Shell Fischer's Podcast

Though it's considered an integral part of our formal meditation practice, walking meditation is something that is often not well-known in the West, or practiced, and can seem odd when we first try it.

Yet, it can not only help the body refresh and rejuvenate between meditation periods, but can help us to take our practice "off the cushion" and into every single moment of our lives, so that we can become more and more aware of being fully embodied, experiencing the whole of our lives through all of our wonderful senses.

In this episode, Shell "walks us through" this important practice with explanation, guided practice, and q&a to end.

As we all know, whenever we're having difficulty relaxing, or sleeping, this can often profoundly affect our thinking, mood, behavior, and quality of life. The good news is, the Buddha's teachings (especially those that deal with the hindrance of worry and restlessness) can not only help us to fall asleep more easily, but can allow us to live with greater calm, joy, and ease. In this talk, Shell offer some ways that we can discover sacred rest through the teachings and our practice.

"If there is to be understanding, compassion, and peace in the world, spiritual teachers must learn to honor the 'jewels,' or 'best values,' at the heart of diverse traditions, and to keep their own alive by interpreting them in light of the here and now" ~ Donna Seaman. In this talk, Shell explores how, so often, the teachings of both the Buddha and Jesus were essentially pointing to the same truths.

One of the main ways we tend to suffer is when someone insults or blames us, and we can't seem to let go of the hurt or anger it evokes; when it lives in us, and grows bigger and more intense, maybe even overwhelming. During this talk, Shell explores how we can use the teachings and the practice to help us to better let go of our strong grip on blame and insult, and to bring some healing to our vulnerable hearts.

There are a multitude of reasons why we fall into sleep or a kind of dreaminess or even a sense of "nothingness" during meditation, and it's helpful to know what these are so that we can use our practice to work with these states, and discover more clarity, energy, and wakefulness - not only in our practice, but in our daily lives. Shell explores these and more in this talk on what is called the hindrance of "sloth & torpor."

This meditation - recorded during one of Shell's Tuesday night classes - is a 30-minute guided visualization practice, designed to help us discover our wisest self, and listen to the wisdom of our hearts for the answers we have been seeking.

In our modern western lexicon, the word "karma" is often employed as a kind of derogatory term that implies that someone who is experiencing some negative consequences is somehow getting their just reward, or cosmic punishment.

Yet in the Buddhist teachings, this is not at all an accurate description, and the Buddha himself was actually critical of many of the beliefs and myths that are attached to this word.

In this talk, Shell explores this complicated concept, and how we can use it to bring more happiness and joy into our lives, and into the lives of others.

In the famous Upaddha Sutta,the Buddha's disciple Ananda suggested that "admirable friendship" is half of the holy life … and the Buddha exclaimed, strongly, "no, it is the whole of the holy life." In this new talk, Shell explores the importance of cultivating Kalyanamitra(a Sanskrit word that means "spiritual friendship, or "noble friend") and why it's essential that we nourish this same strong friendship with the most important person in our lives – ourselves.

According to the Buddhist teachings, there are 8 main "anxieties" or "hang-ups" that take up an enormous amount of our emotional energy, and keep us trapped in a cycle of pain, frustration, and suffering. These 8 are praise and blame, recognition and disregard, gain and loss, and pleasure and pain. As we use our practice to learn to face these inevitable winds in our lives without being constantly blown over by them, the more peace, steadiness, and ease we experience. In this talk, Shell explores these 8 Winds (also called 8 Worldly Dharmas, Attachments, or Concerns).

In the Pāli canon, the Buddha asks us to practice reflecting each day on what are called "The 5 Remembrances" as they relate to the truth of annica (impermanence). Over time, and with practice, reflecting upon these 5 things can help us to more deeply recognize and accept that change, loss, and death are not unusual events, but are woven into the very fabric of existence. As we continue to reflect on these truths, the more the mind becomes imbued with peace, & equanimous in the face of difficulties. This talk from Shell explores these 5.