Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage

In reflecting on 17 years of teaching the Saturday Afternoon Sit, Mary also talks about the invitation to check in with our spiritual practice every decade or so. We often want to see immediate results to whatever we're doing, but deepening our spiritual practice and cultivating wisdom and compassion takes time. We may see some immediate results, but often liberation and freedom are a long game. Recorded August 30, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Inclu...

In this talk Mary takes a deep dive into what it means to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. These reflections all point to a path to liberation - trusting in our awakening, how to get there, and how we support each other on the journey. This is an invitation to practice in the Triple Gem. Recorded August 24, 2025 at Insight Community of the Desert in Palm Springs Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's...

The Buddha's famous teaching, often called The Fire Sermon, is about how easy it is to be caught up in the flames of greed, aversion and ignorance when we don't pay attention. Our senses are easily pulled into stories and reactions that keep us trapped in samsara. Nirvana/Nibbana means cessation as in putting out a flame and as we practice resisting the flames of greed, aversion and ignorance, the result is nibbana. Mary discusses how we are trapped and how we can get free. Recorded August 16...

It's said that if there is impatience, it's because there is resistance to what is and that is the definition of the second noble truth - our inability to be with things as they are. In this reflection, Mary discusses how powerful it can be to cultivate patience, how it is a key part of equanimity and how we can see it's importance in our everyday lives. Recorded August 9, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like ...

Often when we think of our legacy, we think about what people will remember about us when we die. Instead, we can think of our legacy as what we leave in our wake as we move through the world. How do we show up? Are we kind? Are we wise? Are we generous? This is our legacy. Shout out to Lama Rod Owens for planting the seeds of this talk. Recorded August 2, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's n...

With so much going on these days it can be challenging to stay balanced and present for whatever shows up in our world - pleasant or unpleasant. In this talk Mary discusses the idea of joy and sorrow and the eight worldly winds as a teaching to ground us right here and be open to whatever shows up. Denying the present moment is a hallmark of dukkha and our path is to move away from that dukkha. Recorded July 26, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! ...

In our world today we can chase after certificates and degrees to prove who we are and what we know. In this talk Mary reflects on the words of Ajahn Chah who says that these are only "appendages". "We think they are real and we carry them around with us" to prove who we are. Instead, we are invited to turn inwards and allow our inner wisdom to arise. This takes effort, a dedication to the practice, and seeking the advice of those who have walked the path, but, as the Buddha said, we can find...

This week Mary offers a few reflections on suffering and patience and invites your comments and thoughts. Recorded July 15, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Thanks. Visit Mary's website for more info on classes and teachings.

Reflecting on Ruth King's framing of the Three Characteristics, Mary discusses this wonderful perspective on meeting the world. We can make everything so personal and chase perfection or permanence, but to do so only leads to dissatisfaction. Learning to let go of our shoulds and have to's leads to freedom in each moment. Recorded July 5, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automa...

To live with an undefended heart is a cornerstone of Mary's practice and teaching. However with all the challenges in today's world, does it still make sense. In this talk Mary discusses what it means to live this way and how it is more important than ever right now. Keeping our hearts open is the path to freedom and allows us to be fully present for each moment - whatever it brings. Recorded June 28, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name a...

We talk often about the practice being a path to liberation, but what do we actually mean when we say that? In this dharma reflection, Mary investigates what liberation, freedom, awakening all mean in the various schools and lineages of Buddhism. Although the ideas may vary across the teachings, they are all grounded in compassion, wisdom and clear seeing. Recorded June 21, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would ...

The Buddha created the sangha, or community, of monastics, but his teaching spread to every level of society and we can each be part of a sangha. In this talk Mary discusses the ethical foundations of such a community and how we can create a wise and supportive community where we are. Recalling the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's idea that we "are tied together in a single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable net of mutuality" and Thich Nhat Hanh's idea of Interbeing, Mary invites us to...

Mary reflects on how often we look for reality or truth somewhere else, when there really is nowhere else. We're invited to recognize how our mind struggles to create different stories to suit what we want but freedom lies in being able to stay right where we are. Recorded June 7, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Thanks. Visit Mary's website for more info o...

When we don't pay attention to our thoughts, we’re often acting from habits that have been strengthened over the years, and which can be difficult to break. The Buddha’s teaching on liberation and awakening, the Eightfold Path, also offers us a path to freedom from these habits. When we intentionally use this path as a roadmap for how we move through the world, we are building a foundation that is strong and serves us in all aspects of our lives. It’s a foundation that offers freedom gr...

This is a short reflection on the arising of insight from knowing and sensing and the calmness that allows us to meet each moment as it is. The world is on fire and developing the capacity to be present for ourselves and others is vital. Insight meditation practice offers us a way to meet the moment. Recorded May 24, 2025 in the virtual world Bhikkhu Bodhi's Commentary in Lion's Roar Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's...

With every ending there is a time to reflect before the beginning, but we often neglect this time in our haste to be on to the next new thing. The Buddha's teaching of impermanence or anicca, reminds us that all things come to an end whether we're ready or not. Citing William Bridges' work in The Way of Transition, Mary reminds to be present with the time between endings and beginnings, and to tend to the experience in the time of not-knowing. Recorded May 17, 2025 in the virtual world Send m...

Mary discusses the idea of Skillful Means which Joseph Goldstein says is "for liberating the clinging mind from suffering." Using the wisdom, discernment and compassion that has arisen from our practice, we can navigate life skillfully while being fully grounded in the Buddha's teachings. Being fully present in the moment allows us to respond to everything wisely and skillfully. We let go of what doesn't serve us anymore as we develop new and wholesome, or skillful, ways of being in the...

During these days when greed, hatred and delusion are running rampant, the Buddha's teachings on nonviolence and compassion are extremely relevant. Mary offers some examples from the suttas and points out the similarities to other world traditions who are deeply grounded in love. Recorded May 1, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Thanks. Visit Mary's website for mo...

Additional reflections on insight practice and how our insights are experienced at the somatic and instinctive level rather than our trying to figure things out. Inspired by the teachings on a recent retreat, Mary offers thoughts on seeing clearly, intuitive awareness and paying attention wherever we are. Recorded April 26, 2024 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Thanks...

Mary attended a retreat this week and offers some reflections on kindness to ourselves, awareness, insight and interconnections. The name of the retreat was Retreat as Ceremony: Mindfulness and Indigenous Presence for Wellness and Healing. Check it out! Recorded April 21, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automatically. Thanks. Visit Mary's website for more info on classes and t...