On the Uposatha, Tahn Pamutto offers a reflection on four streams of Puñña, or Merit: Dānā, Service, Instruction, and Bhāvana. Elaborating on each one, he describes how they get progressively more powerful and sublime until the final stream of merit, which culminates in nibbāna itself.
Talk: Four Streams of Merit Read More »
This week Tahn Pamutto was away on a visit to the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (buddhistinquiry.org) This center is connected with the Insight Meditation Society and Forest Refuge and together provide a wealth of retreat and learning opportunities for practitioners both locally and from abroad. The centers are lay retreat centers that only offer a
This week with the family group, we covered the paramī of Karunā, or Compassion. One of the benefits of using the paramī’s as a basis for our first meetings is that we get to cover such an important topic directly. We started with a guided meditation. We rang the bell and gave everyone a minute
Family Group: Compassion Read More »
This weeks Santigāmā family group was a chance for everyone to take a look at the parami of Energy, or Viriya. It was interesting to note that as we tried to approach the topic we had to distinguish it from Vayama, or Effort/Striving, which is a part of the Noble Eightfold Path. Viriya is something
Family Group: Viriya Read More »
Our latest weeklong retreat has concluded in Shelburne, MA. The retreat and visit of NYC resident Tahn Santi brought quite a surge of interest in the small gathering space, with 16 different friends visiting over the course of a few days. But for the most part it was a quiet, in-house venture. The evening sit
Talks: Samaññaphala Retreat Read More »
In this Uposatha reflection, Tahn Pamutto discusses the vital quality of Equanimity or Upekkha. This quality shows up in a number of lists of wholesome qualities to be cultivated, notably always at the end or as the culmination. By explaining the various ways the term is used, it’s possible to move towards a definition of
Talk: Equanimity – Upekkha Read More »
This week our family group was studying the parami of Sīla. We started by asking the question, “What is Sīla?” The adults were able to chime in with a few ideas. What do you think? How would you describe Sīla to one who had never heard the word? When we did this, a lot of
Next week, from Sat, Feb 19 until Sat, Feb 26th, we’ll be having a full retreat schedule here at the Shelburne, MA apartment. It will begin at 6am with morning puja and conclude with an evening sit. During the day there will be regular times for group meditation as well as scheduled breaks. There may
Recently we hung a Buddhist flag in the meditation room in Shelburne. Surprisingly, not everyone was familiar with it! Though the Buddhist flag officially comes from the country of Sri Lanka, it is now a recognized international symbol of the buddhist faith. This is because it was adopted at a very important time for modern
Great Debates and a Flag Read More »
Lately in our family group we’ve been going through the list of the ten parami’s. These qualities are considered perfections of character and heart that are the attributes of a fully awakened Buddha (samma-sambuddha). Such a being is capable of not only attaining enlightenment without the aid of an existing teacher, but they have the
