Wise Caregiving

The Buddha taught that ignorance is the root of suffering. To ignore means to turn away from the truth. While speaking to the Guemes Island Community Church, Jonathan Prescott shows how Buddhism and Christianity both point towards overcoming ignorance through awareness and love.

Jonathan Prescott offered this exploration of hospitality to the Guemes Island Community Church. Jonathan uses poems and stories to reveal deeper aspects of hospitality, including the call to welcome those we don't agree with.

In Jonathan Prescott's final talk to the Anacortes Mindfulness Community, he offers a concise map of Zen practice, beginning with the establishment of happiness and ending with the depth of Zazen.

13 centuries ago, Zen Master Deshan encouraged us to grab the life of an ordinary person. What did he mean? Jonathan Prescott shows how our ordinary lives can be our awakened lives. We just need to stop.

In this talk, Jonathan Prescott helps us understand and feel our grief. He describes common types of grief and offers ways to practice so that we can transform our losses into compassion.

Deep within all of us is a golden Buddha. It's been there all along, radiating goodness and wisdom. But because we feel vulnerable in this challenging world, we've covered this precious gift with a 'self' that traps us in a cycle of suffering. Join Jonathan Prescott for an exploration of our own goodness. We'll look at the price we must pay to awaken, paid bit by bit with the transformed fragments...

Suffering and liberation are intimately bound together on a continuum of interbeing, intersection, and interpenetration. Liberation is the birthright of our Buddha nature, available to us in every moment. Shining the light within we touch our original nature. Therein lies the liberation we seek. This talk by Michael Melancon was offered at Radiant Light Zen's Interbeing of Suffering and Liberation...

We often come to meditation practice with an aspiration to alleviate and transform our pain. Yet for many, sitting in silence with awareness of the breath may actually be quite stimulating rather than calming. In this talk, Monica Kingsbury will explore how Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness helps us better understand how our brain and nervous system function as we practice, allowing us to maintain safe...

We all suffer. And we suffer because we create a war between how things are and how we want them to be. Jonathan Prescott shares the story of his own suffering and how the Buddha's example inspired him to end the war with his life. This is the first talk given by Jonathan Prescott at Radiant Light Zen's Interbeing of Suffering and Liberation retreat and focuses on suffering. The second talk, Take...

In an effort to protect ourselves, we wall ourselves off. But this very wall becomes the source of our suffering. In this talk from Radiant Light Zen's Interbeing of Suffering and Liberation retreat, Jonathan Prescott offers practices to liberate us and shows how love and surrender are powerful tools for dissolving our protective walls.

We’re not alone in our suffering and are not the first to yearn for liberation. Discover a Zen elder who teaches us how to work with suffering as a path to freedom. This talk was offered by Karla Johnston during Radiant Light Zen's Suffering and Liberation Retreat, October 12, 2023. Sources: Cambodia Oral Tradition, captured by Trent Walker First Buddhist Women: Poems and Stories of Awakening by S...

Jonathan Prescott describes how the precepts arose from the Buddha's awakened mind. All these centuries later, the precepts still call us home to our own awakened minds.

We spend our lives looking for love. But love has been in our hearts all along. Join Jonathan Prescott as he explores how you can feel the joy of meeting life with love.

In this talk, Tim Motley takes a closer look at the true nature of our existence. We walk this path, each of us a collection of mostly empty atomic particles, pulsed out of a quasar, condensed into this time and space, with the extraordinarily rare opportunity to embrace life and consciousness held by mindfulness.

Karla Johnston shares lessons of Spring in 50+ feet of Tahoe mega-snow: active patience and acceptance. Two questions are provided to deepen our practice.

Morning Light Sangha celebrates its 3rd anniversary. Join us as Jonathan Prescott shares MLS history, Michael Melancon describes our Zoomdo practice form, and the Sangha offers words about what MLS means in their lives.

Jonathan Prescott describes our Zen practice forms and how we use them to unearth the freedom that lies just beneath our veneer of suffering.

In this Dharma talk, Jonathan Prescott investigates generosity: How we begin by practicing generosity towards ourselves, then experiment with giving what we can while refraining from taking what isn’t offered. These practices show us our self-centered contractions and help us transform them into the joy of giving and receiving.

The point of all Dharma Teachings is that we can awaken and that such awakening is our birthright . . . . right here. right now. But how do we self-actualize our Buddha Nature?

The Buddhist Sutras are gems offered by our spiritual ancestors. This talk explores the origins of Sutras from the Theravada and Mahayana traditions and how we can use them to wake up.

Ram Dass once said: "If you think you’re enlightened, try spending a week with your family." In this week’s Dharma talk, Jonathan Prescott explores how Zen can help you smile to troublesome Uncle Ned and enjoy your sister’s dry fruitcake. Happy Holidays!

Bright Buddhas show us how to be free. Shadow Buddhas show us how to suffer. In this talk, Jonathan Prescott offers a 3-step practice to help us embrace our Shadow Buddhas and turn them into transformative teachers.

On the first evening of the Listening with Love Retreat, Jonathan Prescott introduces sitting, walking, and eating meditation.

In this second talk from the Listening with Love Retreat, Jonathan Prescott invites us into the joys of silence.

In this third talk of the Listening with Love Retreat, Jonathan Prescott shares a model for listening with the head, heart, and body.