Reflections

Hanging out with Buddhist monastics is not always what one might consider uplifting. The conversation will start amicably enough, the weather or what so-and-so said, but it’s really just a matter of time before it wanders into areas where most casual conversations abruptly die. Aging, sickness, death, and loss. Inevitably, the conversation will move to […]

A brief 360 degree video transporting you to Mt. Zion Cemetary in Brooklyn, NYC. Sitting among generations of the departed, one is close to the heart of what it means to be a human in a transient world.  

Vihara Parivara Dhamma’s weekly Sunday morning program. This week’s topic: “Sickness and Health” by Bhante Pamutto. “I am of the nature to sicken, I have not gone beyond sickness.” This is something the Buddha encourages us to reflect upon every day, to develop wisdom into the realities of life. Yet how do we do this,

Lots of gratitude to the generous and devoted community here at Parivara Dhamma. Even in the midst of a blizzard that has otherwise closed the city down, the monks were able to eat and maintain the strength for another day and night of practice. Where better than your local temple to spend a snow day?

A recording of last Sunday’s Vipada livestream, with talk by Bhante J on ‘Qualities of Dhamma’. Q & A with Bhante J and Pamutto follows.  

Following on from Bhante J’s talk last Sunday (link coming soon) on the Qualities of Dhamma, Vihara Parivara Dhamma has produced professionally captured and edited dhamma talks to share. Tahn Pamutto speaks on the Dhamma, beginning with an introduction to the Theravada Pali Canon and culminating in an explanation of the higher dhamma we wake

There are these four thoroughbred horses, the Buddha starts one sutta in the Anguttara Nikaya. One need see only the shadow of a whip and he becomes energetic, ready to work, ready to train. Another ignores the shadow, but it roused when he hears its crack or feels it rush by. Another, refusing to be

A Parable on Prayer from the Christian Faith: One day a man, who was deeply faithful and a strong believer in prayer, got word that a flash flood was on its way. He barely had enough time to get onto his roof before the flood waters arrived and submerged the ground floor of his home.

On Sunday, Bhante Jayasara gave a talk to the Indonesian Buddhist Family of New York on Letting Go, which gave rise to a good Q&A session with dialogue from both monastics. Last night, the topic of the wednesday tea/zoom session turned to another form of letting go: the contemplation of death. Like the consideration of

The most fruitful dhamma explorations, I find, are the ones that are delved into communally – the ongoing dialogue among seekers that allows us to push beyond our limited understandings to explore themes too vast to be encompassed by just one viewpoint. This week’s exploration has been around speech, and the unimpeachable value of Truth.