We gather for two hours together the morning after Election Day, 2024, in large part to ground what we are experiencing in our practice and in community. We begin with short reflections from Sylvia and Donald, followed by short periods of meditation and then sharing from many of those present at the gathering, with intermittent reflections from Sylvia and Donald. We finish with short talks from Sylvia and Donald and then a reading of the intentions of community members going forward in the next period of time.

We begin with a review of last week's talk and exploration, on being a bodhisattva in our times. The theme was inspired by Donald's experience teaching two retreats north of Asheville, NC during Hurricane Helene and being inspired by the response of the retreat center, Southern Dharma, both locally near the center and in Asheville, combining community, inner practices, and helping others. In this session, we look first more at the traditional understanding of the bodhisattva, both in the context of the Buddha's teachings and later Theravada, and then Mahayana. We bring in images of the archetypcal bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara, Tara, Kwan Yin, and Manjushri, as well as examples of the vows of bodhisattvas, and an outline of the training of a bodhisattva in the ten paramitas (or "perfections"). We then ask about the nature of a contemporary bodhisattva, pointing to how connecting inner work and helping others can be a corrective to exclusively outer-oriented forms of activism and exclusively inner-oriented forms of Buddhist practice, in the context of a number of systemic crises that are facing us. After then looking at some of the capacities of a contemporary bodhisattva, we invite bodhisattva vows from those attending and hear from many. Discussion follows.

We start with Donald's experience of being at Southern Dharma Retreat Center in North Carolina, north of Asheville, teaching two retreats during Hurricane Helene, some four weeks ago, and how staff and community members have responded during and in the weeks since the hurricane, grounded in community and their inner practices. Such a response, linking inner practice and the outer support and help of others, resonates with the aspiration of the Bodhisattva, one dedicated to awakening and to meeting the needs of others. We explore some of the qualities and capacities of the bodhisattva, including being in touch with freedom and awakening, navigating difficulties and painful experiences skillfully, and following the challenging teaching of acting fully without attachment to the outcome or fruits of one's actions. The talk is followed by discussion.

In the first part of the talk, we explore the Buddha's core teaching, "I teach dukkha and the end of dukkha." This teaching can be confusing as the Buddha gave at least four different meanings of "dukkha." We examine each of the four and find that only the last sense of dukkha as reactivity, developed in the teachings of the Two Arrows and Dependent Origination, makes sense of "the end of dukkha." We then look at ten ways of practicing with and transforming reactivity (see the attached file), discussing briefly each of the ten. The talk is followed by sharing, questions, and discussion.

After guidance on the basics of our practice--developing stability and concentration, and cultivating mindfulness--and a period of silent practice, there is additional guidance, related to the later dharma talk, on noticing any experiences of reactivity and on exploring moderate or greater experiences of pleasant or unpleasant.

The Buddha suggested the core of his teaching in one short sentence: "I teach dukkha [suffering or reactivity or a sense of unsatisfactoriness] and the cessation of dukkha.” We explore this teaching in several ways. We see how the Buddha had multiple ways of talking about dukkha, with only, I suggest, the understanding of dukkha as reactivity, making sense of what the end of dukkha means. Dukkha as reactivity is explicated especially in two teachings, the Two Arrows and Dependent Origination. We look at the meaning of reactivity and how it manifests in our experience. We also see how reactivity can often be enmeshed with insight, such it makes sense to speak of transforming reactivity rather than simply suppressing it. We then explore five ways of practicing with reactivity. The talk is followed by discussion.

After settling our attention through concentration and/or mindfulness, there are further instructions in noticing any reactivity (involving grasping or pushing away in a more automatic way at the levels of mind, body, or emotions), then in attending to the feeling-tone (especially a moderate or a little greater sense of pleasant or unpleasant), and lastly in recalling an experience of reactivity in the last few days and exploring it with mindfulness.

In this second talk on practicing with mystery, we begin by talking more generally about the nature of mystery. We then review seven ways of practicing with mystery explored last week, while bringing in further examples of these ways of practicing, and add an additional two further ways of practicing. Reading of poems and excerpts from poems support this sense of multiple ways of practicing with mystery. The talk is followed by discussion.

This is a fairly lightly guided meditation on ways to practice with a sense of mystery, linked with the talk on this theme. After grounding in posture and intentions, basic instructions in developing stability and concentration, and then in mindfulness, are given, with later periodic suggestions on ways to practice with a sense of mystery.

Inviting a sense of mystery as we practice can bring further aliveness, presence, and openness, and help us go beyond our habitual patterns of thinking and practicing. In the talk, we explore seven ways of practicing with mystery, with the aid of a number of poems. The talk is followed by discussion.