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"We can and must, each of us, individually, be a ballast, a reminder of what is good and right, of peace and justice, of supporting the environment, of trusting in individual experiences, voices, choices and stories." - Nadia Colburn The post Ballast in the Storm | Short Reflection from Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

"Then, Bahiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen, there will only be the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself." - Buddha The post Bahiya’s Burning Doubt | Short Reflection with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

"Most people are afraid of suffering. But suffering is a kind of mud to help the lotus flower of happiness grow. There can be no lotus flower without the mud." --Thich Nhat Hanh The post The Yin-Yang Heart | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

"It is not billionaires or technology that will save us, but instead a 'vitalist mass movement,' driven by human spirit that may actually be magical enough to change hearts and minds across the world." - Amitav Ghosh The post Compassion Amidst Crisis | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

"Racial essentialism keeps racism alive. The more entrenched racial categories are in the public mind, the easier it is for white power advocates to use them for their own nefarious purposes--and for the rest of us to slip into old stereotypes and cognitive biases." - Amiel Handelsman The post Deracialization and Antiracism | Amiel Handelsman appeared first on Josh Summers.

"Because, as the first line of the Dhammapada says, 'All that we are is the result of what we have thought,' the transformation of 'sociological and psychological structures' must take place initially in our own minds - and those of others - if we truly hope to address the root cause of social suffering." - Charles Johnson The post Deracializing Consciousness | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

"And if he were forcibly dragged up the steep and rugged ascent and not let go till he had been dragged out [of the cave] into the sunlight, the process would be a painful one, to which he would much object, and when he emerged into the light his eyes would be so dazzled by the glare of it that he wouldn't be able to see a single one of the things he was now told were real." - Plato, "The Republic" The post Enlightening Shadows | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

In becoming aware of our conditioning, we can then practice ways of creatively establishing more skillful habits of relationship and engagement. - Josh Summers The post Culture Shock of Self | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

"I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that ancient path, that ancient road? It is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is: wise view, wise intention, wise speech, wise action, wise livelihood, wise effort, wise mindfulness and wise stillness." - The Buddha The post An Ancient City | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

In awakening to our conditioning, just like the Buddha, we can creatively collaborate with new forms of conditioning informed by compassion and wisdom. - Josh Summers The post On self-Fragility | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

"We share over 50% of our DNA with fungi. We're more closely related to fungi than plants." - Alex Dorr The post Functional Mushrooms for Functional Health | Alex Door appeared first on Josh Summers.

With time, practice will reveal our unresolved wounds that are still wound within the conditions of original trauma. - Josh Summers The post Seeing and Freeing Patterns | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

The conscientious young monk Meditating three years alone Can no longer be moved By the four worldly winds. - from fictional Zen story told by Ajahn Brahm The post Rooted For Wind | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup? - Zen Master Nan-in The post An Empty Cup | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child, so with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings. - Buddha (from the Metta Sutta) The post Questioning Compassion | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

When we shift from being subject to a racial worldview to looking at it as an object; when we are able to see how it works and work to not racialize ourselves or others... now we're getting to where we can start to actually get off that karmic cycle. - Greg Thomas The post Race, Jazz and Healing | Greg Thomas appeared first on Josh Summers.

The Buddha spoke of sati (mindfulness) and sampajanna (clear comprehension) as the twin aspects of awareness that nurture wisdom and compassion. Mindfulness and clear comprehension suggest the relationship between deep listening and deep understanding. - Josh Summers The post Compassionate Inquiry | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

Real compassion includes wisdom and so it makes judgments of care and concern: it says some things are good, and some things are bad, and I will choose to act only on those things that are informed by wisdom and care. - Ken Wilber The post Compassionate Alignment | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

The three intentions of compassionate RAIN (receptivity, alignment, inquiry, and negotiation): May I create the conditions for this energy or part of me to feel safe, to feel heard, and to feel integrated. - Josh Summers The post Compassionate Receptivity | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.

Trauma - any experience that cannot be integrated at the time of its occurrence - causes parts of oneself to freeze, like blocks of ice. These frozen parts evolve to keep us safe, but in their frozen state they alienate us from flowing with life. - Josh Summers The post Listening Like Water | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.