Dharma Sunday

In his sublime meditation manual Mahamudra the Ocean of Definitive Meaning, the Ninth Karmapa briefly describes a four-step analysis for cutting through the illusion of a separate external reality presenting itself to sense perception. This session will examine the four steps and draw on insights from current cognitive philosophy and physics to offer a simple but powerful approach to challenge the basic mistake that incites mental ...

In this Dharma Sunday, we’ll learn strategies for meditating so that our practice doesn’t reactivate trauma symptoms, based on David Trelevean’s groundbreaking book Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness. This session will be helpful both for trauma survivors and for anyone experiencing dysregulation, overwhelm, disorientation, or a loss of agency. The instructor will cover the Window of Tolerance and Polyvagal Theory, with some review of So...

This Dharma Sunday session begins with a Refuge Prayer and a guided meditation that grounds the body and expands into open awareness. Lama Liz then dives into the core question: How do we return to our true nature? She challenges the modern materialist mentality and explores how to move beyond the contracted "self" to access a vaster field of interbeing—the ancient, interconnected source that redefines our relationship with the liv...

The “Four Empowerments” characterize the essence of the tantric Buddhist path. We will explore the internal structure of these four initiations and how we can relate with them as practitioners. Central to this exploration is the idea that initiation is an organic part of human experience. What seems esoteric, foreign, and unknown, is from another perspective natural and genuine. We will explore these tensions and also discuss initi...

This session features a deep dive into the meaning of Refuge—understanding our own awakened heart as the ultimate source of peace. Lama Liz then guides a powerful meditation practice, moving from grounding the body to cultivating open awareness and interconnectedness. Following the meditation, she introduces her "Forest Teachings" series, exploring the universal truth of Dharma and answering the profound question: How do we return ...

This creative and inspirational Dharma Sunday will begin with an introduction to Buddhist art that locates Buddhist images within a contemplative practice. The teachings will seek to move artists and practitioners towards basic visual literacy. This will be followed by a guided tour – both online and onsite – of an exhibition of earth-based Buddhist art created by Latin American Buddhists. We will conclude with a meditation inspire...

In this Dharma Sunday teaching, the Third of Four teachings on "Mycelial Wisdom", Lama Willa Blythe Baker, founder of Natural Dharma Fellowship, and visiting teacher, Zoe Logan Morris, discuss The Myth of Transcendence.

Using the metaphor of a mycelial network—the "wood wide web"—the teaching suggests that spiritual awakening isn't a "vertical exit" from suffering but a process of grounded engagement with the world. True enlightenm...

This Dharma Sunday teaching combines body-oriented meditation practice with a Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® lesson, the brilliant sensory-motor approach to gently and wisely re-educating the neuro-muscular system. Alternating meditation, a Feldenkrais movement lesson and discussion will allow the techniques to complement and empower each other and to enhance mind-body connections and general well-being.

Many new and long-...

In this Dharma Sunday teaching, the Second of Four teachings on "Mycelial Wisdom", Lama Willa Blythe Baker, founder of Natural Dharma Fellowship, explores the profound concept of "Anatman" (no-self).

The central teaching expands on "mycelial wisdom," drawing parallels between extensive, hidden mycelial networks (described as "the neurological network of nature") and the Buddhist principle of interdependent connection. Lama Willa ex...

In this two-part class, participants will be invited to study and reflect on a short teaching by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu entitled “The Prison of Life” (free download).

Just as prisons are rationalized as necessary containment for those whose criminal convictions make them untrustworthy or undeserving of freedom, we rationalize our self-created imprisonment as a necessary means of avoiding unforgivable mistakes on our spiritual journey. ...

n this two-part class, participants will be invited to study and reflect on a short teaching by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu entitled “The Prison of Life” (free download).

Just as prisons are rationalized as necessary containment for those whose criminal convictions make them untrustworthy or undeserving of freedom, we rationalize our self-created imprisonment as a necessary means of avoiding unforgivable mistakes on our spiritual journey. B...

We will explore how remembering who we really are expands us beyond the experiences of fragmentation, distress, overwhelm, and fear that may threaten to overwhelm us. What would it mean to realize that this “self” can hold the fullness of our human experience, from the most challenging encounters to the most beautiful? When we remember our innate connection to source at the same time as we stand strong in our individual manifestati...

In this Dharma Sunday teaching, the First of Four teachings on "Mycelial Wisdom", Lama Willa Blythe Baker, founder of Natural Dharma Fellowship, explores the profound concept of interdependence (Pratitya Samudpada).

Lama Willa discusses her multi-year exploration of the plant world as a source of wisdom, highlighting how mycelial networks serve as a powerful metaphor for interconnectedness. The teaching emphasizes that the idea of ...