March 30, 2020 Finding a community to practice with is important on several levels: we need like-minded people to inspire us, to support us, and to challenge us when we get stuck. The Buddha felt that community was so important that he included it in the traditional ritual of “taking refuge,” or committing to the path of freedom. Committing to that path, dedicating our life to going against the stream, consists of committing to awakening (Buddha), finding out the truth about reality (dharma), and participating in community (sangha).

March 23, 2020 Death is not the enemy; it is the natural conclusion of birth. It is perfectly safe—in fact, we have probably all done it countless times before.

March 16, 2020, A huge part of the revolutionary path of awakening is forgiveness. In this Dharma talk, Noah reflects on forgiveness as an act, as a practice of love, and the humility that we can all have when we forgive, over and over, ourselves and others – unceasingly.

March 13, 2020, Reflections on social distancing as a mindfulness practice, and as an opportunity to give ourselves the kind of attention that we’re so often seeking outside of ourselves & reflections on “letting go”.

March 9, 2020 The Buddha teaches that we can get free. All of the ways we are causing our own suffering; clinging, aversion, self-centeredness, greed, hatred, delusion – our uneasiness –we have the capacity to stop creating suffering. This is the core of the Buddha’s teaching. It’s one of the most radical things, and it’s one of the things that sets him apart from almost all other traditions.

March 2, 2020 The Brahmavihārā’s are the wisdom of the heart and the mind that remains when all of the causes of suffering have been removed. When greed, hatred and self-centered delusion are no longer running the show, what remains is; a quality of kindness for all living beings, a feeling of compassion for all of the pain in the world - both internal and external – a sense of appreciation and empathy, and the fourth quality, equanimity, is really important in order to have a balanced experience of compassion, a balanced experience of kindness and appreciation.

Feb 24, 2020 Developing and uncovering a sense of appreciation for happiness. For other people’s happiness. Muditā is translated as appreciative joy. Of taking joy and letting your heart and mind rejoice in someone else’s happiness. I believe this is one of the reasons the Buddha said this path, Buddhism, goes “Against The Stream”.  Jealousy, envy, self-centeredness, comparing mind, judging mind, is really easy and totally natural to human beings. Taking pleasure, celebrating and enjoying other people’s happiness, people who are having more success than you, more joy than you…it’s so easy to get petty about it – to maybe even suffer about it.  All of Buddhism has one goal: To end suffering, to see clearly what is causing unhappiness and suffering in our lives, and to transform, to awaken, and to no longer suffer.

Feb 17, 2020 Loving-kindness is the experience of having a friendly and loving relationship toward ourselves as well as others. The experience of loving-kindness toward ourselves is perhaps as simple as bringing a friendly attitude to our minds and bodies. Typically, we tend to judge ourselves and be quite critical and harsh in our self-assessments, identifying with the negative thoughts and feelings that arise in our minds. Being loving and kind isn’t our normal habit, so training the heart-mind to be kind is another task of the inner rebellion, and another tool of the outer revolution. Mindfulness brings the mind’s negative habits into awareness.