Dr. King describes this ambition of James and John to sit with Jesus in his glory as the Drum Major Instinct, and says that this instinct is not a bad one if it is used for good.  Dr. King said, “We all have the drum major instinct. We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade; and that the greatest issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct. The Drum Major Instinct is a good instinct if we don’t distort and pervert it.  Don’t give it up!  Keep feeling the need for being important.  Keep feeling the need for being first.  But I want you to be the first in love.  I want you to be the first in moral excellence.  I want you to be the first in generosity.”   Dr. King then closed his sermon by emphasizing that he did not want to be remembered solely for his Nobel Peace Prize, awards, praise and accolades, but as someone who helped his fellow human beings.  

Love, moral excellence and generosity are the measures of true greatness. Our current culture values power, money and fame, and Dr. King’s wise reminder of the Drum Major Instinct is deeply moving and I’d say so needed within our present Culture. These are the qualities and attitudes that we develop in our Meditation and Buddhist practice which are ultimately expressed through our Service.  We don’t develop them because we “should” or because an authority tells us to, but because we see that love, moral excellence, generosity and service to one another make us feel like we lived a life worth living.  

Melissa began her path of meditation in 1998 with a small group of dedicated practitioners in Oakland, CA with her beloved, though not known, teacher named Barbara Janus who introduced her to the teachings of Sayadaw U Pandita of Burma. Her first retreat was with Sayadaw U Pandita and the profound changes she saw in herself gave her a strong faith and dedication to the practice. She practiced with Sayadaw and his monks at centers in the U.S. and Burma.  She met Bhante Khippa Pano of Vietnam in 2000 and he became her main teacher.  She continues to attend intensive meditation retreats yearly and has trained for over 10,000 hours… READ MORE Join Melissa for: (Hybrid: In-Person) Boundless Heart Metta Retreat Online and In-Person at Benedict Canyon Retreat House on February 9th, 2024

The post The True Measures of Greatness appeared first on InsightLA Meditation.

With the chapter of 2023 about to close, we sit atop a planet consumed with hatred, greed, deep suffering, and loss. To be awake and alive means facing the truth of our dying planet and so much darkness around us. We remain scarred from the fear and grief of COVID-19, and find ourselves waking up to images of warfare and carnage throughout the world. Multiple countries are sliding towards authoritarianism and zealotry is spreading.

How can we be happy, joyous, and free when so many things are dying or ending?

From the beginning, Buddhism taught that all things that emerge in time will fade and cease to be. The foundational concept of impermanence (Anicca) emphasizes the transient and ever-changing nature of all phenomena, including Buddhism and life itself. All things are subject to decay and cessation. This perspective centers the fact that death is a natural and inescapable part of the human experience. Our foundational kinship is that our bodies will stop functioning one day and then forever. 

The First Noble Truth in Buddhism acknowledges the existence of suffering. Death is one of the aspects of life that entails inherent suffering. The cycle of birth, aging, illness, and death is part of the human condition, and we experience various forms of suffering throughout this cycle.

May we all continue to practice alone and together, and cultivate awareness of the “dharma of death.” May we return to our practice of being fully present to the current moment without attachment to the past or anxiety about the future.

*** For those in the Los Angeles area, you are welcome to join our final in-person Mindfulness and Grief and Loss Workshop/Retreat on Sunday December 31, 2023 at 1:00-4:00pm (PT). If money is the only barrier to your participation, please reach out for assistance:
https://insightla.org/event/tears-of-grief/

The post Grief and Loss All Around Us appeared first on InsightLA Meditation.

Because mindfulness meditation is so important to me and to our community, It is my great joy to hold space for our sitting group at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, on Monday evenings in January 2024. I find sitting with other people nourishing. I also know that many of us will need the support to re-center ourselves after a busy December.  Starting off the year in mutual care and support can also set the right auspicious tone for the new year!   Let’s support each other in our practice by sitting together and joining in community.  

Eileen Ybarra began studying Theravadan Buddhism meditation practice in 2004. Her first meditation teacher was Trudy Goodman. Since 2004, she has also studied with a variety of dharma teachers through the Against the Stream Meditation Society, Insight Meditation Center of Redwood City, Durango Dharma Center, and Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Her profession is public librarianship, a meaningful practice of service and mindfulness, which she is grateful for… READ MORE

The post Recalibrate and Calmly Gather appeared first on InsightLA Meditation.

What if you are truly deserving of your own love and affection? Sadly, we tend to live our lives like we are our own worst enemy.  Tragically, the truth is that most of our suffering is actually self-inflicted.  We can spend a lifetime wandering in a kind of exile, banished from our own hearts. Then, we wonder why we are so unhappy, unfulfilled, stuck or unproductive.  

As a simple experiment, just spend a few minutes listening to your own self talk?  Are these voices kind or harsh, supportive or critical?  Just stop and listen.  If you are like most of us, the dominant voices in your head tend to be primarily self-defeating.  Be honest, if you spoke to your friends that way, would you still have friends?  Your heart is listening, and the consequences can be tragic.  

Call off the “search” and welcome yourself home through Mindful Self-Compassion, a transformative course designed to cultivate true inner friendship, especially in moments vulnerability, loss, failure or pain, when we need it most.  With Mindful Self-Compassion, you can begin right now, just as you are.  

Together, we’ll learn how to return our hearts to itself.  We will learn real and practical ways to experience the refuge and power of our own tender care, in the way that truly only we can do for ourselves.  No one else can do this for us.   

The Buddha’s wisdom points to a profound paradox – it is only when we begin to befriend ourselves from within that we can truly start to connect and show up in life in our own unique, wholesome and precious way.  I ask you, what could be a better way to start the new year?  

Join Lisa Online for Mindful Self-Compassion for 8 consecutive Thursdays starting Jan 4th, 2024 from 7-9:30pm PT and In-Person at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Mondays at Feb 5, 12, 19, and 26, 2024 from 7-8:30pm PT.  

Lisa Kring is an LCSW (MSW-USC) and is a committed practitioner of Theravada Vipassana mediation for over twenty years. She is a graduate of the Dedicated Practitioner’s Program and Advanced Practitioner Program at Spirit Rock, and has studied with many teachers over the years, including Dan Siegel, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ven Analayo, Ven Ayya Tathaaloka and Ven Sayadow U Tejaniya, and presently counts Guy Armstrong, as well as Kittisaro and Thanissara, as her guiding teachers…READ MORE

The post Deserving or Self-Defeating appeared first on InsightLA Meditation.

An excerpt from Dhamma Everywhere by Sayadaw U Tejaniya

So, should you think or not think while practicing? You should be watchful of the kinds of thoughts that will increase craving, aversion, or delusion. When people say there shouldn’t be thinking, they are referring to defilement-motivated thinking. Of course you can’t help thoughts that just arise naturally but you don’t help these defilement-motivated thoughts to grow even more.

This information I’m giving you now will be working in the mind when you are practicing and you use the theory along with your own intelligence to work skillfully with the situation at hand. Utilizing the good qualities of the mind (i.e. sati, viriya, paññā) and applying intelligence is the work of mindfulness meditation.

Question: There is the object and there is the watching or observing mind. Which is
more important?
Answer: The watching or observing mind is more important.

You need to pay attention to the observing mind if you want to understand the truth. Regularly check on how you are practicing. Wisdom can not arise in the presence of craving, aversion, or delusion in the observing mind. What attitude is the mind practicing with? Check your attitude regularly. Don’t be fixated on experiences. They will arise according to their nature and they only
serve to keep the awareness.

A wise yogi uses the six sense objects to develop awareness, stability of mind, and wisdom. For those whose practice are not so mature, the same objects will only increase craving, aversion, and delusion.

Question: Which object is better, the incoming / outgoing breath at the nostrils or the rising / falling motion of the abdomen?
Answer: It’s neither! One object is not better than another. An object is just an object. If you perceive one object to be better than another object, you will naturally become attached to the preferred object. Later, when you can’t pay attention to that specific object, then you may think that you are not able to practice.

Craving will surely arise when choosing one object over another. Aversion comes in when you don’t find the object of your choice. Believing that an object is “good” is really delusion at work!

So, is it your responsibility to develop the object or the faculty of awareness in meditation? Objects will always present themselves according to their nature; your work is to develop awareness. You are not trying to change anything that is happening but working to strengthen and improve the mind that is not yet strong in awareness. Right now, there’s little stability of mind, wisdom is weak, effort feeble and faith lacking. Meditation is the work of cultivating and strengthening the spiritual faculties of sati, samādhi, viriya, saddhā, and pāññā.

For more of Sayadaw U Tejaniya’s teachings join LC Tran on:
Feb 24th, 2024 – 24 Hour Practice
March 16th, 2024 – The Power of Insight: A Daylong Retreat Online and In-Person
Oct 26th, 2024 – The Power of Insight: A Daylong Retreat Online and In-Person

The post Thinking While Practicing appeared first on InsightLA Meditation.

The first of these heart qualities, loving-kindness or “Metta,” might be referred to as the “the force of unstoppable friendliness.” It is a loving energy and intention of goodwill that sustains itself independent of the circumstances or responses of others. The remaining three Brahma Viharas extend from this powerful love. When loving-kindness encounters suffering and is not dragged down into pity or hate, compassion can naturally arise. When loving-kindness experiences joy in others and does not react with envy or overzealousness, we can respond with appreciation. And when loving-kindness faces the ups and downs of life and remains steady and caring, that’s an expression of equanimity.

The Brahma Viharas are sometimes referred to as “Sublime Attitudes.” This translation points to an important facet of these heart qualities – the intention with which we approach our lives. Our attitudes arise not only in response to conditions and stimuli, but also through practice. By practicing these “Sublime Attitudes,” we develop them as natural qualities of the heart that are available in the moments of our lives in which they are needed.

Although the teachings of the Bramha Viharas focus primarily on our developing unselfish goodwill in our relationships with others, we can also practice these heart qualities in relation to ourselves. The traditional practice of Metta invites us to include not only others, but ourselves in the circle of love and goodwill. Extending this intention to the remaining three Divine Abodes, we can draw inspiration from programs that have been developed around Mindful Self-Compassion, Awakening Joy, and Cultivating Equanimity.

If you are interested in exploring these heart practices more deeply, please join me in my upcoming course Cultivating Kindness, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity, starting November 28, 2023 for 4 Tuesdays from 6:30-7:45pm PT. We will weave together Dharma teachings with discoveries in modern psychology and neuroscience to cultivate and experience these heart qualities in our everyday lives – within ourselves, our relationships, and our communities.

JD Lloyd is a long-time member of the InsightLA Meditation Community, where he completed four years of dedicated Dharma study programs and received training to facilitate mindfulness classes. He completed additional training to conduct courses in Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and he has also received specialized education in chaplaincy support, contemplative caregiving, and trauma-sensitive mindfulness…READ MORE

The post Powerful Love appeared first on InsightLA Meditation.

In the abundant heart, our sense of welfare expands. The Iowa corn farmer whose corn always took first prize at the state fair had the habit of sharing the best seed corn with all the farmers in the neighborhood. When asked why, he said, “It’s really a matter of self-interest. The wind picks up the pollen and carries it from field to field. So if my neighbors grow inferior corn, the cross pollination brings down the quality of my own corn. That is why I am concerned that they plant only the very best.”

To reawaken our sense of abundance, Buddhist psychology offers deliberate trainings and practices to cultivate generosity as a joyful way of being. There are daily practices of giving, vows of dedication to service, visualizations of our devotion to the welfare of all. These are repeated until in the end there is no notion of separation, neither giver nor receiver. We are all the Buddha feeding ourselves.

Paul was a retired banker at loose ends whose Buddhist teacher suggested that he develop the path of service. Paul began to help at the temple, on committees, and at the community hospice. His life had been dedicated to success and self-importance, but as he began to serve others his self-interest faded, his unconscious fears passed. His work at the hospice taught him that what mattered was love. People who at first had been put off by his brusqueness and arrogance began to enjoy his presence. As he devoted himself to service, his heart mellowed like a good wine.

These generosity practices are not a way to become “good,” but a way to become happy. We do not have to work at a hospice or an emergency room to serve. Sometimes our generosity is the giving of a smile, silence, listening, warm touch. Sometimes it involves action, time, money, our commitment to justice, our vision for a better world. Every form of giving is a blessing.

From: The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology, p. 201-2

Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India and Burma. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. After graduating from Dartmouth College in Asian Studies in 1967 he joined the Peace Corps and worked on tropical medicine teams in the Mekong River valley. He met and studied as a monk under the Buddhist master Ven. Ajahn Chah, as well as the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma… READ MORE

The post Transformation of Desire into Abundance appeared first on InsightLA Meditation.

The Buddha encouraged meditation and training the mind. One of the translations of the Tibetan word for meditation is ‘familiarize.’  When we meditate, we familiarize ourselves with what it is we cherish, and we learn to tend to that which we value most. 

To develop wisdom and to understand cause and effect, the Buddha guides us to pay attention to three universal characteristics: imperfection, unreliability and the centerlessness of all things. The opportunities to observe these facets of existence are everywhere, but what allows us to transform mere observations into liberating insights? 

Rest. When the mind is brittle, the capacity to learn or grow is limited, we just get through. Resting, resting in kindness – the heart unfreezes and can open to the intensity of the moment with awareness. We discover the compassion and wisdom we are seeking are already there. 

Beth Sternlieb has been involved with InsightLA from the start and seeing our community grow from an idea into a reality has awakened in her a deeper appreciation for what an unexpected transformation mindfulness and commitment can bring into our lives. As a member of InsightLA’s teacher council, she explores ways of bringing mindfulness and metta practice to our community in creative and innovative ways…READ MORE Join Beth online every Monday-Friday at 7:30-8:00am for Morning Community Sit.

Matthew Brensilver, PhD, offers retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the Insight Retreat Center. For more than a decade, he taught for Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. He continues to teach at UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center about the intersections between mindfulness and mental health. He spent years doing research on addiction treatment at the UCLA Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine and continues to be interested in the unfolding dialogue between dharma and science.

The post From Too-Much-Ness to Liberating Insights appeared first on InsightLA Meditation.

Whatever we practice on the cushion we are meant to take into our life.  I have been particularly inspired lately by our potential to create happy, safe and harmonious communities.  Such communities do not come about randomly but by the commitment of the members of the community to ethics, generosity, compassion and metta.   

Hatred, division and war are rampant in this world.  It is hard to not get discouraged at times.  But we can find if not joy then at least comfort with our practice.  Saying to ourselves as the Buddha encouraged, “Others may harm, but I will become harmless; others may slay living beings, but I will not. Others may lie; I, however, will speak the truth. Others may slander, talk harshly, gossip, but I will talk only words that promote concord, harmless words agreeable to the ear, full of love, heart-pleasing, courteous, worthy.”  And others may hate, but I will live with metta.

Metta has the power to dissolve the boundaries of our heart and it is a cohesive energy that draws beings together in gladness and safety.  It is trustworthy and always available to us.  May more and more of us align ourselves with metta and build happy communities and society.

Melissa McKay began her path of meditation in 1998 with a small group of dedicated practitioners in Oakland, CA with her beloved, though not known, teacher named Barbara Janus who introduced her to the teachings of Sayadaw U Pandita of Burma. Her first retreat was with Sayadaw U Pandita and the profound changes she saw in herself gave her a strong faith and dedication to the practice. She practiced with Sayadaw and his monks at centers in the U.S. and Burma.  She met Bhante Khippa Pano of Vietnam in 2000 and he became her main teacher.  She continues to attend intensive meditation retreats yearly and has trained for over 10,000 hours… READ MORE Join Melissa In-Person at Benedict Canyon Retreat House and Online for Living from the Heart: A Two-Day Retreat starting Friday December 8th, 2023

The post Living from the Heart appeared first on InsightLA Meditation.

I celebrate my Indigenous roots.  I acknowledge and pay tribute to my origins.  I honor my ancestry.

Growing up, I had never felt part of one particular team, bloodline, nation, race or culture. I felt squeezed, lost, misplaced in my efforts to fit into defined identities, something man made, border lines drawn into the earth and solidified by power, religion, politics, conformity, colonization.

In the midst of trying to survive my domestication, I fell in love with color, sound, texture, movement, which came through in the form of culture, art, and generosity.  The mountains became my sanctuary, my refuge.  The trees and the stone people are among my greatest teachers.  I recognized and experienced the creepy crawlies, the winged, the four-legged and the five-fingered beings as my relatives.  The sky became my playground. The river and the ocean are the choirs I sing with.  The earth, the cosmos are my family, my ancestors.

In a weak moment of conformity, I once tried to squeeze into a definition that followed the trail of the bloodline but that trail fell short.  The bloodline showed my passage through the Americas, Africa and European Continents.

It did not include all the non-human microbes growing, thriving and sustaining my body. 
It did not include who I am or where I came from before The Big Bang. 
It did not include all the elements that existed prior to the formation of the fire, earth, air, and water —  and it did not include the fire, earth, air and water.
It did not include the uncountable infinite number of universes, black holes and stars. 
It did not include all the known and unknown, the seen and unseen, the untouchable, and the unimaginable.

In Ceremony and in Meditation, free from drama of fear, separation and not enoughness, it is in this space that I come home to myself. I can begin to experience the wonder of who-what I am.  My lineage goes way beyond my human ancestry and where I was born on this earth, but rather to the source of my existence.  

I celebrate my Indigenous roots.  I acknowledge and pay tribute to my origins.  I honor my ancestry.  I am Indigenous, the Sacred Source, Power of Creation, Love and Light. I Am. Yo Soy.  Zanniman iuhniuiz (Translation “I am naturally like this”. In the language of Nahuatl). 

Stella Cruz is a heartfelt, playful, medicine woman and lover of life. She is a Meditation and Mindfulness Facilitator, Energy Healer, and Artist. Stella considers her work to her life path. She is the founder of Medicine Pathways — Aqui y Ahora Healing Arts. It is her desire to share meditation and mindfulness utilizing traditional and innovative practices, incorporating art, song and nature. Her objective is to help show people who they are beyond the many layers of stories and wounds they have experienced by guiding them inward to the present moment, that they may come to know the vast beauty of their inner being and their true loving nature…READ MORE

The post Indigenous, My Journey Home appeared first on InsightLA Meditation.