Undefended Dharma with Mary Stancavage

November is often thought of as a month to give thanks, but the cultivation of gratitude is a practice that benefits us throughout the year. Gratitude is a heart practice that expands our awareness and connection to ourselves and others. Through it we learn to release negative conditioning and cultivate a wise heart. Making gratitude integral to our lives lets us be present for all things, and see the beneficial where we have missed it before. Recorded Nov. 22, 2025 in the virtual world Send ...

In this talk Mary emphasized the importance of being connected to our body and the wisdom it contains. When we live in our heads, we can get stuck in views and perceptions and we miss out on the experience of the moment. The Buddha said that the world is in this fathom-long body, not just in our heads. Being connected allows us to live with a wise heart. Recorded Nov. 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 r...

We are all experiencing an onslaught of information and it can be challenging to keep up. The fact is, we cannot keep up and the invitation to pause in practice is important. Mary discusses what gets in our way and how to find a path to equanimity among all the chatter. Recorded Nov. 8, 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...

Our reactivity to situations often takes over and determines how we feel and act. However, if we can pause before reacting, we may have a very different experience. In this talk Mary discusses how we need to recognize how nothing in our reaction will change the situation, but how our reactions will impact our level of dukkha. Recorded Nov. 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 au...

Reflecting on the Parami of Truthfulness, Mary investigates what gets in the way and keeps us removed from reality and not seeing the world clearly. We are invited to reflect on being honest with the world and, what is sometimes even more difficult, being honest with ourselves. There is freedom in truth. Recorded Oct. 19, 2025 at Insight Community of the Desert Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included autom...

In this talk Mary reflects on the idea of emptiness which can be thought of as an absence of attachment to self or I, Me and Mine. This freedom can seem elusive, but we can recognize it in our daily lives as we work on letting go. Recorded Oct. 9, 2025 in the virtual world After Buddhism by Stephen Batchelor Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake by Sylvia Boorstein Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you would like a response - it's not included automat...

Reflecting on a piece of writing from Kittasaro, Mary talk about the 'gap between thoughts' which is so important but also something that we miss most of the time. It's when we make the effort to release the habitual thinking mind that we make space for deep knowing and wisdom to arise. This is the path to liberation and awakening. Recorded Oct. 4, 2025 in the virtual world America's Racial Karma by Larry Ward Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your name and email if you w...

The development of Wisdom is a key component in Buddhist teachings and practice. It is not just knowledge of facts, but is a deep and embodied understanding of the nature of experience. Wisdom, Wise View and clear seeing are necessary for our awakening and liberation. Mary discusses wisdom and how we cultivate it in our daily lives. Recorded September 25, 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 no...

Inspired by aquotes, Mary reflects on how we contain multiplicities and can hold them all at once. We can experience suffering, and also awe. We can experience grief, and also gratitude. It's when we get stuck on one experience and block out others, that we are not fully present. Buddha's teachings invite us to be present for the fullness of our humanity. With the chaos around us today, this is a good reminder to stay grounded and present to each moment. When we make space for suffering, we'r...

A few reflections on impermanence and fixed views. There is no formal dharma talk this week. Recorded Sept. 15, 2025 in the virtual world (and near Zurich, Switzerland) 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.

Wise Intention is the second factor of the Eightfold Path and can help to guide our journey from dukkha to liberation. However good our intentions can be however, sometimes we get caught up in expectations about how those intentions are supposed to play out which simply increases our dukkha. In this talk Mary discusses wise intention and letting go of our agenda of shoulds and have to's. Recorded Sept. 4, 2025 in the virtual world Send me a text with any questions or comments! Include your na...

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...