Podcast appearances and mentions of marin sangha

What core Buddhist teachings are reflected in all other wisdom traditions? As stated in the Kālāma Sutta, known as the Buddha's "charter of free inquiry," Donald Rothberg encourages us not to believe anything simply because we are told to, but rather apply our own experience and discernment. He encourages us to embrace the very practical core teachings of Buddhism and consider how those resonate with other religious traditions. He explores the foundations of our teachings in familiar Buddhist language, framing them in terms of: EthicsThe heart practices (compassion, loving-kindness, joy, etc.)WisdomHe then looks at the essence of each and how they can be expressed very simply in ordinary, practical language that goes beyond Buddhism.WATCH the full talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1ZLIg05F38 ______________Donald Rothberg, Ph.D., is a member of the Teachers Council at Spirit Rock Center, a guiding teacher for the Marin Sangha in San Rafael, California, and a regular teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, Southern Dharma Retreat Center, InsightLA, and New York Insight. He teaches retreats and groups on concentration and insight meditation practice, lovingkindness practice, transforming the judgmental mind, mindful communication, working skillfully with conflict, and socially engaged Buddhism. He has practiced insight meditation since 1976, and has also received training in Tibetan Dzogchen, body-based psychotherapy, and trauma work. He has helped guide many six-month to two-year training programs in socially engaged spirituality, both Buddhist-based and interfaith, and is the author of The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World, and the co-editor of Ken Wilber in Dialogue. ______________ To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/There you can: Donate Learn how to participate live Find our schedule of upcoming speakers Join our mailing list or discussion forum Enjoy many hundreds of these recorded talks dating back to 1996 CREDITSAudio Engineer: George HubbardProducer: Tom BrueinMusic/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Lisa Dale Miller starts this episode with an explanation of why the Groundless Ground Podcast has been on hiatus for the last year. Then the episode presents a dharma talk Lisa gave at Marin Sangha one month ago. Her talk is a reminder that every moment is an invitation to decrease the mass of human suffering by seeding the world with at least one more quiescent, wise, and compassionate mind committed to non-harming. Lisa explicates why cultivation of Bodhicitta is the ultimate path to accomplishing that aim, right in the midst of ordinary daily life. Longchenpa's Finding Rest in the Nature of MindLisa Dale Miller, LMFT, LPCC, SEP specializes in working with high-performing professionals (engineers, scientists, executives, physicians/psychologists, first responders) struggling with unresolved traumatic experiences: particularly medical trauma, C-PTSD, combat and war trauma, moral injury, high-impact injuries, burnout, workplace harassment, traumatic grief, and challenging life transitions.Lisa authored Effortless Mindfulness: Genuine mental health through awakened presence a highly regarded textbook on Buddhist psychology for mental health professionals. Lisa has been an outpatient clinician for the VA San Jose, has taught a variety of Mindfulness-based Interventions, and is an AAMFT Clinical Fellow. Lisa is a Buddhist teacher and has been a yogic and Buddhist meditation practitioner for over four decades.

This is a recording of a dharma talk Lisa Dale Miller gave March 19, 2003 at Marin Sangha. Recently neuroscientist Richard Davidson reiterated a long-held tenet of Tibetan Buddhism that all human beings share the same wish to be happy and free of suffering, and that this wish emerges from innate basic goodness. This goodness is often viewed in Mahāyāna and Vajrayana Buddhism as an expression of Buddhanature, the fundamental awakened mind of all beings. There is not much in the Pāli Canon to support the notion of innate goodness. However, the Buddha did teach unconditioned mind—a mind purified through contemplative effort, not an innately awakened mind. This dharma talk compares these two frameworks and explores the cultivation of ethical goodness using specific suttas and findings from affective neuroscience. And I am joined by a co-teacher ChatGPT, which explicates historical references to goodness and investigates its own sense of how to engage in ethical conduct. Lisa's catalogue of Dharma Talks can be found on the Groundless Ground and those done prior to 2020 are available on my clinical website. 

It's been a very disturbing few weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine. Coincident with the initiation of war, clinician, author and dharma teacher Lisa Dale Miller taught two weeks in a row at Marin Sangha. These two dharma talks explore, from a Buddhist point of view, what it means to be wise, compassionate, and even awakened in the midst of difficult circumstances. The second talk, which starts at 27:00, dives deeper into what the Buddha called, the rod of violence, as well as its causes and alleviation. May these talks benefit all beings everywhere and contribute to the end of all war and violence.

Two recent dharma talks given by Lisa Dale Miller at Marin Sangha explicate what kindness is from Buddhist psychological perspective and how it radically differs from niceness. To lay the groundwork of what kindness is, the first talk employs a very challenging sutta, “The Simile of the Saw”, where the Buddha proscribes wholesome conduct in all manner of difficult relational engagements.  The second talk investigates kindness and niceness and clarifies their differences. Niceness though pleasing or agreeable, is only intended to avoid discomfort and is deceptive and disingenuous. Kindness is genuine benevolence enacted through skillful application of presence and discerning wisdom. Due to its engaged and other-centered nature, kindness isn't always easy and navigating the discomfort it can bring is the common ground of both talks. May these talks lead to the awakening of all beings everywhere. 

Bride of the Buddha: Barbara McHugh Imagine... the story of Yasodhara, the abandoned wife of the Buddha. Facing society’s challenges, she transforms her rage into devotion to the path of liberation. The page-turner about a woman’s struggle in an unapologetic religious patriarchy, Bride of the Buddha offers a penetrating perspective on the milieu of the Buddha. "This engrossing exploration of gender dynamics, identity, and the spiritual quest for meaning will appeal to Buddhists and general readers alike." —Publishers Weekly “This is an impressive tapestry of history, spiritual philosophy, and literary drama and an edifying look at the patriarchal limitations of Buddhism’s genesis…An intelligently conceived and artistically executed reconsideration of religious history.” —Kirkus Reviews “Bride of the Buddha is an immersive novel about the founding of Buddhism, told in the voice of a woman who would not be excluded from the spiritual quest, nor from the presence of the man whom she loved.” —ForeWord Magazine Barbara McHugh is a published poet and novelist. She has an M.A. in English Literature from N.Y.U. and a Ph.D. in Religion and Literature from the University of California at Berkeley and the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. She has been studying Buddhism and practicing meditation for decades and has taught introductory courses on both topics. She currently is on the Board of Directors of Marin Sangha and co-leads an ongoing sitting group in Berkeley. When she's not writing, she likes to hike and travel and chase solar eclipses. www.BarbaraMcHugh.com Learn more about Simran here: www.iamsimran.com www.1111mag.com/

This episode is a dharma talk I gave online at Marin Sangha on 9/13, when we were experiencing insane wildfires burning throughout our area. The talk uses the Fire Sutta to explore collective conduct and personal responsibility in the midst of extreme life circumstances such as 2020 continues to bring many of us. My intention in releasing it now is to incline every eligible American to vote with the preservation of our democracy foremost in mind. Our President and Senate leaders have failed us in so many ways: 200,000 unnecessary deaths from COVID-19, their complete lack of interest in the obvious effects of climate disruption such as the massive wildfires here in the West, and their direct attempts to undermine voting and American democracy. Every American must wake up and out of complacency. It is time to remove these harmful, self-serving leaders from power. We each have the power to restore our nation to sanity, restore our government to health, and restore wisdom, intelligence and collective care as the central motivation for our nation. May every voter have an easeful, meaningful voting process! Lisa's website

This episode features a dharma talk given by Lisa Dale Miller at Marin Sangha in March 2019. The talk begins with a discussion of teachers and their fallibilities, and the ethical standards the Buddhist teachings require teachers to uphold. The second part of the talk focuses on human beings who spend their lives engaged in wrongdoing, realize their misconduct, endeavor to transform internal suffering, and consequently end further wrongdoing. How do we hold such individuals accountable for their actions without getting lost in generating hatred toward them and their wrongdoing? How can we develop a compassionate view of those who have been harmful are no longer a source of harm? The wisdom of how to accomplish this is a big part of the Buddhist teachings on wise view, wise intention, wise action and compassionate recognition of human suffering. An example of the Buddhist teachings on transforming harm is found in a sutta featuring a teaching by Angulimala, a mentally disturbed murderer who became a monk, renounced violence, and then served as attendant to the historical Buddha. "Who once did live in negligence And then is negligent no more Who checks the evil deed he did by doing wholesome deeds instead He illuminates the world Like the moon freed from a cloud There are some that tame with beatings But I was tamed by such who has no rod nor any weapon Harmless is the name I bear who was dangerous in the past The name I bear today is true I hurt no living being at all."

Episode 6 features a dharma talk given by Lisa Dale Miller at Marin Sangha on May 6, 2018. Lisa treads on the somewhat problematic territory of karma and reincarnation as understood in the early Buddhist teachings. Lisa’s interest in the actuality of karma and reincarnation is purely speculative. She does not find belief in past lives necessary for recognizing right view, ascertaining right intention, or aligning with the Buddha’s instructions for ethical conduct. And of greatest importance, the existence or non-existence of past lives matters little when it comes to the many forms of superlative meditation practices featured in the Theravada, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayana schools of Buddhism. If you are interested in more in-depth engagement with this topic, Bhikkhu Analayo has just released a new book comparing Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research on past lives and near death experiences. Lisa’s dharma talks will now be released as Groundless Ground episodes. All past dharma talks are available on her website http://lisadalemiller.com and as iTunes podcasts.

This is a dharma talk I gave at Marin Sangha on November 5, 2017 on Bodhicitta: the dedicated, heart-felt desire to fully awaken for the benefit of all other beings. Bodhicitta reminds us that every moment is an invitation to awaken all beings by motivating ourselves to engage in other-regarding behaviors. This is how we take on the responsibility of decreasing the mass of human suffering by seeding the world with at least one more quiescent, wise and compassionate person who moves through their life awakened and present to suffering and non-suffering.

Listen to a dharma talk I gave at Marin Sangha on March 12, 2017. This talk focused on the Buddhist teachings on intrepidity and fearlessness. How to cultivate strength of mind in the face of danger and difficult conditions.

Listen to a dharma talk I gave at Marin Sangha on November 27, 2016. The continuing collective distress since the American Presidential election, makes it even more critical for Buddhist practitioners to understand how effective social action and the Buddhist practices of wise speech, embodied awareness and right action compliment one another beautifully. Virtuous conduct, sīla, depends upon a Buddhist practitioner's ability to comprehend and enact right view: impermanence, not-self and the causes of suffering and non-suffering. This talk clarifies how to hold the precepts and boldly, fearlessly engage in social action.

Listen to the first of two talks I delivered at Marin Sangha in May 2016 on Delusion and Non-delusion. This first talk covers the Buddhist psychological description of how delusion manifests in human perception and the effects it has on collective and personal human suffering.

Listen to two talks I delivered at Marin Sangha on non-attachment—certainly the most misunderstood and maligned Buddhist ideal. This first talk deconstructs the term into its various meanings and explores the philosophical implications of non-attachment and identity clinging through the Buddha’s teachings from the Pāli Canon and those of several modern-day Buddhist teachers.

Listen to the second of two talks on non-attachment—certainly the most misunderstood and maligned Buddhist ideal. This talk focuses on the practical application of non-attachment in daily life. Together the Marin Sangha and I explored various ways to cultivate non-clinging by transforming greed with equanimity, hatred with compassion, and delusion with clarity.

This dharma talk was delivered at Marin Sangha on May 31, 2015. I was asked to talk about the Buddhist psychology of addiction. The talk covers quite a bit of ground including childhood trauma and its physiological and psychological role in teen/adult addiction. The talk also has instructions for landing in the aliveness of physicality as it is.

This is the second of two dharma talks given at Marin Sangha in June 2014. In this talk Lisa Dale Miller continues her refutation of a "universal dharma" by describing Lojong Mind Training and its attentiveness to the dreamlike nature of self, mind and world; a unique feature of the Buddhadharma that is not imparted by any mindfulness-based intervention.

This is the first of two dharma talks given at Marin Sangha in June 2014. In this talk, Lisa Dale Miller refutes the controversial claim by Jon Kabat-Zinn and others, that mindfulness-based interventions (MBSR and the like) deliver a "universal dharma"; an accurate depiction of traditional Buddhist meditation practices and implicitly imparts the profound ethical and philosophical aspects of the actual Buddhadharma.

The first of two dharma talks given by Lisa Dale Miller, LMFT, LPCC, SEP at the Marin Sangha on November 10 and 17, 2013. This first talk covers the difference between self and identity, early Buddhist ideas about “becoming” and “taking birth”, and modern perspectives on person identity.

The second of two dharma talks given by Lisa Dale Miller, LMFT, LPCC, SEP at the Marin Sangha on November 10 and 17, 2013. This talk covers the phenomenology of identitylessness and the gateway to its direct experience: awareness.

The second of two dharma talks given by Lisa Dale Miller, MFT, at the Marin Sangha on November 4 & 11, 2012. Continued discussion and teaching about the relevance of enlightenment for Western Practitioners, focusing on the Buddha's teaching of Dependent Origination.

The first of two dharma talks given by Lisa Dale Miller, MFT, at the Marin Sangha on November 4 & 11, 2012. A lively discussion and teaching about the relevance of enlightenment for Western Practitioners. This first talk took place 5 days after Hurricane Sandy devastated New York and New Jersey, so the first 10 minutes of the talk focuses on that tragedy.

The first of two dharma talks given by Lisa Dale Miller, MFT, at the Marin Sangha on June 3 and 10, 2012 bridging the gap between personal love and the Buddha's profound teachings on boundless love. In these two talks we traversed the wild and diverse world of love— its ever-present approach and avoidance, needing and wanting, holding and letting go, gain and loss, opening and collapsing— eventually arriving at the point in which these dualistic qualities ultimately dissolve into love's true nature as boundlessness.

The second of two dharma talks given by Lisa Dale Miller, MFT, at the Marin Sangha on June 3 and 10, 2012 bridging the gap between personal love and the Buddha's profound teachings on boundless love. In these two talks we traversed the wild and diverse world of love— its ever-present approach and avoidance, needing and wanting, holding and letting go, gain and loss, opening and collapsing— eventually arriving at the point in which these dualistic qualities ultimately dissolve into love's true nature as boundlessness.

A dharma talk given by Lisa Dale Miller, MFT, at the Marin Sangha on February 27, 2011. This talk focuses on experiencing nibanna or "the deathless" in daily life primarily through the practices of paying attention and letting be. visit my web site www.lisadalemiller.com/mbpsych.htm visit my blog mindfulpsyche.blogspot.com

A dharma talk given by Lisa Dale Miller, MFT, at the Marin Sangha on February 15, 2009 on how to find the freedom in times of uncertainty through the practice of mindful compassion as a means to experience the known and unknown of each moment. visit my web site www.lisadalemiller.com/mbpsych.htm visit my blog mindfulpsyche.blogspot.com