Dharma Ocean

In the final part of this talk on Buddhism in the modern world, Reggie discusses the flowering of the three jewels: the Buddha as the lineage of emptiness; the Dharma as the profound teachings on meditation; and the sangha as the community of people who are at home in the loneliness, warmth, and craziness of the journey. This talk was given at the August 2009 Dhyanasangha weekend retreat held in Boulder, CO. To find out more about upcoming retreats, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

Here, Reggie asks: what makes meditation unique when compared to other approaches to health, well-being, exploration, and discovery? He says it is the direct experience of emptiness found in the practice of completely letting go. This talk was given at the August 2009 Dhyanasangha weekend retreat held in Boulder, CO. To find out more about upcoming retreats, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

In the first part of this talk on modern spirituality, Reggie says that organized religion is not the legacy of the Buddha, nor is the narcissistic materialism that underlies many individualistic approaches to meditation in global culture right now.  This talk was given at the August 2009 Dhyanasangha weekend retreat held in Boulder, CO. To find out more about upcoming retreats, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

In this talk, Reggie discusses the destabilizing process of somatic meditation. Practice, he says, opens space in our state of being that gives rise to surprising and unexpected experiences. This talk was given in April 2005 at the Meditating with the Body Retreat held in Crestone, CO. To register for the upcoming Meditating with the Body retreat, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

In the second part of this talk on the journey of meditation, Reggie says that it is important to not hang on to anything in our practice. Integrity in meditation is opening to what is, not chasing daylight, and letting go of what we think. This talk was given in April 2005 at the Meditating with the Body Retreat held in Crestone, CO. To register for the upcoming Meditating with the Body retreat, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

In this talk, Reggie says that the samsaric approach to chaos is to try to limit it, control it, and shut it down, but the purpose of meditation is to make room for chaos. In doing this, we open to the unknown and the unencumbered birth of our life. This talk was given in April 2005 at the Meditating with the Body Retreat held in Crestone, CO. To register for the upcoming Meditating with the Body retreat, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

You are listening to the Dharma Ocean podcast. Meditation allows space to open in our state of being for difficult, challenging, and distressing experiences to arise. Reggie says that these experiences are not pathological, but rather expressions of the unconscious calling for recognition and acceptance. This talk is excerpted from Reggie’s upcoming online course called Awakening the Body: The Way of Somatic Meditation. To register for the course, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

Today, we listen to an excerpt from a talk Reggie offered on how the range of direct experience increases as we progress along the path of somatic meditation. He says that fear, anxiety, and apprehension in practice are often harbingers of awakening. This talk is excerpted from Reggie’s upcoming online course called Awakening the Body: The Way of Somatic Meditation. To register for the course, please visit dharmaocean.org

In this talk, Reggie discusses the difference between religion and spirituality. He says that religious traditions often gain inspiration from living spirituality, but there is a distinction: religions offer maps, while spirituality is the flame of meaning in one’s life. This talk is excerpted from Reggie’s upcoming online course called Awakening the Body: The Way of Somatic Meditation. To register for the course, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

In this episode, Reggie comments on how dependence on the teacher can stunt fundamental transformation. True growth, he says, requires unconditional commitment. Through letting go of options, we are cornered by the imperatives of the journey. This talk was given in 2010 as an audio journal entry for the sangha. To find out more about upcoming retreats, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

In the second part of this talk on Vajrayana tantra, Reggie reflects on the somatic journey of becoming transparent to the cosmos through our own body. He says that the siddha tradition does not involve renunciation of worldly life, rather awakening unfolds within and through everyday experience. This talk was given in 2009 at a public program in San Francisco, CA. To find out more about upcoming retreats, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

In this talk, Reggie comments on the esoteric tradition of Buddhist meditation that Chögyam Trungpa taught to Western students. He describes the terrifying experience of encountering a person who completely embodied empty open awareness: it inspired him to become naked to life. This talk was given in 2009 at a public program in San Francisco, CA. To find out more about upcoming retreats, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

Today, we listen to the third part of Reggie’s talk on the radical journey of individuation that occurs when we trust the inherent force of our unique karma. Through this process, we learn to let go of expectations and embody our individuality with integrity. This talk was given at the August 2009 Dhyanasangha weekend retreat held in Boulder, CO. To find out more about upcoming retreats, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

Here, Reggie says that the true path of Dharma is risky because it leads to full disclosure of who we are. He says that in the lineage of Chogyam Trungpa we cultivate a suspicion of spiritual ambition, narcissism, goals of attainment, and religious traditions. In this way, we become ever more naked to the bare reality of life. This talk was given at the August 2009 Dhyanasangha weekend retreat held in Boulder, CO. To find out more about upcoming retreats, please visit www.dharmaocean.org

In the first part of this talk on the Vajrayana tradition, Reggie comments on the shocking nature of the meditative path of desire. He says that the wisdom of Buddhism is that is does not offer answers, but rather practices for realizing the lineage. It is the unconventional way of awakening. This talk was given at the August 2009 Dhyanasangha weekend retreat held in Boulder, CO. To find out more about upcoming retreats, please visit www.dharmaocean.org