Urban Dharma Podcast

My answer to the question, "What are the benefits of meditation." This is from my ongoing Wednesday Night class at IBMC in Los Angeles, CA. I tweaked the volume on the question in the podcast to make it understandable. My Wednesday Night class at IBMC is open to anyone interested in learning more about Buddhism. For more info please go to: www.Kusala.info

A talk on finding peace in this ever changing world of birth, death, growth and decay. This talk was given at True Yoga in Thousand Oaks, California in August of 2006.

My interview with Rev. Nori Ito a priest at The Los Angeles Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple. We talk about his life and work as a priest at a Pureland Temple in Los Angeles. Growing up in Los Angeles as a Buddhist Japanese American, his school years, meeting his wife and his Buddhist ordination. How he started a Buddhist club at Occidental College, his work with the Los Angeles Buddhist/Catholic Dialogue and taking students to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to introduce them to the horrors of the atomic bomb and nuclear war.

A talk on 'Happiness in Buddhism' given at, One Spirit - Center of Conscious Living, in Simi Valley, California. There is happiness in owning things, happiness created by Self and a Selfless, transcendent happiness. The talk ends with Rev. Kusala singing "The Eve of Destruction" and playing some harmonica blues in the key of G.

My interview with Ericka Bryant the owner of True Yoga in Thousand Oaks, California. She talks about how she came to yoga, religion and spirituality, a 16 day yoga retreat she just returned from and how to start a yoga practice. You can find me there the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, talking about Buddhism and meditation.

A talk at True Yoga... An introduction and brief overview on the kinds of mind states found in some forms of meditation and the dying process. The two reference works used were... "Preparing for Death & Helping the Dying" — by Sangye Khadro (available on Urban Dharma for free download - eBooks page) and "The Psychedelic Experience": A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, Richard Alpert (available at Amazon.com).

My interview with Father Alexei Smith... Director of the Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Office of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Father Alexei and his office is a resource used by the Archbishop and the various offices of the Archdiocese in all matters of ecumenical and interreligious issues. You can find out more about Father Alexei and his work at: http://www.archdiocese.la/ecumenical/index.php

This is part 3... My interview with Roshi Wendy 'Egyoku' Nakao, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Since 1967, ZCLA / Buddha Essence Temple has provided the teachings and practice of Zen Buddhism to all who come and go through its temple gate. The core practice is zazen. Visit the ZCLA web site at: www.zencenter.org

This is part 2... My interview with Roshi Wendy 'Egyoku' Nakao, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Since 1967, ZCLA / Buddha Essence Temple has provided the teachings and practice of Zen Buddhism to all who come and go through its temple gate. The core practice is zazen. Visit the ZCLA web site at: www.zencenter.org

This is part 1... My interview with Roshi Wendy 'Egyoku' Nakao, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Since 1967, ZCLA / Buddha Essence Temple has provided the teachings and practice of Zen Buddhism to all who come and go through its temple gate. The core practice is zazen. Visit the ZCLA web site at: www.zencenter.org