Skillful Means Podcast Jennifer O'Sullivan & Annie Moyer

Jen wraps up her partial series on the Brahma Viharas with Mudita, commonly translated as "sympathetic joy." With Mudita, we're asked to rejoice in the good fortune of others, admittedly not easy.This is why Jen likes to think of Mudita as "delight," specifically delighting in joy itself whether it's originating from someone else or from within. But, when we are able to delight in other's happiness, it's further solidifies our connection and sense of interconnectedness, helping to ease the su...

Have you ever caught yourself (or been caught by someone else) with your head buried in your smartphone while doing something mundane like brushing your teeth or walking through your home?If so, you can probably relate to the lure of distraction when certain moments don't seem worth our full attention. In this contemplation, Annie invites us to view these small, ordinary moments during the day as portals to mindfulness that may reveal a hidden treasure of simple awe that awaits our ordin...

Continuing her mini-series on the Brahma Viharas, the Four Immeasurables, Jen shares the Tibetan practice of Tonglen. This training in compassion is an inner alchemy where the practitioner seeks to transmute the suffering of others. Tonglen teaches us how to grow our hearts beyond the boundaries of those in our in-crowd. It invites us to embrace our common humanity as an extension of our own being. This particular variation of Tonglen is inspired by a version by Roshi Joan Halifax.To skip the...

It’s counterintuitive but essentially true: all phenomena itself is neutral, including people and events, and they have equal capacity to provoke suffering or ease alike – it all depends on how we meet the moment.As we continues our series of practice this summer, Annie offers a contemplation on how we might work with discernment in shaping a skillful state of mind when facing difficult circumstances.The meditation starts at 2:57. If your podcast app supports chapter markers, you can jump ahe...

Some of the most treasured and widely-practiced Buddhist Teachings are the Brahma Viharas (The Four Immeasurables). They also appear in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras as one of the many practices that settle mind. Sometimes referred to as "The Four Faces of Love," these teachings help us to foreground love in all our encounters... with ourselves, loved ones, community members, and even people that we don't particularly like.As part of our summer series of practices, Jen is going to share 3 of the fo...

The old Zen proverb that says “before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water” is a gentle reminder that chasing the ecstatic will ultimately let us down. Instead, if we can stay close to the ordinary matters of each moment, we may be much better positioned to experience luminous presence.In this practice, Annie discusses the true meaning of mindfulness, and invites you to use your immediate surroundings as a platform for awakening to the moment. The...