The Noble Eightfold Path offers us a way through life that is far more wise and intentional than the meandering path of ongoing suffering that our human conditioning naturally takes us on. If we are to experience the full liberating potential that the Path offers us, however, an ad hoc, semi-intentional, pick-and-choose application of the Buddha’s eight path factors won’t do. We need what I call a whole-life path, a fully immersive, always-on engagement with the Noble Eightfold … [Read more...]
Greg Kramer
Deep Listening: An Interview with Gregory Kramer
Gregory Kramer is the director of Metta Foundation in Portland, OR, (www.metta.org) and teaches Insight Dialogue meditation and Dharma Contemplation worldwide. I presume you didn’t graduate high school saying to yourself, “I’m going to spend my life teaching Dharma.” Might there have been a few steps between there and here? How did you get into all this, Gregory? Actually, I did graduate high school feeling a close affinity to the internal life. That’s just how I was as a kid. I didn’t … [Read more...]
Dharma Contemplation: Soaking Ourselves in the Words of the Buddha
As interest in Buddhist teachings becomes more mainstream, many people are beginning to feel a yearning for encounters with the Dhamma that are, as close as possible to the source, possibly less colored by contemporary interpretations or emphases. While it is not possible to access truly unadulterated teachings—there is much debate about what constitutes the words of the Buddha and translations always add a layer of interpretation—the spread of sutta study groups and sales of books from the … [Read more...]
The Truth of Interpersonal Suffering
This article is extracted from a talk given by Greg Kramer at the start of a one-week residential intensive program at the Barre Centerfor Buddhist Studies in October of last year. Greg is a student of Anagarika Dhammadina, Achan Sobin Namto, Ven. Ananda Maitreya Maha Nayaka Thera, and Ven. Punnaji Mahathera. He holds a Ph.D. based on work with dialogic meditation and meditative practice on the internet, and teaches Insight Dialogue worldwide. The framework for all the Buddha teaches is found … [Read more...]
