Dharma explorations by Stephanie Noble

From over fifteen years of sharing her understanding of Buddhist concepts

  • Mo’ metta, mo’ betta

    Metta: A truly portable practice Sending metta (loving kindness) is something we can do all day every day without needing any special preparation. It is perhaps the most portable of portable practices. We can practice it in the grocery store line, on the phone and in traffic. We don’t shut our eyes; we don’t shut…

  • Metta Moves the Energy Effortlessly

    Yesterday in class we had more discussion of metta (loving-kindness.) One student talked about how she had a difficult family member whom she had started silently sending metta, and how over time that family member had started opening up, blossoming into someone less complaining, less prickly and less difficult. Now they are closer, and her…

  • Meta-Metta

    Immense compassion springs forth spontaneously toward all sentient beings who suffer as prisoners of their illusions.– Kalu Rinpoche This political season is such an opportunity to actively send metta! When my students were talking about an upcoming debate last week, I challenged them to see if they could send metta (loving-kindness) to the candidate from…

  • What keeps us from knowing our Buddha Nature?

    Central to Buddhism is the understanding that there is no place to get to, that enlightenment is not some distant place, but lives ever present within us. This sense of presence is called our Buddha Nature. It is our inherent loving-kindness, our spacious mind that knows we are each expressions of a whole rather than…

  • Autumnal Equinox

    This week instead of my usual dharma talk after meditation we were treated to a preview of a speech one of our meditators. Dr. Lonnie Barbach, is giving at the AARP Convention coming up in Orlando, Florida. But within the meditation, I was able to bring in the concept of balance to honor this moment…