Recording Category: Dharma Talks

Did you know that the Buddha addressed racism explicitly in his teachings? He was dealing with the caste system, and expressed clear views on it. If we are all one people, why and how did we get to this mess of perceiving different races, and treating people differently based on it. Why is it so… Read more »

This Sunday, Kakumyo will talk about the process of discerning whether some discordance in our life is ours to transform or not. If it is, what do we need to help this transformation along? If it’s not, how do we relate to it?

One of our Precepts says “Do Not Dwell on Past Mistakes.” We usually study this Precept as it applies to us personally, as we dwell either on our own or others’ mistakes. We’re in a place now nationally where many of our society’s past mistakes are coming home to roost, and we’re being asked to… Read more »

Bukkai retired from the Dharma Rain teaching group three years ago but returns to talk about summer ango and how we can relax a little while keeping our intention.

Kakumyo will be talking about some of the common misunderstandings and pitfalls in bringing more light and freedom to unwholesome karmic patterns.

This week Kakumyo will continue some themes from his last Dharma talk: Aliveness and interdependence; separation and solidarity; humility and clarity.

Many transitions are being marked this Sunday. It is the end of spring Ango, and so we will have a Term Closing ceremony. It is the end of the Dharma School year, and there will be a matriculation ceremony for those young adults just entering the adult sangha. And four new Lay Disciples will have… Read more »

There are many kinds of currency in today’s world: money, information, affection, prestige. We chase after them thinking they will satisfy a lack, a need. Often, we find they are not nearly as fulfilling as we had hoped and crave more. How will we find contentment and satisfaction? This Sunday Jyoshin talks about discerning what… Read more »

Our lives of late have occasional moments of deep fear, and many hours of mild irritation. What does it mean to be annoyed? How do we practice with the minor inconveniences of life? In fact, these small obstacles are one of the most effective ways to deep wisdom.

There are many urgent, complex problems in the world, and at times we all get caught by them, and information and analysis doesn’t actually free us. But there is something to notice that does help. The benefit is apparent on both a personal and a much larger level.  

This Sunday we celebrate the Buddha’s birth; an event that has many stories associated with it. This Sunday Jyoshin will circle around stories and storytelling in our tradition. Bring your tea and a comfortable seat up to your device to zoom in to listen to the talk.

This Sunday Kakumyo will talk about getting caught and unstuck and what a meditation practice can bring to bear on our current situation.

When circumstances take a sudden shift from what we have come to think of as normal, it can shake our sense of who we are. Almost all of us have had to deal with massive changes recently that may seem catastrophic. In addition, we can be confused by the curious juxtaposition of the sense of… Read more »

2,500 years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha himself predicted that all of us would realize Buddhahood. Buddhist scripture is replete with this assurance. But if our Buddhahood is assured, why do we struggle so with self-doubt? How do we balance the Buddha’s unbridled optimism with the frustration that inevitably arises in our practice?

In exploring Buddhist teachings and trying to incorporate them into our life, questions like “What is real?” move from being vague or frivolous ideas to concrete practices that shape our day. In this talk Kakumyo will see how this question shapes how we relate to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

We don’t have a lot of exposure to the Bodhisattva Vows at Dharma Rain. In this talk we’ll investigate these challenging and powerful vows. We’ll explore some of the rather different formulations of them and the koan nature of these vows. We’ll also investigate the power of wise aspiration in our practice.

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