Kate Munding is co-guiding teacher of IMCB. She has been practicing since 2002 and has done numerous 1-2 month intensive practice periods. Kate is currently in Spirit Rock's Teacher Training program. Kate has also trained approximately 2,000 educators, therapists, and parents in mindful awareness techniques and philosophy in the U.S. and abroad.
She is founder of The Heart-Mind Education Project, a consulting business focused on mindfulness in education.
This is a time of gathering spiritual resources. To gather the wisdom and clarity that exists within. It's a time to tap into knowledge and strength that exists externally. Tonight will be an evening of self-compassion and an opening towards more clarity of how to meet this moment in time. Whether you are feeling energized to meet the greed, hate, and delusion that is so empowered right now, or you feel numb, tired, and defeated, this evening will guide you.
Where do we place our hearts in these times that are so uncertain, so divided, and stressful? What does our practice and this Buddhist path have to offer in terms of guidance and refuge to help us navigate? Tonight's talk will investage both of these questions in a way that is intended to offer a place for the body to ground and the heart to open.
The Buddha's teachings are sometimes misunderstood or described out of context to give the impression that to awaken means that our sense of self must disappear, that our personality becomes flat-lined, and that we become indifferent to the world around us. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Buddha's teachings show us the way to fully embody this life. To be fully awake is to fully live! The Buddha did not teach vacancy; he taught people how to live without clinging. Please join me this evening for a talk that comes from the inspiration and the clarity this path has to offer on how to live in these times without shutting down, giving up, or turning away.
Question and Answer session with closing remarks. Some quiet moments when participant questions were not captured by the sound system, but teachers repeat the questions and then answer.
The word love, as it's used in the English language, is complicated in that it represents not only our capacity for unlimited, unconditional love but also unhealthy attachment and craving. The Buddha was clear about the pitfalls of craving, but he also pointed to the boundless heart, one free from unhealthy attachment, as part of the path of awakening
Understanding what disappointment is and how it arises is to understand the mind-state of desire. This mental hindrance is recognized by the presence of wanting something that isn't actually happening. This longing can be attached to a person, wanting someone to be a certain way they are not. It can be attached to an expectation of getting something or achieving something. It can also be connected to our self, wanting our self to be a certain way that we are not. All of this becomes fertile ground for disappointment and unhappiness. Let's find ways to identify these mind states, learn how to heal them, and move towards more contentment and peace in our lives.
Dharma talk and guided practice. Anxiety is a contraction and therefore a form of suffering. Sometimes anxiety is the appropriate response to a situation, but there are skillful ways to navigate this experience. This talk and practice examines how we can learn to soothe the body and the mind using somatic exercises and our imagination to bring expansiveness to anxiety's contracted state.
What is happiness? We think that when things are going well, happiness is here and everything will be fine. When conditions are unpleasant, we feel we have failed. But the universe is creative in its unfolding, and happiness can come in different ways than we expect.
Dedication of Merit is a ritual found throughout the Buddhist community. This talk explores the deeper meaning and purpose of this practice. Merit is generated every time we sit down and the ritual of dedication reminds to connect outward to the world at large, to humans and the more than human world, in an act of generosity. Instructions for how to dedicate the merit is included, as well as a Q&A at the end.
Impermanence: a cornerstone of dharma teachings and a place to live from and come back to no matter where we are in our practice. Impermanence can bring us into contraction or expansiveness. It ultimately points to our own impermanence, and what we need to wake up to before we die.
Impermanence is a cornerstone of Dharma teachings and a place to live from and come back to no matter where we are in our practice. Impermanence can bring us into contraction or expansiveness. It ultimately points to our own impermanence, and what we need to wake up to before we die.
Stories of the first Buddhist women: Their stories, teachings, and awakening poems are inspirational. They also offer us a tether from what we are doing as a women's Dharma community to an ancient lineage that has been going strong since the time of the Buddha.
Concentration: This dharma talk is the last in a series on the Eight Fold Path. It includes techniques for quieting the mind (shamata), the nature of concentration, and the necessary elements to reach concentrated states in a sustainable way. Also included is a description of the Jhanas (high states of concentration) and the value of experiencing these states to help strengthen faith. Brief Q & A at the end included.
Mindfulness (Sati): Part 7 of a series on the Eightfold Path, this talk discusses Sati, or mindfulness, as a state of mind and a way of being. The complexity of mindfulness is explored (vedanas, wholesome desire) as well as the ultimate simplicity of remembering our truest self through practice of paying attention, alertness and contact with experience. Q & A at the end is included.
Wise Effort: Part 6 of a series on the Eightfold Path. Wise effort is explained as attuning to what is happening in the present moment, making adjustments based on conditions and balancing our energy so that it expresses the Middle Path - between striving and burnout - to create a sustainable practice. Reference is made to the teachings of Ajahn Chah and ways to develop a continuity of mindfulness in everyday living. Emphasis on softening and trust in the heart practices that balance the habits of the mind.
Wise action and livelihood: Part 5 of a series on the Eightfold Path. This part of the path is based in the concept of Sila (virtue) and is best understood as being in harmony with the truth and the nature of things through the practice of non-harming. Virtue can be seen as an act of generosity (Dana) and when we live a life of non-harming, we produce peace and ease and trust for others.
As a foundation for all Buddhist communities, these teachings focus on the nature of and relief from suffering. Practice is aimed at recognizing suffering. Clinging is complex and related to how we experience pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations. Effort and curiosity are needed to untangle this clinging process. Practitioner story and Q&A included.
Navigating the concept of a "new normal" at this point in the pandemic brings us into contact with impermanence. There isn't suffering with change itself, there is suffering in resistance to change and there is friction between our clinging to a rigid sense of self and our world of "should". We can't hide from change. In our practice and in the triple gem of Buddha, dharma and sangha helps us create refuge when it's not easily found.
Equanimity: This practice is explored as the heart's expression of deep wisdom. We don't have to wait to cultivate this practice since it can be experienced at any point and strengthens over time. Getting caught in the weeds of life, equanimity is the mind and heart gaining perspective as an inner voice that is like a wise elder offering advice and caring. This talk explores the hindrances and 8 worldly winds. Q & A included.
