Dharma Seed - dharmaseed.org: Betsy Rose's most recent Dharma talks

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Singer ,Songwriter, Dharma Teacher, Betsy Rose shares some songs, poems and reflections on navigating our relationship to time. How many of us are experiencing time as a vanishing “commodity?” The speed and amount of digital inputs (email, activist alerts, webinars, headlines and more..) threaten to overwhelm us. Feeling pressured, squeezed, and overloaded can be a familiar experience. This talk explores practices and choices that can help restore a sense of spaciousness and wise view to the mysterious construct we call “time.”

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Betsy shares some of her recent work called "Singing into the Unknown: Songs for Reimagining the Future" coming out the particular time of uncertainty we are currently in.

(Assaya Sangha) An exploration of the complex emotional, medical, social and ethical issues surrounding reproductive justice. What did the Buddha actually teach about non-harming? How does heated public discourse create false binaries, and push people into extreme positions? What is the way of the compassionate and wise heart as we navigate this heart-wrenching and challenging life situation?

(Assaya Sangha) Compassion (karuna) is an upwelling of tenderness and care in response to suffering. This beautiful quality of the heart has some "near enemies" that disguise as wise care, but cause our good intended words and actions to fall short, or even do more harm, to us and others. With song and story, this talk explores examples of near misses, and offers practices that allow wise compassion to emerge.

(Assaya Sangha) As we witness and are deeply impacted by the eruption of a war of aggression in the Ukraine, we will reflect tonight on how these three paramis -- compassion, courageous energy and equanimity -- are visible both on the world stage and in our own lives and hearts.

(Assaya Sangha) I met Thay in 1987 and assisted him in many retreats and public talks, singing the songs I wrote inspired by his teachings and poetry. In this talk, I share some stories and songs from these early days that focus on his unorthodox, creative, intuitive, and courageous embodiment of dharma.

(Assaya Sangha) We listen to a 2009 talk by ecologist, Buddhist, and systems thinker Joanna Macy, on the 5 gifts of uncertainty -- gifts for these unstable and uncertain times. With further teachings from Betsy Rose on Martin Luther King and Gandhi, and these gifts manifest in their life work.

(Assaya Sangha) Wise Hope, as articulated by Roshi Joan Halifax, can be a wise practice for our times. Unlike "Ordinary Hope" it does not focus on a desired outcome, but is rooted in the sense of infinite possibility in the face of, and in fact BECAUSE of, the groundless and impermanent nature of reality.

(Assaya Sangha) This season is full of holidays! There is Solstice, celebrating the rebirth of the sun after the longest darkest night. There is Hanukah, celebrating the mystery of enduring, impossible light protecting the sacred. And there is Christmas, honoring the birth of the prophet and teacher Jesus (often called “The Light of the World”). Betsy reflects on the miracle of being born at all, against impossible odds, and how we are shaped by the causes and conditions we are born into. Darkness and Light, Joyful Existence and Dukkha- we’ll celebrate the whole mess!

(Assaya Sangha) The Buddha famously taught that the Sangha is the most important aspect of “the Holy Life”. And Indigenous wisdom (and recent biology) teach us that natural systems are also a sangha, a web of connection, kept healthy by reciprocity and generosity. Betsy reflects on the dharma of the “Mother Trees”, and how elders (and youth) feed the life of our human ecosystem.

(Assaya Sangha) The Buddha's teaching on "no separate, solid, permanent self" guides us toward our interbeing, as Thich Nhat Hanh names it. We are made of innumerable causes and conditions, and the "self" changes as those conditions change. This teaching is a valuable antidote to the illness of individualism that plagues many western societies, but for many women, it also has a "near enemy"-- codependence. How do we, as women, embrace and live this truth while not allowing codependence to drag us into unhealthy dependencies, and relationships where we feel overly responsible for others happiness? This talk explores the balance between interconnection, and healthy boundaries and non-harming of oneself through sacrificial self-denial.

(Assaya Sangha)

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Winter reflections on impermanence, trust, and boldness in a new America

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Betsy Rose, singer, songwriter and dharma teacher talks about her travels world wide this past year, what she learned and how to hold the current political climate.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Songs and reflections for the season of letting go.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)