Written (or discovered) in 1968, the Sadhana of Mahamudra is more relevant now than it has ever been. This long prayer, which includes some of the most poetic descriptions of devotion, longing and awakening in English, is available to meditation students both new and old. Combining the realization of the Kagyu and the Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the Sadhana of Mahamudra emerged at a time of revolution and tumult. The author, Trungpa Rinpoche, was struggling to find a way to connect his deep training in Tibetan Buddhism with the modern world. This sadhana was his answer. Please join us this Sunday for a discussion of the Sadhana of Mahamudra, and then a group practice session. Most sadhanas are not available without finishing preliminary practices, but in this case the lineage holder has given us permission to do this practice at NDF.

As the poet Theodore Roethke wrote, “In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” Within our practice traditions, there is sacred technology that helps us touch into the fertile darkness of Prajna Paramita. We will explore these practices together in support of resiliency. This then helps us to navigate in seasons of collective groundlessness.

In the rapidly, ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence, humanity is faced with a myriad of views about what constitutes “intelligence,” consciousness, and the risks of AI. How can the Dharma inform this conversation, and how might mindfulness, insight, and wisdom help us cultivate “right understanding” in the face of these technologies?In the rapidly, ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence, humanity is faced with a myriad of views about what constitutes “intelligence,” consciousness, and the risks of AI. This talk and discussion will explore how the Dharma can inform this conversation, and how mindfulness, insight, and wisdom might help us cultivate “right understanding” in the face of these technologies.

Join Lama Willa Baker and the online sangha of Natural Dharma Fellowship for a morning of teaching, prayer, contemplation, meditation practice, and community. Not by the book, Willa’s Dharma Sundays reflect what is most immediately and spontaneously on her heartmind.

Awakening is not something we achieve; it is something we recognize. Yet subtle patterns of mind and identity obscure what is already present. In this experiential workshop, we explore what stands in the way of direct recognition and how it can naturally fall away. Many traditions describe awakening as a kind of remembering, recognizing what has always been here. If this is true, what prevents us from seeing it? In this workshop, we turn our attention to the subtle ways the sense of separation is maintained: patterns of thought, emotional conditioning, and unconscious identification. Rather than trying to fix or transcend them, we explore how seeing them clearly allows them to soften and release. Through guided inquiry and shared exploration, we begin to uncover the ever-present awareness that is not separate from our experience, but is the ground of it. This is a deeply experiential session using Collective Interactive Meditation, a method that brings insight alive through direct, shared exploration.

In just four lines, the Seven Branch Prayer contains the condensed essence of the Buddhist path. Please see the Seven Branch Prayer file attached to the confirmation email you will receive after you submit your registration. Natural Dharma Fellowship’s Dharma Sundays are donation-based gatherings open to all, offering a wide range of topics. Led by highly trained NDF Dharma and guest teachers, these live, interactive sessions include guided meditation, teachings, and time for questions and discussion. Please join us to settle into the support of sangha and the joy of practicing together.

Join Lama Willa Baker and the online sangha of Natural Dharma Fellowship for a morning of teaching, prayer, contemplation, meditation practice, and community. Not by the book, Willa’s Dharma Sundays reflect what is most immediately and spontaneously on her heartmind. Time is allotted at the end of every Sunday session for audience participation, questions and reflections.

Natural Dharma Fellowship’s Dharma Sundays are donation-based gatherings open to all, offering a wide range of topics. Led by highly trained NDF Dharma and guest teachers, these live, interactive sessions include guided meditation, teachings, and time for questions and discussion. Please join us to settle into the support of sangha and the joy of practicing together.

Prison Dharma: Buddhist perspectives and practices for developing inner peace independent from outer context. In the Buddha’s first teaching, he named the forms of suffering that define the human condition, two of which are the pain of being separated from what we love and the stress of being forced to associate with what we loathe. This talk draws from years of experience working within the correctional system, with people from widely varying backgrounds all needing to cope with their powerlessness over their surroundings. We will explore several meditative and reflective techniques that are effective in meeting the presence of dukkha and our own unskillfulness with a steady heart, moving toward a practice of radical acceptance without reactivity.