feeling Helpless Hopeless A world away My self, isolated My self to blame In…
Read MoreThe Path of Peace
There is a way, a path: it consists of continuous, sustained mindfulness and compassion. –– Rhonda Magee In the early 2000s I went with some friends my age to see a production of the 1960s musical Hair at the Hopkins Center. We were just graduating college in 1967 and 1968 when Hair was first produced.…
Read MoreAwakening Together: Insight Dialogue for BIPOC Practitioners
A Strong Commitment to Mindfully Facing Racism Exists in the Valley Insight Community. Since soon after Valley Insight’s inception, we have been nurturing our racial awareness and a sense of “racial distress” in the light of the Dharma teachings, which guide us so well in being with cognitive dissonance and moments of intense discomfort. In…
Read MoreAll Beings Without Exception, Omitting None
“Wherever I go, the only person I meet is that beautiful monk.” — Lalitavistara Sutra, Chapter 18 In early August, I went to a study retreat at the wonderful Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Its title was “Mothers, Sisters, Seekers, Friends: Stories of Struggle and Transformation.” Twenty-one of us, under the guidance of four gifted…
Read MoreAnd the greatest of these…
During the month of June, our Thursday morning study and practice group paused to reflect once again on the very familiar, relational Dharma practices called the four brahma viharas. These are: goodwill, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. These “pro-social” teachings all center around the intention of connecting wisely, kindly, and appropriately––in ways that create the…
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