82: Barry Gillespie on Art, Joy, and Compassion as Tools for Social Change and Healing

BioBarry Gillespie was introduced to meditation practice in 1978, through the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashram. In 2003 he began exploring Theravada Buddhist practice, sitting many long retreats at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA and Spirit Rock in Woodacre, CA. His principal teacher is Guy Armstrong. Barry is an affiliated teacher with the&nbsp;Insight Meditation Community of Colorado (IMCC). He teaches mainly in Boulder and at the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center.Contact Barry @https://www.barryhgillespie.com/buddha_dharma_talks.htmlNotable MentionsStoryStory: A book and a short movie by William Cleveland and Barry Marcus.Find the book @ https://issuu.com/williamcleveland/docs/story_story_full_issuu_pagesFind the movie @ https://youtu.be/pwI0GGW8zTs?si=qwfYhmJRET7-FGpsBuckhorn Center: An experimental therapeutic and cultural center, north of Toronto Canada that operated in the 1980’s.Swami Vishnu Devananda: Vishnudevananda Saraswati was an Indian yoga guru known for his teaching of asanas, a disciple of Sivananda Saraswati, and founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and Ashrams. He established the Sivananda Yoga Teachers' Training Course, possibly the first yoga teacher training programs in the West.&nbsp;WikipediaThe Experience of Insight by Joseph Goldstein: a modern classic of unusually clear, practical instruction for the practice of Buddhist meditation: sitting and walking meditation, how one relates with the breath, feelings, thought, sense perceptions, consciousness, and everyday activities. Basic Buddhist topics such as the nature of karma, the four noble truths, the factors of enlightenment, dependent origination, and devotion are discussed.Pali Canon: The&nbsp;Pāli Canon&nbsp;is the standard collection of&nbsp;scriptures&nbsp;in the&nbsp;Theravada&nbsp;Buddhist&nbsp;tradition, as preserved in the&nbsp;Pāli&nbsp;language.[1]&nbsp;It is the most complete extant&nbsp;early Buddhist&nbsp;canon.[2][3]&nbsp;It derives mainly from the&nbsp;Tamrashatiya&nbsp;school.[4]Mudita: s a&nbsp;dharmic&nbsp;concept of&nbsp;joy, particularly an especially sympathetic or vicarious joy—the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people's well-being.[1]metta, In metta meditation, we direct lovingkindness toward ourselves and then, in a sequence of expansion, towards somebody we love already. Somebody we are neutral towards. Somebody we have difficulty with. And ultimately toward all beings everywhere without distinction.Theravada Buddhist: Theravāda&nbsp;(/ˌtɛrəˈvɑːdə/,[note 1]&nbsp;lit. 'School of the Elders'[1][2]) is the most commonly accepted name of&nbsp;Buddhism's oldest existing school.[1][2]&nbsp;The school's adherents, termed Theravādins, have preserved their version of&nbsp;Gautama Buddha's teaching or&nbsp;Buddha Dhamma&nbsp;in the&nbsp;Pāli Canon&nbsp;for over two millennia.[1][2][web 1]four Brahmavihārā’s: The&nbsp;brahmavihārā&nbsp;(sublime attitudes, lit. "abodes of brahma") (Pāli:&nbsp;cattāri brahmavihārā,&nbsp;Sinhala:&nbsp;චත්තාරි බ්‍රහ්මවිහාරා/සතර බ්‍රහ්ම විහරණ) are a series of four&nbsp;Buddhist&nbsp;virtues and the meditation practices made to cultivate them. They are also known as the&nbsp;four immeasurables&nbsp;(Pāli:&nbsp;appamaññā)[1]&nbsp;or&nbsp;four infinite minds&nbsp;(Chinese:&nbsp;四無量心).[2]&nbsp;The&nbsp;brahmavihārā&nbsp;are:1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;loving-kindness or benevolence&nbsp;(mettā)2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;compassion&nbsp;(karuṇā)3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;empathetic joy&nbsp;(muditā)4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;equanimity&nbsp;(upekkhā)Spirit Rock in California: Set among 411 acres of serene oak woodlands in the secluded hills of West Marin County, California, Spirit Rock Meditation Center is a refuge from everyday life where it's truly possible to quiet the mind, soften the heart and see life in a new way.<a...