Latest Secular dharma Podcast Episodes
Everyday Sublime
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - July 09, 2024 00:00 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsContinuing last week's theme of experiencing liberation in this moment, Mary looks at Stephen Batchelor's teachings on embracing our existence and opening to the everyday sublime which is available to each of us at any moment. Recorded July 6, 2024 in the virtual world Visit Mary's website fo...
Do Good. Avoid Bad. Purify the Mind.
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - July 02, 2024 00:00 - 30 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsIn this podcast, Mary reflects on the teachings of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu and his concept of "everyday nirvana". If we can follow the Buddha's direction to not cling to anything as I or mine, we will have the freedom and liberation offered by this path. That letting go can happen at anytime - our me...
How Do We Do the Dharma - The Path of Kindness.
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - June 25, 2024 00:00 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsThe Paramis are 10 qualities of the heart that it is said we need to develop for awakening. Sylvia Boorstein says they are the natural inclination of the heart and are gifts that we give to each other - they are a path of kindness. These qualities, which include generosity, willingness, and pati...
Dropping the Self and Opening to Joy
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - June 17, 2024 21:00 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsOne of the heart practices - or brahma viharas - is Mudita, or appreciative joy. This challenging practice invites us to be happy for the wholesome good fortune of others, even those people we may not like. This is a challenging practice because we live in a competitive society that teaches us e...
Samsara is a Mess
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - June 11, 2024 00:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsSamsara is the cycle of birth and death that we experience before enlightenment and it is also considered the suffering in this world. In this brief talk, Mary reflects on the reality of our lives and how fighting against difficulties only intensifies them. Recognizing that things are messy and ...
Conventional and Ultimate Reality
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - June 04, 2024 01:00 - 19 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsIn Buddhist teachings there are the ideas of conventional and ultimate reality. In Mahayana tradition they're known as the two truths of relative and absolute. These two ideas enable us to move through the world dealing with the ins and outs of our everyday lives (convention/relative) reality, w...
How Do We Forgive?
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - May 27, 2024 23:00 - 20 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsWe have all been hurt in our lives, to a greater or lesser extent. This hurt often brings up challenging emotions which we can run from or make space for. Healing happens when we become willing to turn towards the difficulty. This healing involves taking care of ourselves and Lama Rod Owens sugg...
An Undefended Heart
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - May 21, 2024 01:00 - 31 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsThe idea of an undefended heart seems counterintuitive right now especially with all the suffering in the world. We think that putting up walls will keep us safe but instead the armor just isolates us. The Buddha invited us turn towards the reality of our lives and the world and open to all. In...
We Are All of a Nature
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - May 13, 2024 17:00 - 26 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsIn the Buddha's wisdom he invited us to reflect regularly on our mortality which flies in the face of a society which tells us we can be immortal if we just do it all right. The denial of reality and craving for the impossible causes so much suffering and disconnection. When we turn to face the...
Wise Speech in Challenging Times
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - May 06, 2024 23:00 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsThe Buddha's teaching on Wise Speech serves us well in these days of great polarization. We have our sides and spew our rhetoric, often without thinking about how we communicate can make a bad situation worse. The invitation, as always, is pause and think about the truth, necessity and kindness ...
Letting Go Again and Again
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - April 29, 2024 22:00 - 15 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsBhikkhu Analayo suggests that the Buddha's teachings can be summed up in two words, "Let go." Ah, but if it were only so easy. Mary reflects on how the act of letting go gets more and more subtle and challenging the deeper we go and the longer we practice, but the freedom is worth the effort. Re...
Shining a Light on Grief
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - April 23, 2024 00:00 - 20 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsGrief seems to be a constant companion these days and making space for it is an important part of our practice. Grief can be scary and we're tempted to push it away instead of inviting it in. When we do acknowledge our grief, we reconnect with all of humanity and recognize we're not alone. Conne...
Everyday Impermanence
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - April 15, 2024 23:00 - 17 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsThe teaching of impermanence is a core tenet of Buddhism and our ability to recognize the impermanence we meet each day is so important for us in order to be free. How we relate to shifting and changing experiences while staying in the present is the key. Mary discusses the places we get stuck a...
Dropping the 2nd Arrow
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - April 08, 2024 15:00 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsMary discusses this famous teaching of the Buddha. When we experience pain or something uncomfortable the tendency is to react it a way that mitigates the discomfort. The reactivity often just intensifies the initial pain rather than helping us be present with the discomfort. This reactivity is ...
The Four Efforts
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - April 01, 2024 22:00 - 26 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsBuilding on last week's talk about overwhelm, Mary discusses how vital it is to make the effort to come back from those places and stories that are not helpful an to make the effort to stay where we are. How do we let go and how do we stay present with whatever is showing up? And once we find pl...
Overwhelm is in the Mind
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - March 26, 2024 01:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsWhen life gets busy, we can become overwhelmed by everything. Both our lives and the world can be too much. However, the invitation of practice is to be right where we are -- overwhelm occurs when we spend our time in the future or the past and being present is how we cope. It's overwhelming if ...
Grounded in Gratitude
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - March 19, 2024 05:00 - 21 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsIn this talk Mary discusses how important being grounded is in the present moment is to be open to gratitude. When we're stuck in thoughts about I, me and mine, it's a challenge to recognize how connected we are to the world and how gratitude arises naturally when we are. Recorded March 16, 2024...
Heart Practices for Our Times
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - March 12, 2024 00:00 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsWhen we practice for extended periods of time we find that our hearts become tender. But often we don't have the time to practice so intensely. The question becomes how can we cultivate a loving and compassionate heart right now, and in a world that can be challenging. Mary discusses the Buddha'...
Reflections in the Moment
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - March 05, 2024 00:00 - 7 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsThere is no dharma talk this week so Mary offers a few reflections on the benefits of residential retreat and the invitation to make peace with the way things are. Recorded March 4, 2024 in the virtual world Visit Mary's website for more info on classes and teachings.
Taking Refuge
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - February 27, 2024 02:00 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsTaking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, The Triple Gem, is usually done on retreat or other occasions. In this talk, Mary delves into what taking refuge means and how reflecting on each of these supports our journey to liberation. "Taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the ...
Love and a Very Loud World
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - February 19, 2024 23:00 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsThe world seems to be screaming right now - there is so much going on with violence, climate change, oppression and injustice at every turn. We also have our day-to-day issues to deal with. At times it like these it is more important than ever to realize that love is the path to liberation rathe...
Untitled Episode
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - February 13, 2024 01:00 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsIn this talk Mary discusses the concept of samvega which means the experience we feel when we finally see through the delusion and stories that we have believed and used to guide our lives. It can be a shocking experience and an example is when the Buddha saw a sick person, an old person and a c...
Start Where You Are
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - February 06, 2024 02:00 - 21 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsMary offers the invitation to start where you are quite often but what does it mean? It's the name of a wonderful book by Pema Chödrön, but additionally it is a reminder that we cannot be anywhere other than right here. We often think we have to get to a certain place before we're ready to tack...
The Six Realms of Saṃsāra
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - January 29, 2024 22:00 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsBuddha taught that the six realms of Saṃsāra are where we are caught in the continuing cycle of birth, death and rebirth. We only become free when we are free of craving or clinging, and see clearly into the characteristics of existence. These realms can also be viewed as psychological states ...
To Cling is to Suffer
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - January 23, 2024 02:00 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsIn this talk Mary dives into how craving and clinging show up in our lives and how much suffering, discomfort and discontent is caused because of it. We chase after pleasure all the time and hold tight to ideas and beliefs we think will give us what we want. The suttas are full of examples and w...
Spiritual Reslience
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - January 16, 2024 00:00 - 27 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsReflecting on the themes of humility, equanimity and resilience, Mary talks about how the practice can help us find the strength to meet each moment and each day. Mindfulness and an intention to be an advocate for ourselves are powerful ways we stay grounded in an upside down world. This talk o...
Greeting the World with Goodwill
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - January 09, 2024 02:00 - 23 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsKindness, friendliness, goodwill. The Buddha invited us to greet the world with a kind heart and without causing harm, but how do we do that in a world full of greed, hatred and ignorance. Mary discusses what gets in the way and how to move towards a heart of goodwill with integrity and wisdom. ...
Wear the World as a Loose Garment
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - January 01, 2024 21:00 - 18 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsThis simple quote from St. Francis Assisi contains a wise teaching on equanimity. What does it mean? How do we do it? Mary unpacks this invitation to move through the world with spaciousness, compassion and wisdom. Recorded Dec. 28, 2023 in the virtual world Visit Mary's website for more info o...
Connection and Community
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - December 26, 2023 17:00 - 28 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsLoneliness and isolation are feelings that are so pervasive these days. In this talk, Mary discusses how damaging this sense of disconnection can be and how the Buddha taught the importance of friendship and community. Finding true friends on the path supports our movement toward liberation. Rec...
Finding Ease in the Present Moment
Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage - December 19, 2023 01:00 - 28 minutes ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsThis talk was recorded at the Compassionate Heart Retreat in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. The title speaks for itself. Thanks to Recovery Dharma for the invitation and the recording. Much love! Visit Mary's website for more info on classes and teachings.
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