In this concluding talk, we explore the two worldly winds at the heart of nearly every human experience: pleasure and pain. Drawing from the Lokavipatti Sutta (AN 8.6), we look at what the Buddha meant when he said the world “revolves around” these conditions, and how our constant chasing of pleasure and avoidance of pain keeps the cycle of saṃsāra spinning.
Rather than rejecting these experiences, the Buddha invites us to step off the hedonic treadmill by transforming our relationship to them—recognizing their impermanence, feeling them fully, and not being pushed and pulled by every emotional gust. We examine how pleasure and pain drive all the other worldly winds, how they show up in daily life and relationships, and how equanimity offers a path to freedom right in the midst of it all.
This talk closes our four-part series by bringing together early Buddhist teachings and modern psychological insight to show how a wiser relationship to pleasure and pain can steady the heart and open the possibility of a more liberated way of living.
Prompt: What is something in your life that brings both pleasure and pain?
Talk segment that complements the sit portion on Pleasure and Pain
Group Date: 11/25/2025
In this concluding talk, we explore the two worldly winds at the heart of nearly every human experience: pleasure and pain. Drawing from the Lokavipatti Sutta (AN 8.6), we look at what the Buddha meant when he said the world “revolves around” these conditions, and how our constant chasing of pleasure and avoidance of pain keeps the cycle of saṃsāra spinning.
Rather than rejecting these experiences, the Buddha invites us to step off the hedonic treadmill by transforming our relationship to them—recognizing their impermanence, feeling them fully, and not being pushed and pulled by every emotional gust. We examine how pleasure and pain drive all the other worldly winds, how they show up in daily life and relationships, and how equanimity offers a path to freedom right in the midst of it all.
This talk closes our four-part series by bringing together early Buddhist teachings and modern psychological insight to show how a wiser relationship to pleasure and pain can steady the heart and open the possibility of a more liberated way of living.
Prompt: What is something in your life that brings both pleasure and pain?
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Pleasure and Pain
Group Date: 11/25/2025
This week Olivia discusses the worldly winds of praise and blame, exploring how these forces shape our inner world, how clinging to them deepens suffering, and how grounding in humility and integrity can offer steady footing when approval or criticism arise.
Prompt: If you had a angel (praise) and devil (blame) on your shoulder, what do they say to you?
Talk segment that complements the sit portion on Praise and Blame
Group Date: 11/18/2025
This week Olivia discusses the worldly winds of praise and blame, exploring how these forces shape our inner world, how clinging to them deepens suffering, and how grounding in humility and integrity can offer steady footing when approval or criticism arise.
Prompt: If you had a angel (praise) and devil (blame) on your shoulder, what do they say to you?
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Praise and Blame
Group Date: 11/18/2025
In this talk, Andrew explores two of the Eight Worldly Winds — fame and disrepute, reframed for modern life as Influence and Insignificance. he reflects on how our craving to be seen, paired with our fear of being forgotten, shapes identity, relationships, and the world of social media. Drawing from personal experience and Buddhist teachings, he examines how these winds create restlessness and how practice supports steadiness through awareness, equanimity, and genuine connection.
Prompt: What is a moment in your life where you've experienced Influence or Insignificance?
Talk segment that complements the sit portion on Influence and Insignificance
Group Date: 11/11/2025
In this talk, Andrew explores two of the Eight Worldly Winds — fame and disrepute, reframed for modern life as Influence and Insignificance. he reflects on how our craving to be seen, paired with our fear of being forgotten, shapes identity, relationships, and the world of social media. Drawing from personal experience and Buddhist teachings, he examines how these winds create restlessness and how practice supports steadiness through awareness, equanimity, and genuine connection.
Prompt: What is a moment in your life where you've experienced Influence or Insignificance?
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Influence and Insignificance
Group Date: 11/11/2025
This week Olivia explores the first of the Eight Worldly Winds — gain and loss — and how these natural shifts shape our relationships and sense of self during the holiday season. As gatherings pull us into shared spaces, we’re often met with the winds of change: connection and distance, abundance and absence. Drawing from the Buddha’s teaching on impermanence, Olivia invites reflection on how clinging and aversion keep us unsteady when life moves in ways we can’t control. Through grounded examples and practice, we’ll look at how equanimity helps us meet gain and loss with balance — staying intimate with life without being swept away by it.
Prompt: What is one thing you've lost and one thing you've gained recently?
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Gain and Loss
Group Date: 11/04/2025
This week Olivia explores the first of the Eight Worldly Winds — gain and loss — and how these natural shifts shape our relationships and sense of self during the holiday season. As gatherings pull us into shared spaces, we’re often met with the winds of change: connection and distance, abundance and absence. Drawing from the Buddha’s teaching on impermanence, Olivia invites reflection on how clinging and aversion keep us unsteady when life moves in ways we can’t control. Through grounded examples and practice, we’ll look at how equanimity helps us meet gain and loss with balance — staying intimate with life without being swept away by it.
Prompt: What is one thing you've lost and one thing you've gained recently?
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Gain and Loss
Group Date: 11/04/2025
In this final talk of the Multiplicity Within series, Andrew explores the ghosts, demons, and bandits that haunt the landscapes of the mind — and how awareness transforms them into teachers. Through three ancient Buddhist stories — the monks in the haunted forest, Angulimāla the bandit, and the Buddha’s night under attack by Māra — we see how even fear, violence, and illusion can become doorways to freedom when met with compassion.Drawing from Buddhist psychology and Internal Family Systems, this talk invites us to meet our own “hungry ghosts” — the restless parts within that crave, grasp, and defend — not with fear or control, but with calm, curiosity, and love.In the end, the path isn’t about destroying our demons, but discovering that they, too, long to rest in awareness.
Prompt: What is a craving or hungry ghost in your life?
Talk segment that complements the sit portion on Ghosts, Bandits, and Bodhi
Group Date: 10/28/2025
In this final talk of the Multiplicity Within series, Andrew explores the ghosts, demons, and bandits that haunt the landscapes of the mind — and how awareness transforms them into teachers. Through three ancient Buddhist stories — the monks in the haunted forest, Angulimāla the bandit, and the Buddha’s night under attack by Māra — we see how even fear, violence, and illusion can become doorways to freedom when met with compassion.
Drawing from Buddhist psychology and Internal Family Systems, this talk invites us to meet our own “hungry ghosts” — the restless parts within that crave, grasp, and defend — not with fear or control, but with calm, curiosity, and love.
In the end, the path isn’t about destroying our demons, but discovering that they, too, long to rest in awareness.
Prompt: What is a craving or hungry ghost in your life?
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Ghosts, Bandits, and Bodhi
Group Date: 10/28/2025
In this talk, we continue to explore multiplicity within and how
parts are birthed through clinging and the cost of that clinging. We again see how the language of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Buddhist meditation overlap. We explore how non-self and non-attachment can lead to clarity in relation to our inner identities.
Prompt: What is a part of your life you wish could stay the same forever?
Talk segment that complements the sit portion on Parts and Clinging
Group Date: 10/21/2025
In this talk, we continue to explore multiplicity within and how parts are birthed through clinging and the cost of that clinging. We again see how the language of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Buddhist meditation overlap. We explore how non-self and non-attachment can lead to clarity in relation to our inner identities.
Prompt: What is a part of your life you wish could stay the same forever?
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Parts and Clinging
Group Date: 10/21/2025
In this talk, we explore how the language of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Buddhist meditation both point toward the same inner truth — the natural wisdom that arises when the mind is no longer entangled in struggle. Through the lens of the 8 C’s of Self and the Seven Factors of Awakening, we explore how qualities like calmness, curiosity, and compassion support the mind in unblending from parts and returning to balance.
Prompt: What is a moment/memory where you felt fully present and tapped into your true Self (your buddha nature)?
Talk segment that complements the sit portion on Awakening and Authentic Self.
Group Date: 10/14/2025
In this talk, we explore how the language of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Buddhist meditation both point toward the same inner truth — the natural wisdom that arises when the mind is no longer entangled in struggle. Through the lens of the 8 C’s of Self and the Seven Factors of Awakening, we explore how qualities like calmness, curiosity, and compassion support the mind in unblending from parts and returning to balance.
Prompt: What is a moment/memory where you felt fully present and tapped into your true Self (your buddha nature)?
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Awakening and Authentic Self
Group Date: 10/14/2025
This week we are focused on befriending our "protector" parts with compassion using the lens of Buddhist practice, specifically karuna (compassion) and upekkha (equanimity). The practice involves learning to relate to your inner parts with balance and wisdom, understanding that they arise from a place of care, not harm. By turning towards these parts instead of pushing them away, they can relax, allowing their energy to be redirected toward wholeness.
Prompt: What is a part of your personality that has been more active recently? Round 2!
Talk segment that complements the sit portion on Befriending Parts With Compassion.
Group Date: 10/07/2025
This week we are focused on befriending our "protector" parts with compassion using the lens of Buddhist practice, specifically karuna (compassion) and upekkha (equanimity). The practice involves learning to relate to your inner parts with balance and wisdom, understanding that they arise from a place of care, not harm. By turning towards these parts instead of pushing them away, they can relax, allowing their energy to be redirected toward wholeness.
Prompt: What is a part of your personality that has been more active recently? Round 2!
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Befriending Parts With Compassion.
Group Date: 10/07/2025
In this talk we explore how Buddhist meditation and modern psychology work to recognize the many sides within us such as the critic, the caretaker, the worrier, and the dreamer. We look at how the Buddha taught not self as a way to see thoughts, feelings, and sensations as changing processes rather than fixed identity. We also touch on Internal Family Systems which shows how protective and vulnerable parts arise for a reason and how a compassionate self can relate to them with care. Together these perspectives reveal that our parts are not enemies but guides and when met with curiosity and compassion they lead us back toward wholeness.
Prompt: What is a part of your personality that has been more active recently?
Talk segment that complements the sitting portion on Multiplicity Within.
Group Date: 9/30/2025
In this talk we explore how Buddhist meditation and modern psychology work to recognize the many sides within us such as the critic, the caretaker, the worrier, and the dreamer. We look at how the Buddha taught not self as a way to see thoughts, feelings, and sensations as changing processes rather than fixed identity. We also touch on Internal Family Systems which shows how protective and vulnerable parts arise for a reason and how a compassionate self can relate to them with care. Together these perspectives reveal that our parts are not enemies but guides and when met with curiosity and compassion they lead us back toward wholeness.
Prompt: What is a part of your personality that has been more active recently?
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Multiplicity Within.
Group Date: 9/30/2025
This week Olivia reflects on change through the lens of the Fall Equinox and the Buddha’s teaching on impermanence. Together we’ll explore why change can feel so difficult, how clinging or control leads to suffering, and what it means to meet each moment with awareness and choice. By practicing with impermanence—on and off the cushion—we open space for growth, freedom, and possibility.
Prompt: What is a change that is currently impacting you and how are you responding to it?
Talk segment that complements the sit portion on Change.
Group Date: 9/23/2025
This week Olivia reflects on change through the lens of the Fall Equinox and the Buddha’s teaching on impermanence. Together we’ll explore why change can feel so difficult, how clinging or control leads to suffering, and what it means to meet each moment with awareness and choice. By practicing with impermanence—on and off the cushion—we open space for growth, freedom, and possibility.
Prompt: What is a change that is currently impacting you and how are you responding to it?
Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Change.
Group Date: 9/23/2025