Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage

After attending an interfaith event celebrating the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Mary was inspired to look at how several faiths have so much in common in working towards ending suffering and supporting justice. Using Dr. King's talk on the Three Dimensions of a Spiritual Life, she reflects on how similar it is to the Buddha's teachings in the Eightfold Path especially sila . Recorded...

How did each of us get started on this path of awakening, of meditation, of awareness? As Mary reflected on these questions she found that the Buddha's teaching on the Five Spiritual Faculties invites us into practice and offers us the tools to stay on our continuing journey towards wisdom.  Recorded Jan. 7, 2023 in the virtual world. Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include you...

Sati  is usually translated as mindfulness but can also mean 'be with'. In this talk Mary reflects on the practice of resting in being - to be with each moment as it comes. It means letting go of our preconceived ideas and notions on how things should be, or should have been. Willingness and guarding the sense doors are how we move towards the equanimity we get when we rest in being. Rec...

At the Winter Solstice Mary reflects on the invitation to be with the darkness as well as the light. We may prefer one over the other, but we cannot do without either. How to be with each with friendliness and compassion is the practice. Recorded Dec. 22, 2022 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not...

We are conditioned beings and the experiences we have in our families of origin are some of the most impactful we have. Often we don't even realize how powerful they were or how much we are influenced by what happened years ago. Additionally, our current relationships with family can be fraught with challenges that go back decades. How does the practice help us to navigate these relationships...

In this talk Mary weaves together thoughts on the Buddha's awakening, volition and karma and the impact of meditation and mindfulness on the brain. The wisdom of the Buddha is still so clear 2600 years after he lived and presents us with a path to liberation that is accessible to all. Recorded Dec. 10, 2022 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name...

Our conditioning is so deep and ingrained that we don't even know it exists. In this talk Mary discusses the importance of seeing reality vs our perception of reality and how that leads to wisdom and liberation. Recorded Dec. 3, 2022 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automaticall...

There is so much bearing down on this these days, from the violence and tragedy so rampant in the world today to the concerns in our own lives. We can experience grief, sadness and other difficult emotions yet it is important not to let them overwhelm us. Gratitude is an important practice to keep balance in our world. With gratitude we don't lose connection with what is good and kind and als...

The 7th Factor of the Eightfold Path is Wise Mindfulness and it is a foundational piece of the practice and the "direct path to realization". In this talk Mary breaks down what mindfulness is and takes us through the four foundations leading to liberation and freedom from suffering and discontent. Recorded on Nov. 20, 2022 at Rancho Mirage, CA with Insight Community of the Desert Send me...

FROM THE ARCHIVES: The invitation to start where we are reminds us that our practice starts right here right now. What gets in our way today? Where are we stuck right now? That is where the work is - in the present moment because what else is there anyway? Recorded Jan. 31, 2015 in Los Angeles Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response -...

In the Eightfold Path, Wise Action invites us not to kill or steal or cause harm with our sexuality, however it's much more than just abstaining from doing things. It's also about cultivating a compassionate way of being which remembers that we are working for the benefit of all beings, not just ourselves. In this talk, offered at the Insight Community of the Desert, Mary discusses this...

The Buddha talked about greed, hatred and ignorance as the three poisons which we can often recognize in our own lives. In this talk, Mary discusses how pervasive they are in the world at large and what we can do to work against them and uproot them where we see them.  Recorded Oct. 20, 2022 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you woul...

Many of us are familiar with the teaching of the five hindrances, but how do they manifest in our lives and keep us from liberation. Mary discusses the nuanced ways that craving, aversion, restlessness, dullness and doubt can show up, how to recognize them, and how to let them go as we move towards awakening. Recorded Oct. 15, 2022 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments...

The Eightfold Path is the path away from being stuck in our conditioning which is often not very helpful and can even be harmful. It is a path towards liberation and awakening and Wise View is the first factor of the path and points the way. It invites us to recognize where we get stuck and to begin to move in a different direction - one of wisdom rather than ignorance. Mary discusses Wise View an...

It's vital to be reminded of the importance of kindness as a practice and as an intention. It's easy to be abrupt, to get on with things, be driven by so many deadlines that connecting with kindness falls to the background. In this talk Mary discusses how our mindfulness practice allows us to connect with kindness for ourselves and for others, and how it is an antidote to the greed and i...

Karma is often thought to be what happens to us if we do something bad. Instead karma in the Buddhist sense means action. In each moment we have the opportunity to move in a direction which takes us away from suffering and shift karma. In this talk Mary discusses the choice we have to break out of conditioning and move mindfully, and with intention, towards liberation. Recorded Sept. 24, 2022 in t...

A guided meditation on being in the now. Recorded Sept. 17, 2022 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Thanks. Visit Mary's website for more info on classes and teachings.

The Pali word dukkha is usually translated as suffering, but it can mean so many other things, including not being okay with the way things are. In this talk, Mary discusses the various understandings of the word and invites us to see how dukkha shows up in our life. We have to recognize it and be with it in order to let it go.  Recorded Sept. 17, 2022 in the virtual world Send me a text with any...

The Eightfold Path is what the Buddha offered as a path to liberation. In this talk Mary discusses the different factors with an invitation to find your way with them. Although the path is numbered 1-8, it's not linear. You can work with any or all of the factors at any time especially since they support each other. They grow in meaning and subtlety the more you practice. Recorded Sept. 10, 2...

In our world it seems that hate and anger are so prevalent it can feel overwhelming at times. As awful as that is, in our own lives, it's easy for us to slip into aversion and othering while finding it fully justified. In this talk Mary discusses the need to name love as a foundation of our practice. This foundation of love will allow us to fully open to the world and to ourselves, letting go...

Mary reflects on fourteen years of teaching a weekly dharma: where she and the world were in 2008, and the qualities of willingness, effort and determination which are necessary both for teaching a class and for growth and freedom in the practice.  It's beneficial to check in with our spiritual practice every decade or so. Recorded Aug 27, 2022 in the virtual world Send me a text with any que...

Grief and loss are an inescapable part of the human condition but we're not always ready or able to deal with these emotions. In this talk Mary invites us to identify these feelings and, using mindfulness practices, turn toward them with compassion. She shares her journey in learning how to move toward this intimacy with these difficult emotions. Recorded with Insight Community of the Desert...

FROM THE ARCHIVES :  Wise intention is necessary on a path to liberation and it is important to insure that our intentions are grounded in integrity and compassion. Intentions are not always wise and can often be driven by greed and aversion. In this talk from 2018 Mary discusses how to insure we're moving forward with truly wise intentions. Recorded Jan 3, 2018 Send me a text with any questi...

The Buddha talked about the nature of existence - how there is birth, death, illness - the human condition in other words. In this talk Mary takes a very personal look at how the teachings of the Buddha as well as examples from neuroscience and even baseball, allow her to experience the human condition with equanimity and joy. Recorded August 4, 2022 in the virtual world Send me a text with any qu...

The Buddha taught that impermanence is one of the three characteristics of existence yet so many of us struggle against it or live in denial of this fact. However, allowing the awareness of this impermanence to be part of our day to day lives is quite liberating and lets us live each moment fully. Mary discusses how this shows up and how we can embody this important teaching. Recorded July 30, 202...