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with Jean Esther, IPV Guiding Teacher Council Member So often we come to Buddhist practice looking for relief from pain, particularly when it’s emotional. Paradoxically our meditation practice leads us to opening to ‘what is’. Not uncommonly, what can surface in meditation is the unresolved pain in our hearts.
Whether new or experienced in meditation please join Jean for this evening of exploration. Wednesday, October 23, sitting at 7:00pm and talk at 7:35pm.
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By Rebecca Bradshaw, IPV Guiding Teacher Emeritus  In this dharma talk and discussion, we will explore the cultivation of the qualities of connection, belonging, fullness and enoughness that come from engaging openly in gratitude and generosity.
Sit together with other sangha members in a relaxed atmosphere on Wednesday, October 16 (7:00pm-7:30pm). Dharma Talk by the IPV Guiding Teacher Emeritus (7:35-8:30pm).  Manny Mansbach By Manny Mansbach, IPV Teacher
Ajahn Chah’s term, The One Who Knows, refers to an innate knowing in us. Sometimes people use the term “Buddha Nature” to speak to this understanding that we’ve always had that knows about life. This quality of awareness can be a profound refuge, especially when we are able to clarify it and take that quality as the vantage point through which experience is known. One truly wonderful thing about it is this knowing is not something we have to acquire, but is an already an existing quality of our true nature! Learning to rest in The One Who Knows is not a self-improvement project, but coming to know in accordance with the truth. As we come home to this knowing, our lives can settle and clarify. Ajahn Amaro speaks about it this way: “Training the heart to rest in that quality of awareness, to be that very knowing, that space that receives and knows the world without confusion, that holds the whole world and all of its beauty and ugliness and ordinariness, and all its arising and ceasing. And the more that we are able to abide with this quality of knowing—be the one who knows—then we find a quality of integration, a quality of peacefulness.” In this class we will keep bringing kind awareness over and over to what we are doing, encouraging a simplicity and clarity of heart and mind that facilitates a shift of identity from thought-structure identification into the spacious experience of the present moment. Join us for The One Who Knows: The Wisdom Teachings of Ajahn Chah, 5 Mondays, October 7 - November 4; 7:15 - 8:45pm  Sometimes lessons in impermanence come in small packages like the gradual turning of leaves from summer green to autumn yellow and red. And sometimes it's a major shift that might take some skillful practice to get used to. You may remember that last spring Rebecca Bradshaw, our long-time Guiding Teacher, announced her retirement from that role. We are blessed that she will continue to teach at IPV as our Guiding Teacher Emeritus. We'll start with a short sitting followed by a celebratory gathering, appreciating Rebecca's role of leadership at IPV. If you would like a minute or two to offer a comment or share a short poem or song, please contact Joyce. Join us to celebrate this exciting transition for the Sangha and to appreciate the many gifts Rebecca has given the sangha over the years. We're also looking for people to help plan and host the evening. Click below if you're interested. The Buddha identified 3 poisons as the cause of unhappiness: greed, hatred, and delusion. When acted upon individually and systemically they perpetuate unhappiness and suffering for ourselves, for each other, and in our world.
This evening we will investigate their nature and how their antidotes can be cultivated and nourished leading to peace and happiness of the mind and heart. Included will be sitting meditation, a Dharma Talk, and time for discussion. It Ain’t Perfect, Permanent, or Personal: Transforming reactivity through the power of patience9/12/2019 By Dawn Scott, Guest Teacher
Ruth King’s re-framing of the three characteristics — the truth of suffering, the truth of impermanence, and the truth of not-self — as not perfect, not permanent, and not personal is pithy and powerful. With the support of Patience, one of the Ten Paramis, we’ll explore the ways that patience can guide the heart into transforming reactivity into a tender and gradual acceptance of life's imperfection, impermanence, and impersonal nature.
By Manny Mansbach Register now to join Manny for a 5-week course, The One Who Knows, beginning Monday, October 7. Ajahn Chah’s term, The One Who Knows, refers to an innate knowing in us. Sometimes people use the term “Buddha Nature” to speak to this understanding that we’ve always had that knows about life. This quality of awareness can be a profound refuge, especially when we are able to clarify it and take that quality as the vantage point through which experience is known. One truly wonderful thing about it is this knowing is not something we have to acquire, but is an already an existing quality of our true nature! Learning to rest in The One Who Knows is not a self-improvement project, but coming to know in accordance with the truth. As we come home to this knowing, our lives can settle and clarify. Ajahn Amaro speaks about it this way:
In this class we will keep bringing kind awareness over and over to what we are doing, encouraging a simplicity and clarity of heart and mind that facilitates a shift of identity from thought-structure identification into the spacious experience of the present moment.
By Rebecca Bradshaw, IPV Guiding Teacher Those of us who are on the front lines of activism related to climate and social justice (or even those who are just paying attention to the immense amount of suffering happening in our world) need to find a way that we can stay engaged and yet not get overwhelmed with the scope of suffering we encounter day after day. The Buddhist teachings of the Brahmaviharas, or Heavenly Homes, offers a way for the heart to navigate compassion in the face of ongoing moral injuries that we experience by being on the front lines. They offer a sane and balanced way to keep the heart open.
A number of years ago I worked for many years in community mental health in the inner-city. At first I was overwhelmed by the amount of suffering, trauma, and oppression that I engaged with. By consciously engaging with the Brahmaviharas, I learned to care, stay connected, and avoid getting overwhelmed. We can all find that even in situations with lots of suffering, we can develop flexibility in what the heart notices, keeping the heart joyous and spacious. During this three week class, we will practice together and support each other to care for this planet and all who live on her with openness and genuine connection. Register now for Buddhist Heart Practices for Climate and Social Justice Activists beginning October 1. By Manny Mansbach We humans tend to seek certain kinds of pseudo-refuge in the familiar, focusing on landing in a place that is known, seems safe and secure. We can become off-balance, disoriented, anxious, even afraid while waiting for what we think will be easier, until the employer calls with the job offer or the weather turns more to our liking, or we reach a new understanding with someone we’ve been in conflict with. There is value, we tell ourselves, in sailing in open, unprotected waters, but often we find ourselves longing for the refuge of the harbor. There’s nothing at all wrong with returning to the safe harbor of the known, but when we have difficulty finding ease in the gaps between our comfort zones there can be wide swaths of life that become uncomfortable. Depending on how we relate to these “in-between” places, we may be mildly, moderately or severely vexed. If the distress is habitual, socially embarrassing, strongly identified with or reinforces a negative self-esteem loop, then it can become quite limiting or even debilitating. Finding ease and freedom in these “in-between” places can be some of the most difficult and most important work of our practice. This talk will offer some direction for how we can “mind the gap” and struggle less when we are asked by life to swim in deeper water than we like or are accustomed to. Join Manny and other sangha members for a sitting at 7:00pm and talk at 7:35pm.
By Adi Bemak, IPV Teacher Through the lens of practice what do you know about conflict yourself? We will work with the Buddha's teachings on right speech, praise and blame as a way to look at how the use of our language as well as our habitual views can either provoke or reduce conflict. This evening will be interactive since each of us can contribute to the wisdom for finding harmony. Join Adi for an open sitting and Dharma Talk/Exploration at 7:00pm on Wednesday, August 21. No registration necessary. All are welcome.
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AuthorSBlog posts are written by various IPV and guest teachers. Biographies can be found on the Teachers page. Archives
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