Dharma Glimpses with Judy Lief
Episodes
295 episodes
Episode 148: Holding It Together Mentality
[This episode originally aired on November 15, 2023] This episode is about groundlessness and uncertainty • how do we respond when we are no longer on familiar ground, when we feel insecure? • it can feel so uncomfortab...
Episode 147: Mahayana Mentality
[This episode originally aired on November 8, 2023] One function of meditation practice is the quality of exposing and uncovering what's going on inside our thoughts and feelings • when we practice, the basic fundamental pattern tha...
Episode 146: Five Powerful Supports
[This episode originally aired on November 1, 2023] The “five powers” are five supports for your practice • they are: determination, familiarization, seed of virtue, remorse, and aspiration • with determination, yo...
Episode 145: Grasping, Greed, Hatred and Ignorance
[This episode originally aired on October 30, 2023] All beings truly want to be happy and content; so why do we continually and repeatedly create situations for ourselves and others that only lead to greater suffering? • so m...
Episode 144: Possibilities
[This episode originally aired on October 23, 2023] Many classical Buddhist texts on meditation say that the best place to meditate or to practice is a quiet place in the forest, free from distractions, pleasant and refreshin...
Episode 143 Small Thoughts, Big Consequences
[This episode originally aired on October 16, 2023] In Buddhist psychology, even large scale events and large emotional upheavals can be traced back step-by-step to simple little things • just a thought, just an idea, just a memory...
Episode 142: Trading Places
[This episode originally aired on October 9, 2023] The Mahayana path, the path of the Bodhisattva warrior of wisdom and compassion, has a great deal to do with how we relate to ourselves and to one another • what kind of othe...
Episode 141: An Outrageous Idea
[This episode originally aired on Oct. 2, 2023] The Mahayana, or open path, is the path of the Bodhisattva — the enlightened warrior of wisdom and compassion • at the core of the Mahayana path is an outrageous vow, called the...
Episode 140: In Praise of Inefficiency
[This episode originally aired on Sept. 26, 2023] This period of history has been marked by incredible leaps in efficiency: things that used to take a great deal of time and effort can get done more quickly and easily than ever •&n...
Episode 139: Filters Frames and Blind Spots
[This episode originally aired on Sept. 19, 2023] In Buddhist psychology, a lot of emphasis is placed on the process of perception because the way we perceive —and misperceive — has tremendous consequences • in grade school we...
Episode 138: When You Lose Your Mind, Come Back
[This episode originally aired on June 28, 2022] The phrase, “When you lose your mind, come back” describes a lot of what happens in meditation: repeatedly losing our minds, and repeatedly bringing ourselves back • the m...
Episode 137: The Role of Discipline
[This episode originally aired on June 21, 2022] In the dharma a great deal of emphasis is placed on integrating meditation practice and study • interwoven throughout is the need for discipline, the need to apply our training...
Episode 136: Balancing Act
[This episode originally aired on June 14, 2022] Since we are the only ones who know what’s really going on during any session of meditation, or in life generally, we have a responsibility to be our own meditation instructors, worki...
Episode 135: Peacefulness in the Midst
[This episode originally aired on June 7, 2022] I used to carry around a cartoon that depicted a beautifully robed monk with a Japanese shoji screen behind him, everything perfectly in its place—and behind the screen everything was compl...
Episode 134: The Play of Emotions
[This episode originally aired on May 31, 2022] Emotions are a natural part of who we are • they can be powerful—even overpowering—or they can be subtle, almost an undercurrent • they can be very inspiring, or they...
Episode 133: Letting Go
[This episode originally aired on August 8, 2023] I recently had a problem with my computer—whatever I put in my "trash" would just stay there; I couldn’t empty it • I started thinking about how that could describe our personal “tr...
Episode 132: Eight Everyday Preoccupations
[This episode originally aired on August 1, 2023] The eight everyday preoccupations are eight ways we occupy our minds in order to avoid experiencing things directly • they act as a kind of a central filtering mechanism, separating ...
Episode 131: Genuine Effort
[This episode originally aired on July 25, 2023] Effort plays a very important part on the Buddhist path; it’s one of the three main components of discipline, meditation, and knowledge • effort is where the rubber meets the road; i...
Episode 130: Two Kinds of Bypassing
[This episode originally aired on July 18, 2023] Someone recently asked me, “Am I spiritually bypassing?” • I took that term to mean using one’s practice or spiritual path as an escape, or relief, from the responsibilities of regula...
Episode 129: Lighthearted Practice
[This episode originally aired on July 11, 2023] Today I’d like to explore the problem of becoming an adult • the world of children is filled with magic and fantasy and stories, with vivid perceptions and playfulness •&...
Episode 128: Simple Compassion
[This episode originally aired on July 4, 2023] The word “compassion” can seem so overwhelming in the face of all the suffering in the world that it can stop us in our tracks • while we’re imagining all the great gestures of compas...
Episode 127: Beginning and Ending with Kindness
[This episode originally aired on June 27, 2023] The attitude that’s encouraged whenever we embark on a spiritual journey is not to approach it simply as a means of self improvement, but to switch our normal way of operating so that we are thin...
Episode 126: Settling and Looking
[This episode originally aired on June 20, 2023] We are all familiar with meditation as a way to tame and quiet the mind • another important aspect of meditation is clear seeing, or insight: the power of meditation to reveal t...