What We’re Plugged Into

VIDEO

“Awareness in Action: Discernment” by Bhikkhu Bodhi

Speaking to the Upaya Zen Center, Bhikkhu Bodhi explains how clarity of understanding guides choices in personal conduct and social accountability. Discernment, he argues, prevents mindfulness from becoming passive. He challenges the Western view of Buddhism as a private path by grounding practice in moral consequence. Bodhi shows how awareness matures into wisdom when applied to the conditions that shape suffering in the world.

DHARMA TALK

“Undivided Giving: Empty Hands, Full Life” by Nyokai Kristin Diggs

In this dharma talk at the San Francisco Zen Center, Nyokai Kristin Diggs reflects on giving as a practice grounded in sustained attention. She links generosity to the discipline of training the mind, illustrating how careful awareness shapes ethical living. Selfless giving, she suggests, depends on presence and clarity. As Diggs observes, “An alert and trained mind is a powerful tool and an antidote to many afflictions.” She offers a practical perspective on how attention supports generosity on the Buddhist path.

TEDx TALKS

“What Queerness Can Teach Us About Friendship” by Tashi Choedup

Social activist and transfeminine Buddhist monastic Tashi Choedup has been at the center of changing minds in India for much of their adult life. Speaking candidly about life as a young trans person and the isolation and violence that often follow, Choedup contemplates the sustaining power of friendship. Their talk recalls the Buddha’s insistence that friendship is “the whole of the holy life.” In a political climate increasingly hostile to trans lives, this is a voice worth listening to closely.

DHARMA TALK

“The Buddha’s Warning: How Tyranny Rises—and How to Resist It” by Brother Phap Luu

“When the most vulnerable are harmed, our own freedom becomes less.” Brother Phap Luu centers this dharma talk on the consequences of violence and exclusion, speaking from within the Plum Village lineage of Thich Nhat Hanh. Moving between stories from the Buddha’s life and Nhat Hanh’s teachings, he addresses the current rise of political violence in the United States and the dangers of indifference. Attention, acknowledgment, and care for others emerge as necessary conditions for freedom rather than optional virtues.