Dear Friends, I was inspired to look at the five faculties this month because they can guide us in practice and in daily life. I like how Elizabeth Day described the applicability: This particular framework of the five faculties can be a framework for success in anything that we do. It is a succinct summary of a sophisticated… Read More »
Dear Friends, Over the course of the month, we have looked at each of the five faculties and their progression, as described in a series of talks from Gil Fronsdal. Whenever there are lists like this, it can feel overwhelming, like we have to study for an exam in order to pass. If that’s arising for you, please… Read More »
Dear Friends, As Gil mentioned several times, the five faculties are capacities we all have. Through our practice we continue to strengthen them. We might start with a little faith and put in a little effort to develop some awareness, then find a little calm, and some improved discernment. This gives us more faith to put in more… Read More »
Dear Friends, We have concluded the series of talks from Gil on each of the faculties, so I’ll wrap up the month with a few closing reflections to pull everything together (I hope). The first thing to I want to visit is the idea of balance. The comments that follow are informed by an article from Edward Conze,… Read More »
Dear Friends, The inspiration for this month’s topic came from this description of the Five Spiritual Faculties on the Audio Dharma page for the series: [The Buddha] emphasized that suffering is workable, that we can engage with our suffering in such a way as to be freed from it. He described five faculties that we need to develop… Read More »
Dear Friends, Thank you for choosing to be part of this January email offering. This is the eighth year I have been doing this, and I continue to be inspired by the teachings, and by knowing you are here with me on this journey. I’m looking forward to exploring the five spiritual faculties with you this month. We’ll… Read More »
Dear friends, I will be offering daily meditation emails again for January 2023. Are you interested in participating? Similar to previous years, I’ll send out an email each day in January, with a short bit of encouragement in the form of a practice, idea, reflection, poem, or song. This year, I’ll explore the theme of the five spiritual… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with Sally Armstrong’s talk, “Facets of Equanimity,” looking at some of the ways equanimity might be experienced in our meditation practice. She states, “Any moment of true or clear mindfulness has equanimity in it.” You can hear this balance of equanimity in the definitions of mindfulness Sally shares. Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of… Read More »
Dear Friends, To finish Kamala’s talk, “The Five Spiritual Faculties’ relationship to Equanimity” with the fifth faculty of wisdom. Kamaly says the calm and steady collected mind can “pierce through the illusion of solidity and permanence.” She says, “When [the mind] pierces through the illusion of permanence, the deep understanding and wisdom of impermanence is known. Not theoretically,… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with Kamala’s talk, “The Five Spiritual Faculties’ relationship to Equanimity“ Kamala gives a brief overview of the five faculties, and then delves into each in more detail. Today, we’ll look at the overview and touch into the first – in Pali, it’s called saddha, which is often translated as faith. Kamala’s talk describes how the… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’ll start today with Kamala’s next talk in the retreat, on the topic of The Five Spiritual Faculties’ relationship to Equanimity. Kamala starts the talk by sharing a teaching she received from Sayadaw U Pandita: Equanimity is like a chariot being pulled by five horses. In the lead is Mindful Awareness. Behind that are a pair… Read More »
