Speaker: Maki Okabayashi. Maki-san offers her reflections on how the power of our mind can move us in a positive direction. We engage the outer world with our body, speech and mind, but the mind is the driving force behind it all. In order to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts in our lives, we must learn how our mind holds power over us through habitual patterns. If we try, our mind also has the power to transform itself because all habits are created by the mind itself. Maki acknowledges the difficulty of changing habits formed over a lifetime, but reminds us that habits are temporary, formed by causes and conditions and therefore are not absolute. Dharma offers us the skillful means and for Maki, tsewa is key. Tsewa or "a radical open heart" allows us to access a peaceful mind by generating warmth and tenderness within ourselves. We all have a desire to be understood by others. At the same time, do we make an effort to understand others? Starting the flow of giving and receiving tsewa creates a cycle of kindness where we nuture ourselves by nurturing others. It can start with a smile. As our hearts open with tsewa our reach can be limitless because it is generated from within. With this, our joy can also become limitless.

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Dungse-la stresses the importance of aspiration to navigate life's circumstances and work with them in an uplifted manner. For example, when we get lost in our daily activities, not moving in any particular direction, he advises us to apply ourselves to a meaningful goal, or aspiration. In this way all our intentions culminate toward that goal. He speaks at length about having a fierce intention to return to aspiration bodhicitta, the vehicle that transforms an obstacle into a blessing. In this way we avoid the subtle neurosis of ego-grasping, which can turn blessings into obstacles.

Speaker: Suzy Greanias. Suzy delves into the two truths, the worldly relative truth and the supreme ultimate truth, which are the framework in which the Buddha taught. As Buddhists, we are familiar with the words of the Heart Sutra, "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form", but rather than understanding their profound inseparability, many of us have the tendency to split these two truths. We all want the realization of emptiness, but we regard the appearance of compounded phenomena as painful, a kind of a nuisance. This lead Suzy on a journey to unpack the three types of valid cognition, which we can use to investigate the absolute and the relative. She then spoke about the nature of things within the Mahayana and how the Buddha's teaching on non-self is one of the main tenets of the two truths.

Speaker: Nicholas Carter. Nick shares something Rinpoche told him on his 19th birthday: "Remember Nicholas, a bodhisattva has only one wish", but Rinpoche did not say what that wish was. Since then, Nick has come to learn that the path of the bodhisattva is a very personal path of discovery- discovery of the truth, in Sanskrit, "Dharma". We start with ourselves. We examine how we feel, how we behave, and we examine our motivations, which inevitably lead us to the truth of emptiness and dependent origination, the essence of the Buddha's teachings. Over time, and through the application of the three principles, we come to appreciate more fully the profundity of the four immeasurables in discovering for ourselves the path and wish of the bodhisattva.

Speaker: Lindsay Heppner. Lindsay describes how everyday life provides her with meaningful opportunities for practice "on the spot", including tonglen, mantra recitation and shamata meditation. Recent natural disasters such as the earthquake in Tibet and the fires in Los Angeles, as well as past travels to India allowed her to feel acutely the suffering of others, provoking a sincere wish to alleviate that suffering. In these cases, Lindsay relied on the practice of tonglen. Feeling the pain and suffering of others, Lindsay inhales their pain into herself and in return, and exhales while sending them love and complete relief from their suffering. After having been injured in a recent ski accident, Lindsay described how reciting the 100-syllable mantra in the moment provided immediate relief from her own fear and suffering. Whether performing her work as an in-home, elder care counselor or as a mother relating to her teenage sons, she has found shamata meditation to be a reliable practice to maintain a calm and peaceful state of mind, allowing her to remain present in her interactions with others.

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Dungse-la shares his thoughts and advise for the new year ahead. For a fresh start, he underscores the importance of cultivating a positive mental attitude to counteract negativity. Looking forward to brighter horizons, he recommends setting aspirations for the year ahead. We must remind ourselves that despite how things may appear, we have the ability to break the cycle of samsara and this starts with taking refuge in the Three Jewels.

Speaker: Sasha Dorje Meyerowitz. Sasha reflects on the idea of aspiration being connected to a deeper intelligence. Rather than being a plea we can express aspiration toward a particular outcome, giving that aspiration stronger form. By living daily through the eight worldly concerns and sitting with the suffering we experience, we can tune into our aspiration throughout the day.

Speaker: Kelly Smith. Kelly shares more of the history of Longchen Jigme Samten Ling, MSB's long-term retreat center in Crestone, Colorado. This is an ongoing series wherein Kelly describes in great detail her personal memories of being present since the center's beginning in 1993. Kelly shares an especially touching story of caring for a squirrel named "Norbu".

Speaker: Martha Asselin. Martha recalls her experiences in retreat ranging from durations of one weekend to six weeks, eight months and three years. Whether they were solitary or in group settings, retreats present an opportunity to let go of everyday distractions to observe and direct one's mind. Rinpoche guides us to view retreat as ideal for encountering our basic nature and seeing things exactly how they are. We bring all of our experiences onto the path from fear, confusion and preferences to insight and wisdom. Martha shares advice she received from Elizabeth and others regarding how to manage retreat: start slow, ease into practice, structure one's time, let go of expectations and allow leaving retreat to be natural.

Speaker: Chris Parmentier. Chris shares how her experience with depression provided the opportunity to practice patience, mindfulness and loving-kindness for herself and others, while also helping to let go of judgmental concepts such as success and failure. The focus on and protection of a "real" self causes pain and suffering. It takes practice and time to let go of this habitual mindset and way of being. Letting go also involves others; Chris recalls being reminded that without others there can be no enlightenment. We can learn to be grateful for everyone and everything in our lives, even those we may dislike and reject. Chris specifically recommended the Thangtong Gyalpo Refuge Prayer as a practice for overcoming pain and discovering intrinsic joy. This also results in having less resentment toward the world and ourselves. By naturally being present, we can face even old age, sickness and death with equanimity.