Interfaith Sharing Series: Dharma Talks
Join the CEIE Team in our Religica Theolab Interfaith Sharing Series for the 2023-24 Academic Year. This year we focus upon Dharma Talks!
Dharma is a form of teaching and brings multiple meanings from many traditions. In the podcast near the bottom of this page, Steve Wilhelm invites us to consider Dharma in the Buddhist traditions as instructions for awakening, as paths to practice toward awakening, and as a means of aligning ourselves to reality around us. This year we will hear three speakers who teach us about attachment, suffering, and our limits and freedoms, and more.
All speakers come from traditions in Buddha Dharma that are unique from, yet clearly resonant with, one another. Wilhelm responds to the question: “Why do we need a Dharma talk series this year?” To listen and learn about past Dharma Talks and teachers, scroll down below.
Upcoming Dharma Talk:
We welcome Ajahn Nisabho Bhikkhu from Clear Mountain Monastery, Dr. Bonnie Duran from Spirit Rock Meditation Centre, and Venerable Thubten Chodron. Each teacher will offer meditation, teaching and responding to questions.
Friday, October 27, 2023 from 10 AM – 2 PM. See session times below.
Ajahn Nisabho Bhikku, How Dharma Practice Brings Inner Peace and Wisdom, 10 AM – 11 AM
Dr. Bonnie Duran, No Enemies in a Divisive Political World, 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Venerable Thubten Chodron, Karma and Rebirth, 1 PM – 2 PM
We encourage you to stay for the entire event. Lunch will be provided. Participation will be limited to 40 individuals, so please RSVP via Eventbrite at the link below.
Past Dharma Talks: 2022-2023 Event Recordings
April 21, 2023
Zen Master Jeong Ji/Anita Feng of Blue Heron Zen Community delivered a Buddhist Dharma Talk on April 21st at Seattle University. This talk was given after a guided meditation led by Zen Master Jeong Ji. Zen Master Jeong Ji brings her perspective as an artist to her practice and teaching. She describes her approach to art, especially pottery, as mirroring her approach to Zen practice: combining technique with the artistry of not knowing, being open to what appears. While she makes beautiful raku Buddhas for her business Golden Wind Raku, she continues to write poems and stories infused with Zen.
Zen Master Jeong Ji – Anita Feng’s website, with links to her books, sculpture, and Zen: anitafeng.com/wp/
February 3, 2023
Venerable Ayya Santussika Bhikkhuni began exploring meditation in the late seventies. In 1996 she joined a Kriya yoga-based center, where she deepened her meditation practice and made spiritual development the central theme of her life. In 2002, she received a Masters of Divinity degree after completing a four-year interfaith seminar program to become a minister. The program emphasized meditation, study of the major world religions, meticulous ethical conduct, and development of the skills required in ministry, such as spiritual guidance counseling, support for the ill and dying, teaching, and conducting ceremonies. In this Dharma Talk, Venerable Ayya Santussika Bhikkhuni spoke on “The Relief Found in Practicing the Teachings of the Buddha.”
October 21, 2022
Reverend Taijo Imanaka of Seattle Koyasan Buddhist Temple, who leads this local Japanese-style temple in the Shingon tradition. Rev. Imanaka was ordained at Rengejoin, a Koyasan Shingon monastery on Mt. Koya in Japan, as a disciple of Abbot Ryusho Soeda. In 2006, he was assigned as Head Priest of Seattle Koyasan Buddhist Temple, in downtown area of Seattle. Since 2014, Rev. Imanaka has focused on educational and social outreach, hosting field trips from the Psychology Department and Theology Department of Seattle University, delivering Ah-breathing meditation to the community, including homeless camps. More recently, he has been conducting a Mandala Symphony meditation weekly dedicated to the Black Lives Matter movement. He also serves as an Advisory Council Member for CEIE. Rev. Imanaka spoke on “A Shingon Temple Responds to Present Day Challenges: War and the Precept of Not-Killing.”
Explore the Podcast with Steve Wilhelm about this Dharma Talk Series
Steve Wilhelm has been engaged in Buddhist practice since 1987. He has studied and practiced in the Tibetan and Vipassana traditions, and has taught dharma at Eastside Insight Meditation since 2000, and more recently at Seattle Insight Meditation Society. He also edits Northwest Dharma Association website, an online publication, and serves on the boards of Clear Mountain Monastery and the Tibetan Nuns Project. He is also a member of the CEIE Advisory Council. He speaks here with CEIE Director Dr. Michael Reid Trice.