Tea with Mara

Picking up where the last talk left off, this Two Hands Sangha Dharma Talk is about karma and its role in our choices regarding our speech and action. I hope these two talks have been beneficial and that you enjoy them!

Dharma Talk and Meditation from the Together with TRIPP Community on several aspects of the Eightfold Path and how they can help us with doing out best in social moments. I feel like this topic is extremely timely for a lot of us and I hope it's helpful. Enjoy!

Dharma Talk and Meditation on the MahāRāhulavāda Sutta with a focus on the five elements and the role of this meditation practice in the whole of the sutta. I thoroughly enjoyed talking about this with the community and I hope you'll enjoy the talk.

Two Hands Sangha Dharma Talk on changing the world by practicing with diligence on inclining the heart and mind toward wholesome action. I hope you enjoy this talk!

Dharma Talk and Meditation on the topic of perception, and finding happiness right here and now. Enjoy!

Dharma Talk and Meditation on the topic of the Five Precepts, and how they are meant to make life easier not more difficult! Enjoy!

A dharma talk on the topic of emotional intelligence and emotional resilience, and how the dharma can help us cultivate both of these things. I hope you'll enjoy this one.

A Dharma Talk and Meditation addressing - from a Buddhist Perspective - the question "Can people change?" People don't always think of the Dharma first when they think of relationship advice, but it's surprisingly useful. I hope you enjoy this talk!

Inspired by several situations I've encountered recently that got me thinking about the importance of listening to one another, of who we should listen to, of what the Buddha would have said about all of this and more. I hope you'll enjoy this episode and that it makes you pause and think, and then listen. We all struggle, and we all ignore good advice, let's learn to listen more!

Two Hands Sangha took the day off for Mother's Day, so I'm posting the talk from Mother's Day 2022. the height of the Covid Era, when we were meeting via Facebook Live/Rooms (which is why the audio is clippy, sorry!) and we spoke about the stories from the Buddha's mother's life. The stories are few, and varied, but I hope you'll enjoy them!

Sharing the story of a division in the community and how the Buddha dealt with it, from Old Path White Clouds, which led to the 6 principles of Harmonious Living and makes for an excellent teaching on how to be together in community at a time when so many communities are struggling with this. I hope you will enjoy this one greatly.

Dharma Talk and Meditation from Mindfulness Monday. This week we talked about The Buddha's Barber, Upali and the lessons we can learn from his story about humility, tenacity, and more. I enjoyed this dive into this somewhat unknown but crucial character in the history of the dharma. Enjoy!

Two Hands Sangha Dharma Talk inspired by a beloved community member question on how to deal with various kinds of transition in life with grace and courage. This was a beautiful topic and I hope I gave a few places to start. Enjoy!

Since I didn't have a dharma talk scheduled for Star Wars Day this year, I dug up the one from 2023 to offer as a replay, since the Podcast wasn't going then. Don't forget to take a deep breath in and a long slow exhale, and enjoy the Dharma of Star Wars. Matthew Bortolin put out a couple of books on the Dharma of Star Wars and I based most of my talk from his devoted love of the Dharm...

A Community requested Dhamma Talk and meditation on the difference between discernment and judgment, and how to move from judgment toward discernment in our practice. I hope you find this informative and helpful!

Dharma Talk and Meditation (heavily influenced by The Wizard of Oz) on understanding that what we seek out there is already within us, and the practices to help us see that such as Mindfulness, Allowing, and Gratitude. I hope you enjoy!

Two Hands Sangha Dharma Talk on the Four Nutriments and the Puttamansa Sutta (SN 12.63), which is a wonderful, but seemingly dark sutta that is kind of graphic in nature. Despite its graphic visuals, it's a great teaching. I hope you'll enjoy!

What is cooking in the kitchen of your mind? Who's the chef? Is anyone watching the stove? If you are, then good looking out! This episode is about the sutta called "The Simile of The Cook" and is talking about the importance of minding your practice, fine tuning and tweaking "the recipe" as needed, and more. I hope you enjoy this one!

It's Mindfulness Monday AND Earth Day. Of course we talk about the ways The Buddha incorporated nature into the practice! This was a lovely fun take on a serious topic - the climate crisis. I hope you'll find some inspiration in this dharma talk and meditation for Earth Day 2024!

Two Hands Sangha Dharma talk on the topic of generosity, mostly, and how we can begin to tackle the challenge facing unhoused people in our country. Spoiler alert: It isn't by ticketing and fining them.

Dharma Talk and Meditation on the topic of Forgiveness, Boundaries, and more requested by a community member. I hope you find this beneficial. Enjoy!

The final talk in the series of practices I'm calling "R.E.S.T." is on being "Thankful". Another way of saying Gratitude, the "T" is for "Thankful" and finishes up your REST practice. I hope this series of practices has given you a simple way to go through your days, practicing. Enjoy!

In this ongoing series for four talks on the R.E.S.T. set of practices, "S" stands for "Set Intentions" or, you could even say, "Samma Sankappa". This third offering of the four talks about closing out your day by setting intentions for the following day of practice. I hope you'll enjoy this talk followed by a brief meditation!

When you've used careful attention (reflection) in your practice, you can better embody the Dhamma out in the world each day. This Dhamma talk and meditation continue where the "Reflect" episode left off, and discusses how we live out the dharma in our daily life. Hope you enjoy!

The Buddha stressed to us the importance of Reflection often. That it was helpful before, during, and after our thoughts words and deeds. We hear this often, but nearly as often are confused as to how to do that or what it is. This talk explores that, and I hope you enjoy it.