Joanne Friday - Dharma Talks

Speaking during the runup to the 2020 election, Joanne points us to the tools to take care of our own consciousnesses during difficult times. She reminds us that we always have a choice: to contribute to the hell realms on earth, or to create heaven for ourselves and others. The talk includes the Plum Village song “The Realm of the Mind.” Dharma talk originally given on October 13, 2020, to the Mind Tamers Sangha, Rhode Island.

Joanne takes us through the process of transforming our anger, showing ourselves nothing but lovingkindness and understanding so that we can offer that to the world. The talk begins just after a guided meditation, to which she refers.

Joanne gives an overview of the first six of the 14 Mindfulness Trainings, showing that they are guidelines for us, to help us choose our actions wisely as we go through our lives. She shows us how they can guide us to avoid causing more suffering in the world, and to transform our own.

Dharma talk originally given on July 13, 2020, to the Peaceful Waters Sangha, Rhode Island.

By going one step beyond stopping and calming our breath, we can transform our suffering and bring peace to ourselves and others. Mindfulness and concentration can help penetrate our habit energies, and ignorance of our interconnectedness with each other becomes love and understanding. (July 2013)

Joanne shares how mindfully following our breath allows us to stop, rest and calm ourselves, unifying our mind and body. This practice allows us to concentrate and truly exercise free will, we can respond skillfully when suffering arises. A guided meditation follows.

(Hartford Day of Mindfulness, 11-5-2011)

Joanne uses the song "At the Foot of the Mountain" and Thay's story about the river to illustrate how we are made of every single thing in the cosmos and how awareness of our interconnectedness makes peace, harmony, and fearlessness possible. The song “At the Foot of the Mountain” is sung by the Nuns of Plum Village, from the recording "Mountains" available from Blue Cliff Monastery. (Hartford Day of Mindfulness, 2011)

we can become prisoners of our own lives if we hold on to If we hold on to fear, anger and hatred, we are prisoners. When we are able to look beyond the surface and see that we are essentially one and the same, compassion will arise for ourselves and others

Mindfulness practice and social change.

Joanne describes the basis of our practice as one of coming back to ourselves and taking responsibity for our own happiness so that we can co-create happiness with those around us. (Family Day of Mindfulness, 6-25-2011)

, the Buddhist precepts as shaped and made current by the Plum Village Tradition founded by Thich Nhat Hanh. (6-28-2011)

In this Dharma talk from 2012, Joanne asks us to look deeply together at the causes and conditions that create such tragedy in our culture, as well as at how we can take good care of ourselves to transform our own suffering in order to be able to help. The Buddha, she offers, shows us the way out.

Joanne Friday offers a guided meditation to ground oneself in one’s body, appreciating the miracle of the body’s ability to function. This meditation is great stress reliever in turbulent times.

The benefits of non-attachment to views and how to attain such with the practice of developing awareness of our actions.

Developing a "toolbox" for dealing with difficult people and conflicts over viewpoints, differing political views. The practice is developing confidence and strategies for responding to life challenges more skillfully.

A 2018 talk on Fear and Love, given by Joanne Friday, a Dharma teacher in the Tiep Hien Order, the Order of Interbeing, founded by Buddhist monk and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. To learn more, or to support Joanne’s work, please visit her website at https://www.joannefriday.com.