“Awareness, Compassion, Wisdom: buy one, get two free”
– Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Information about Buddhism – Online
Insight Meditation Society Resources
Buddhism for Beginners (Tricycle Magazine comprehensive introductory resource)
Overview of Buddhist Texts (The Buddhist Society)
Dharma Seed (free [really!] audio recordings of Dharma talks)
Sounds True: Books and Online courses by teachers such as Jack Kornfield, Pema Chodron, Tara Brach and others
Regional Retreat Centers
Many people find that retreat experiences bring important insights and signficantly strengthen their practice. These (relatively) nearby organizations offer a schedule of meditation retreats that include day-long or weekend and up to a week or longer.
Bhavana Society (Buddhist monastery), Hamilton County, WV
Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville, Charlottesville, VA
Insight Meditation Center of Washington (DC)
Southern Dharma Retreat Center, Hot Springs, NC ( 1 hour from Asheville)
Books, Audio Books, Podcasts, Articles, and Ephemera
There are many, many wonderful books on Buddhism, Buddhist practice, and meditation. Those below are merely a small sampling.
We also have a lending library available at our Monday Night Meditation Group.
Reflections on Silver River: Tokme Zongpo’s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, a book by Ken McLeod
The Heroic Heart: Awakening Unbound Compassion, a book by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo. Another commentary on the 37 Practices of a Bohisattva.
In Love With the World: A Monk’s Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying, a book by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
The Circle of the Way: A Concise History of Zen from the Buddha to the Modern World, a book by Barbara O’Brien
Meditation in Plain English, by Bhante Gunaratana of Bhavana Society
The World of Tibetan Buddhism: An Overview of its Philosophy and Practice and other books by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation, and other books by Thich Nhat Hanh
Tricycle Staff’s top Buddhist books of 2017 (It was a really good year!)
Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong, and other books by Norman Fischer.
Links for Beth Upton; She has been teaching meditation since 2014 in Alermia, Spain, and in retreats around the world. She teaches the nuts and bolts of deep meditation. Her website is: https://bethupton.com/
Her brilliant Youtube channel is: http://www.youtube.com/@beth.upton.meditation
Awakening Compassion, and other books by Pema Chodron
Books, Audio, etc., by Jack Kornfield
Vasubandhu’s “Three Natures”, book by Ben Connelly
“The power of integrating early Buddhist psychology with the Mahayana emphasis on collective liberation.”
Nurturing a Relational Mindset, article by Paul Condon
“Compassion for each other is the basis for more authentic human connection—and can be cultivated through meditation.”
Nagarjuna’s Verses from the Center, article by Stephan Batchelor
Classic Batchelor on Nagarjuna and Emptiness. He describes Emptiness as “not a state, but a way.”
The Development of Wisdom article by Bhikkhu Bodhi
The famed translator on Concentration and Wisdom.
Free and Easy, sometimes called “Happiness“, a poem by Gendun Rinpoche
Eden Heffernan Retreat Resources
A number of people asked if we could post some of the quotes and resources that Eden Heffernan mentioned durning his last mini-retreat here.
Here are the books:
Orbital, by Samantha Harvey
Welcoming the Unwelcome, by Pema Chodron
Realizing Genjokoan, by Shohaku
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
And here are some quotes:
“When they miss people and things, when earth feels so far away that depression washes over them for days and even the view of the sun setting over the Arctic isn’t enough to lift them, then they have to be able to see the face of one of the others on board and find something there that keeps them going. Some solace. They don’t always. Nell might look at Shaun some days and resent him for failing to be her husband. Anton will wake resentful because none of these people is his daughter or son or anyone or anything he loves. This is the way it goes – and then another day they look into the face of one of those five people and there in their way of smiling or concentrating or eating is everything and everyone they’ve ever loved, all of it, just there, and humanity, in coming down in its essence to this handful of people, is no longer a species of confounding difference and distance but a near and graspable thing.”
–Samantha Harvey, Orbital
“Fortunately, there are effective ways of working with our tendency to polarize. We can begin by self-reflecting and noticing the “for” or “against” quality of our thoughts, words, and actions. We can also notice and take joy in those moments when we’re not polarizing. Throughout the day we can ask ourselves: Am I perpetuating my sense of being in opposition? Or am I going against that tendency by lessening the gap between myself and the world? Am I increasing my sense of separateness from others? Or am I nurturing bodhichitta, the longing and commitment to wake up for the benefit of all living beings”
–Pema Chödrön, Welcoming the Unwelcome
In our zazen practice and in our daily activity of bodhisattva practice, it is not a matter of individual actions based on individual willpower and effort. It is rather the myriad dharmas, or all beings, that carry out practice through our individual bodies and minds. For this reason Dōgen taught that zazen is not a practice meant to make human beings into buddhas; zazen is itself Buddha’s practice. Dōgen defined Buddha as Jin Daichi, “whole great earth.” This is an expression for the self that is together with all beings.
–Shohaku Okumura, Realizing Genjokoan
“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
A lot more can be found at:
https://www.richmondzen.org/recommended-resources
Friends and Neighbors
Williamsburg Unitarian Universalist congregation, birthplace of our sangha and ongoing supporter.