Metta--the quality of unconditional love is considered one of the boundless qualities of the heart.   We often have beings in our lives who embody this quality and have been there for us regardless of how we are, or what we have done.   These beings could be grandparents, an aunt or uncle, perhaps our parents (though most parents knowingly or not have conditions to their love), our 1st-grade teacher, or even a family dog.   Recalling these benefactors is of great help if we have trouble connecting with the kind of love. 
In this episode, we discuss the benefactors in our lives and how the impact they can have.

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As Jon returns from his heart surgery and recovery, we discuss the practice of patience, which is considered one of the Perfections of the Heart (Parami).    While heart surgery itself is miraculous, perfecting the heart by cultivating this quality of patience (among others) is no less so.  We look at ways to develop patience throughout our day.

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We'll discuss a fun early sutta where two ascetics, one practicing as a dog, the other as a cow, come up to the Buddha to ask for his opinion about the merit of their practices.  What does this show us about our own attitude to practice?

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Some folks believe that Buddhism requires us to let go of all desires.  This is actually a misinterpretation of the teachings.  There are undoubtedly healthy and unhealthy desires, and if one desire turns into greed, we have crossed the line.  That line is only sometimes as apparent as we might think.   In this episode, we discuss what the Buddha says about this and how what we have to learn from these teachings.

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This episode will be aired the week Jon faces significant surgery.  It seems like an appropriate time to look into fear and how to work with it. 

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One of the various lists of the Dharma is the 10 Fetters. In this episode, we discuss the first five of these and none of them will be a surprise because they are so common.  Despite being common that doesn't make them easy break away.  

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For our first episode of the 2023,  we offer support just in case you've resolved to develop a daily meditation practice.

Maintaining a daily practice is difficult, so we hope these tips might help the process.

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In our final podcast of 2022 we'll take another look at embodied meditation, following a retreat that Jon was just on.  As a special gift, Jon will lead us on a wonderful guided meditation illustrating how seeing this embodiment can work in our practice.

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Jon has just got back from a long retreat, so we discuss his experiences, as well as offering a few book recommendations for the holidays and New Year. Go to our website for titles and some links!

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Is our "Diggin' the Dharma" logo a problem? Doug and Jon react to some recent comments on a thread at Doug's YouTube channel that expressed the concern that the logo was offensive in depicting the Buddha with a shovel.   It's an opportunity to look at the teachings of "rites and rituals" as well as the concept of spiritual materialism.

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