Suffering
Yvonne unpacks the arising of suffering and proposes a viable response.
"Suffering is not synonymous with pain. Suffering is how we react or respond to pain and that is in the realm entirely of the mind."
Attention
Yvonne describes in detail the arrangement of the body that accompanies attention while meditating.
"I can’t say enough about the possibility of being in attention, and I want to encourage you to discover what you have to do in order to rouse your energy for practice in the cultivation of attention."
Death and Dying
Yvonne discusses old age, sickness and death.
"We never know how we’ll be when death knocks on our door – calm acceptance like Gandhi, or panic like the last words of an airline pilot as the plane goes down. We actually don’t know. It has everything to do with what we practice, what we rehearse."
Buddhism as Transformation, 1994
Arizona Conference, Public Lecture
Yvonne explains how carefully investigating our own interior lives provides the grist for the Buddha Dharma mill to do its work.
"Even with the most intense, negative emotions, the most difficult and disturbing thoughts, we begin to develop a way of staying present, without hurting ourselves, without shutting down, without reacting."
Hard Rain, 1999
Class Series, Yoga Room, Berkeley
Yvonne talks about meditation practice as an avenue toward facing what we would rather not look at or acknowledge.
"If you bring forth what is within you, what is within you will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what is within you will destroy you." The Gospel of Thomas
Who is My Teacher, 2002
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Yvonne discusses her teachers including, at the age of seven, a horse named Susie, a Guernsey milking cow, a black hen and, in her adult life, many venerable teachers representing various Buddhist traditions.
"I invite you to join me in some inquiry into what teaches us and when do we learn."
Having a Daily Practice, 2001
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Yvonne talks about the importance of a consistent practice.
"In the end, what counts is how we treat the people we live with and the people we walk with, work with, our dogs and cats and the people we see in the grocery store, and in fact, other people on the highway."
Generosity, 2002
Green Gulch Farm, Public Lecture
Yvonne talks about generosity, the first of the Six Perfections.
"I'm convinced that our ability to study the mind and to train the mind requires a kind heart, a generous heart."