January 2021 Talks

Summary of talks given in January 2021

Jan 1: We listened to a talk by Ayya Medhanadi about Ajahn Gunah who maintained metta with his kidnappers.

Jan 5: We listened to three monks from Pacific Hermitage discussing praise and blame, two of the eight worldly winds: praise and blame, pain and pleasure, fame and disrepute and gain and loss.

Jan 8: Ayya Ahimsa and Ayya Niyyanika of Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery presented the Four Right Efforts as part of their ongoing series on the Noble Eightfold Path (second Friday of each month). They talked about how to combine them with the Four Bases of Success: Interest, Energy, Clear Mind and Investigation.

Jan 15: Cori hosted the group and after a guided meditation by Gil Fronsdal she presented a video on Mindful Relationships by Rick Hanson. The is the first in a series that she will be presenting.

Jan 19: We listened to a Dhamma talk by Ajahn Sona on meditating on the four elements: direct experience vs conceptualization.

Jan 22: Cori hosted the group. She started with a guided meditation by Martin Aylward. Then she played part two of Rick Hanson's presentation on Mindful Relationships. Thich Nhat Hanh's Peace Treaty gives a wonderful "how to" for many of the concepts that Rick mentioned in his talk. (The Peace Treaty is near the end of this lesson on Difficult Emotions).

Jan 26: Tonight we listened to a beautiful Dhamma talk by Tahn Nisabho or Pacific Hermitage on how he saw the concept of grace relating to the first Noble Truth.

Jan 29: Cori shared an insightful talk by Rev. Williams on love and relationships in dealing with discrimination.