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We often begin the spiritual journey with a vague or an acute sense that something in our life isn t quite right, and we look to the spiritual path for a resolution to our distress. In Episode 117, I explore what sorts of wrongness the Buddhist path addresses and what kinds of dukkha the practice accepts as inevitable. Listen to it here or in your preferred podcast app. Links from the Episode Letters from the Path: https://joshsummers.net/subscribe Practice with Josh and Terry: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post Fundamental Wrongness to Unconditional Rightness: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

Jenny Odell joins Josh to discuss her book, How To Do Nothing. Jenny reflects on the impact that the attention economy has on our personal ecosystem of ‘self,’ as well as the effect it has on our collective ecosystem. She discusses how art and nature can rehabilitate our fragmented attention. Listen to our discussion here or in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Jenny Odell: How To Do Nothing – Resisting the Attention Economy Website: https://www.jennyodell.com Twitter: @the_jennitaur Summers Sangha: Practice with Josh and Terry: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post Jenny Odell: How To Do Nothing appeared first on Josh Summers.

In this episode, Josh discusses some of the broad developmental phases of the meditative process. He also reflects on how the themes of Yin Meditation (perch, receptivity, and choice) help facilitate the unfolding of the meditative journey. Listen to Episode 115 here or in your preferred podcast app. Links from the Episode Practice with Josh and Terry: https://joshsummers.net/sangha Upcoming Workshops: https://joshsummers.net/events/workshops The post On Meditative Process and Experience: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

In this episode, Josh offers reflections on and ways of working with anxiety. Natural selection ‘designed’ us to be anxious primates, and the Buddha has the antidote. Listen to Episode 114 here or in your preferred podcast app. Links from the Episode Practice with Josh and Terry: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post Anxiety’s Antidote: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

In this conversation, Robert Wright and I explore aspects of his worldview, where he presents a compelling diagnosis and prescription for the most pressing issues of our day, namely how humanity can avert an apocalypse of its own making. Listen to our discussion here or in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Robert Wright s platforms: Meaningoflife.tv: https://meaningoflife.tv/ The Wright Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wright-show/id505824847 Robert Wright s books: The Moral Animal Nonzero The Evolution of God Why Buddhism is True Summers Sangha: Weekly Dharma Talk/Meditaiton, Yin Yoga/Qi Gong, Yin Yoga, and Yang Yoga: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post Robert Wright: Averting the Apocalypse appeared first on Josh Summers.

In this episode, Josh reflects on the virtues and value of wise friendship on the spiritual path. This talk was inspired by the recent conversation between Sam Harris and David Whyte. Listen to Episode 112 here or in your preferred podcast app. Links from the Episode Making Sense podcast with Sam Harris conversing with David Whyte: https://samharris.org/podcasts/240-boundaries-self/ David Whyte’s Consolations – The Solace, Nourishment, and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words Practice with Josh and Terry: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post The Touchstone of Witness: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

In this talk, Josh answers a student s question about the nature of progress on the meditative path. Many people feel frustrated by their lack of progress in meditation. This talk attempts to mitigate that frustration. Listen to Episode 111 here or in your preferred podcast app. Links from the Episode Subscribe to “Letters from the Path,” Josh s semi-regular musings inspired by the world’s wisdom traditions and teachers. Subscription includes 2 Yin Yoga practices. https://joshsummers.net/subscribe Sangha: Practice meditation, Yin Yoga, Qi Gong and Yang Yoga with Josh and Terry: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post The Tao of Progress: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

In this dharma reflection, I share the story of the famous Buddhist saint, Angulimala. Prior to his conversion of Heart, Angulimala was a serial killer who kept a trophy of each of his victims’ little fingers threaded around his neck. His triumph over his own heinous karma holds important lessons for each of us. Listen to Episode 110 here or in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode The Summers Sangha practice group: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post Angulimala’s Karma: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

This dharma reflection explores the manifestation of ill-will directed at oneself. One challenging dynamic in meditation is the experience of self-criticism and self-judgment. Bringing compassion and kindness to one’s karma is one way that the path promotes personal growth and evolution. Listen to Episode 109 here or in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode The Summers Sangha practice group: https://joshsummers.net/sangha Send questions and topics to Josh: josh@joshsummers.net The post Attuning, Atoning: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

Within this series of reflections on the hindrances in practice, Josh explores the energy of hatred and ill-will and how the path of meditation can transform our relationship to this challenging energy. Listen to Episode 108 here or in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Workshop on 3/6/21: Heart of Yin Yoga: Principles and Practice All upcoming sessions: https://joshsummers.net/events The post V for Vendetta: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

In Episode 107, I explore the evolution of desire within the span of a long-term spiritual practice. I invite you to listen to the episode here or subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Workshop: Heart of Yin Yoga: Principles and Practice The Summers Sangha practice group: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post A Want For Nothing: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

In Episode 106, I interview Jessica Locke to explore the philosophy of phenomenology and how Buddhist practice can support anti-racist education in individuals and society. Listen to our discussion here or in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Jessica Locke’s article: Living Our Histories, Shaping Our Futures: Buddhist Practice and Anti-Racist Education for White People Online Course with Jessica Locke and Briane Lesage Summers Sangha: Weekly Dharma Talk/Meditaiton, Yin Yoga/Qi Gong, Yin Yoga, and Yang Yoga: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post Jessica Locke: Anti-Racism and Buddhist Practice appeared first on Josh Summers.

In Episode 105, I explore two interpretations of the famous Zen story about the wise old rice farmer and his enlightened worldview. Listen to the episode here or subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Sangha Membership: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The Sublime Quartet: https://joshsummers.net/sublime-offer The post Who Knows Good News Bad News? – Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

In Episode 104, I reflect on the dynamic of desire in practice. Instead of attempting to uproot desires, the invitation is to refine the orientation of one’s desire, whereby the energy of desire then supports the unfolding of the path. Listen to the episode here or subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Sangha Membership: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The Sublime Quartet: https://joshsummers.net/sublime-offer The post Desire Refined: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

In Episode 103, I continue to reflect on a general approach to working with the difficulties that arise in meditation practice. I discuss one of the paradoxes in meditation instructions and how the word “yes” cuts through layers of duality and resistance. Listen to it here or subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Sangha Membership: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The Sublime Quartet: https://joshsummers.net/sublime-offer The post Yes, The Unitive Mantra: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

In Episode 102, I introduce a series of reflections on the challenging obstacles of meditation known as the hindrances. Learning how to skillfully work with the hindrances is essential to the development of stillness (samadhi). Listen to it here or subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Summers Sangha: Weekly Dharma Talk/Meditation, Yin Yoga/Qi Gong, Yin Yoga, and Yang Yoga: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post The Way of Obstacles: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.

In the Season Introduction to 2021, I talk about the intersection of dharma practice and this moment of intense upheaval and confusion. Listen to Episode 101 here or subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode The Dharma of Bob: Episode 1, Episode 2 Cannonball Adderly, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy Summers Sangha: https://joshsummers.net/sangha/ The post Dharma in the Time of Dukkha appeared first on Josh Summers.

In Episode 100, I interview Vanja Palmers about the experience of integrating psychedelics within a formal meditation and spiritual path. Listen to our discussion here or in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Michael Pollan: How to Change Your Mind The meditation and psilocybin study: Characterization and prediction of acute and sustained response to psychedelic psilocybin in a mindfulness group retreat Summers Sangha: Weekly Dharma Talk/Meditaiton, Yin Yoga/Qi Gong, Yin Yoga, and Yang Yoga: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post Vanja Palmers: A Mushroom in the Lotus appeared first on Josh Summers.

By exploring Yin and Yang dynamics in meditation, we can tune our relationship to Wise Effort on the spiritual path. Listen to Episode 99 here or subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Summers Sangha: Weekly Dharma Talk/Meditation, Yin Yoga/Qi Gong, Yin Yoga, and Yang Yoga: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post Tuning the Lute: Dharma Talk and Meditation appeared first on Josh Summers.

In Episode 98, I offer some reflections on gratitude and how to bring the energy of gratitude into one’s meditation practice. Listen to it here or subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Links from the Episode Summers Sangha: Weekly Dharma Talk/Meditation, Yin Yoga/Qi Gong, Yin Yoga, and Yang Yoga: https://joshsummers.net/sangha The post On Gratitude: Dharma Talk and Meditation appeared first on Josh Summers.