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Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage
Dharma talks from meditation teacher Mary Stancavage. These focus primarily on the pragmatic aspects of Buddhist teachings and philosophy drawing strongly on wisdom and heart practices. All are viewed through the lens of learning to live with an Undefended Heart. (photo by @kimanhuynh)
Episodes
322 episodes
Reflections on Retreat
Mary attended a retreat this week and offers some reflections on kindness to ourselves, awareness, insight and interconnections. The name of the retreat was
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12:26
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Heirs to Our Actions
The Five Remembrances (AN 5.57) allow us to become comfortable with our mortality and the human condition and serve as an antidote to clinging. The fifth remembra...
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20:14
Care for Ourselves, Care for Others
Reflecting on the Rajan Sutta, Mary talks about the twofold teaching it offers. Just as we hold ourselves dear, we realized that others feel the same and knowing thi...
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19:45
Relax the Body, Relax the Mind
We're often given the instruction to relax during meditation. It is not just so that we feel relaxed or calm, but it allows us to let go of what we're holding and to make space for what's right here. We're creating the environment to be present...
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29:07
The Roller Coaster is the Human Condition
In this brief reflection, Mary discusses the Buddha's teaching on the Eight Worldly Winds and how appropriate it is for today's world. Equanimity invites us to an appropriate response to whatever experience we have and when we understand the te...
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19:01
Hope as a Practice
Although the Buddha did not teach using the word hope, his teachings are, as Oren Jay Sofer says, fundamentally hopeful: It affirms that there is a reliable way to release ourselves from suffering, to protect other beings, mitigate h...
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16:49
Taming the Monkey Mind
The monkey mind is a phrase often used to describe a mind that is all over the place and seldom in the present. All of us experience monkey mind, overwhelm or the Pali word Papañca. In this reflection Mary invites us to recognize when ...
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19:02
The Path of No Preference
A lovely definition of equanimity is to be intimate with our deepest experience, without preference. In this talk, Mary discusses what that means and doesn't mean and how no preference in this moment is a practice of liberation.Recorded ...
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25:24
Be a Buddha
Oftentimes we think that studying or following Buddhist teachings requires us to fit a certain mold or behave in a particular way. But this is not about a rigid practice and one size fits all. In this talk Mary reflects on how we're invited to ...
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16:27
The Antidote to Fear
The Metta Sutta was the Buddha's offering to fearful monks and the practice of loving kindness and good will is still a path of liberation. As Ruth King says, metta is the antidote for aversion and those ways we hold ourselves captive. We live ...
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25:13
Stepping into the Darkness
Inspired by a talk from Ayya Santacitta (We Are Not Without Medicine) Mary discusses how the world is in a time of darkness, and how our Buddhist practice helps us to move through it. We open to...
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20:08
Cruising the Dharma
Scrolling through the talk titles on Dharmaseed can offer insight in how to maneuver through the difficult challenges we're all facing in 2025. Connection, community, compassion, clarity ...
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18:36
The Long Journey
Reflecting on a quote by Thich Nhat Hanh which says "There is not one action or one ritual that will bring you liberation" It require continual effort and commitment to practice. Mary discusses how this flies in the face of our culture's belief...
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19:41
The Bodhisattva Realm
The Bodhisattva realm is an existence that is open to all of us and is as important today as it's ever been. It's one of the four realms in Mahayana tradition and Mary discusses how meaningful it can be for us to live in a way that is wise and ...
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27:05
Grief, Anger and All the Feels
Sitting with the freshness of the destructive Los Angeles fires, Mary talks about how grief, anger and so many other emotions come and go and when they're challenging we push them away or ignore them, but that is perhaps the worst thing we can ...
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23:00
Supporting Our Intentions
We often make intentions at the beginning of a new year, but it's also important that our intentions have a solid foundation. In this talk Mary discusses what intentions are and how we support them with the precepts, the paramis or other core v...
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32:34
So Many Rules
Left to its own devices our minds will latch on to something and create whole scenarios and worlds that we then think are real. Often we create rules for behavior, either ours or others. When these rules clash with reality, we experience du...
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18:39
Greet the Moment with Peace
How many times during the day or week do we experience situations that we find uncomfortable or unpleasant? We often react with annoyance or impatience which can tend to make it worse, even if only in our mind. In this talk Mary invites us to g...
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17:49
Finding Your Way
Oftentimes when faced with issues or problems in our lives, we ask what would the Buddhist response be. In the teachings however, the Buddha asked us to find our own way - to see for ourselves which actions are wise or unwise. The Buddha gave u...
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26:16
Let Go Let Be
Plans go sideways all the time, things happen. How do we greet those moments? And how do we learn to recognize all the places we're stuck? Once we can begin to let go, then we can let things be without getting caught up in the first place. This...
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25:00
Opening Ourselves
The topic of gratitude is quite common at this time of year and Mary discusses the idea of gratitude as a heart practice which also encompasses love and connection. Using the writing bell hooks as a starting point she invites us to let gratitud...
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25:17
Suffering and Joy
Suffering and Joy seem incompatible, but in this talk Mary shows how they are not mutually exclusive. Joy is not dependent on outside circumstances. As teacher Larry Ward has said, "Joy is possible in the midst of suffering and without ignoring...
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24:12
Finding Our Foundation
In this talk Mary discusses two seemingly different ideas of what a foundation can be in our practice. There is the stillness and grounding of meditation practice and the foundation offered by the Eightfold Path. They are not mutually exclusive...
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22:46