Dharma explorations by Stephanie Noble

From over fifteen years of sharing her understanding of Buddhist concepts

  • So Much To Do, So Little Time!

    We had a lively Wise Action discussion prompted by a question posed by one of the students which boils down to: How do I make time for everything I want to do in life?We are a group of women of a certain age, who, having led busy lives between work and family, are now, for…

  • The Five Precepts Create Freedom

    An exploration of Wise Action would be incomplete without a look at the Five Precepts, the vows we take at the beginning of a meditation retreat. These five vows are a part of a longer list of vows taken by monks and nuns. They prescribe wise action when living in community. Depending on the teachers…

  • Wise Action, Well Planet

    In the last dharma talk I offered a way to investigate whether an action we did was wise. Even the simple question of whether something is a wise action brings our attention to the present moment, modifying the impact of mindlessness, which is the chief cause of unskillful action. The other cause is feeling disconnected,…

  • Wise Action

    As you can see in the illustration, Wise Action, Wise Speech and Wise Livelihood arise like steam out of Wise Mindfulness. This is not the traditional way these three parts of the Eightfold Path are taught. Usually these three virtue or sila practices are taught sooner than some of the others we have explored. But…

  • Wise Concentration – The Four Jhanas

    “Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise.  When we ignore it, it disturbs us.  When we listen to it, we find it fascinating.” — John Cage Now in the Cooking Pot Analogy we are using to explore the Buddha’s Eightfold Noble Path, mindfulness isn’t like a stew you can just leave on the…