Dear Common Ground Friends, The Buddha encouraged us to reflect on our sila. Sila is the pali word for the liberating training in harmlessness– a moral sensitivity and integrity that leads to freedom from regret and remorse. This is a …
Dear Common Ground Friends, The Buddha encouraged us to reflect on our sila. Sila is the pali word for the liberating training in harmlessness– a moral sensitivity and integrity that leads to freedom from regret and remorse. This is a …
Dear Common Ground Friends, I would like to begin by asking you to join me in wishing Shelly Graf, Common Ground’s other Guiding Teacher, an easeful and insightful retreat. Shelly will be entering a period of retreat practice for the …
Dear Common Ground Friends, I am currently away co-leading a week long retreat for young adults. It is really inspiring to be here supporting 30 young people as they do the noble work of caring for the heart moment by …
Dear Common Ground Friends, Awareness practice is an invitation to wholeness, allowing the totality of what is moving in each moment. Aligning with awareness requires a full renunciation of fixed ideas. It is not possible to be in control and …
Dear Common Ground Friends, Feeling into the impact of suffering can often inspire us to seek the deepest, most noble place to rest the heart upon. This is what we might call seeking refuge. It’s common practice at Common Ground to take refuge in the …
Dear Common Ground Friends, If you’ve ever been on a retreat before you know that the heart becomes more sensitive with time. Through the process of learning to be intimate, we also find that we become more and more capable of …
Dear Friends, In the midst of such suffering in our lives and in the world, we can be animated, renewed, and protected by our practice of dana or generosity. How can we keep bringing a fresh, ‘beginner’s mind’ attitude to …
Dear Friends, The tragic racist killings in Buffalo, New York have exposed again the simple truth that hate warps the heart in ways that can allow someone to commit terrible acts. White supremacy, anti semitism, sexism, and so many other …
Dear Common Ground Community, Last Sunday evening while Wynn Fricke was giving a Dharma Talk on fear, there was gun fire between two motorists on 27th Ave and our building was hit by several bullets. Most gratefully, nobody in the …
Dear Common Ground Community, There is sometimes confusion about the emphasis on retreat practice at Buddhist centers. You might have the reasonable thought that running or hiding from the messiness of our lives is not a lasting answer to our …