In this podcast Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are interviewed by Deborah Price, founder of the “The Money Coaching Institute” about their new book Wasteland to Pureland.   Together they explore topics of spirituality and economics.

A big challenge for many spiritual seekers is maintaining our spiritual practice, while still living a life of economic well-being.

“People often get entrapped into “having” more and more as opposed to “being” more.” Deborah asks, “How do you recommend people move away from that and create a life more in keeping with “being” rather than “having”? 

Take a listen to this podcast for the answer to this question and other magic wisdom.

You can find out more about the Wasteland to Pureland book at http://www.planetdharma.com/pureland

What`s your most challenging growth edge?  What sparks you?  How we use language to name our challenges is highly important and can reveal new insights.  For example for someone who tends to take up a lot of space, instead of "I need to learn to fade into the background" a better way to name this would be "I aspire to let other people shine".  I.e. the growth edge is not so much about that person being "less" as supporting other people to show.

This lively, informal and interactive extract is from a class in our 2017 "Buddhas in Action" retreat at Clear Sky Retreat Center in B.C., Canada, with Achariya Doug Duncan, Catherine Pawasarat Sensei & some of the spiritual community (sangha).  Students offer and share what are some challenging growth edges they have, and what are they most curious about / what most sparks them?  Doug and Catherine Sensei offer live interactive teaching on ways to reframe and deepen these question. 

Some topics that unfold during this session are “letting go into the chaos,” “running out of time,” my way is better,” “making mistakes,” “staying present in the body,” “engaging,” “looking at layers beneath states,” “learning with others,” “career” and “clinging.”  

To register for our mailing list or to attend any upcoming events, please visit us at Planet Dharma. To register for the upcoming “Buddha`s in Action” Retreat for summer 2018, please visit us at http://www.planetdharma.com/event/retreat-buddhas-action/

In this new Planet Dharma episode, Achariya Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei shine light on the principle that “buddhas in action” (spiritual explorers waking up and growing through the path of selfless service) continually explore the question “What is this?”

During this in-depth talk from the “Buddha’s in Action Retreat 2017,” the teachers discuss the questions “What is yoga?” and specifically, “What is karma yoga?” 

“Asking the question “what” drives you to awakening,” mention Achariya Doug Duncan & Catherine Pawasarat Sensei.  “When it comes to meditation the self-referencing occurs in relationship to the arisings in the mind, or in the body; in karma yoga it arises in relationship to your task.” Karma yoga helps us to train ourselves to be mindful and aware of the states we are in while doing something and introducing the technology to change that state if it isn`t clear, wholesome, blissful, spacious & awake.

“As easily as you can get lost into the phenomena of your mind, you can get lost into the phenomena of your work.”  The practice of karma yoga helps us not get lost, and instead brings awareness of body, speech and mind.  This leads us into more compassion in our career and daily lives.

This talk was from the “Buddha's in Action” Retreat 2017 at Clear Sky Retreat Center in B.C., Canada. To register for our mailing list or to attend any upcoming events, please visit us at Planet Dharma. To register for the upcoming “Buddha`s in Action” Retreat for summer 2018, please visit us at Planet Dharma Buddhas in Action retreat

How do we heal the splits within? In this 5 minute podcast episode, Achariya Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei elaborate on this question. They share that complete or wholesome effort is when we are in the moment and not distracted by conflicting emotions or primitive thinking. “The more wholesome we are, the more complete our effort is. It is this wholesomeness in conjunction with our experience that heals the splits within.”

This talk was from “Right Effort – Healing the Splits Within”, a webinar series offered by Planet Dharma in 2017, as part of the "Year of Victory" study program.  To find out more about Planet Dharma's teachings and programs please visit us at Planet Dharma.

Letting the study of nature and consciousness inform your vision and career

Catherine Sensei begins this episode explaining, “The natural cycles of nature are in essence the same as the natural cycles of dharma, karma and consciousness."  There's a natural wisdom and compassion we can access both studying nature and studying consciousness.  Doug and Catherine Sensei discuss that society`s number one function is “to free people to explore.” However, because of our busy lives and our clinging to security, very few people take the time to map out and study how their mind works, how their consciousness works. “  Our ego looks for security which leads us into anxiety and missing the wonder.  "You need a vision bigger than your lifetime and bigger than yourself.  Otherwise the ego will always feel insecure", Doug and Catherine explain.

This excerpt was taken from the “Right Effort – Career and Creativity” talk, session 1 from the “Year of Victory” classes 2017, at Clear Sky Retreat Center in B.C., Canada. To register for our mailing list visit us at www.planetdharma.com 

Our "Body of Truth" creative visualization retreats are an excellent way to spend focused time studying the interplay of nature and consciousness.  See http://www.planetdharma.com/events/category/retreats/  to see our upcoming schedule.

In this podcast Achariya Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei expand on the six perfections (Paramis) of Generosity, Discipline, Acceptance, Effort, Concentration, Insight and share “If you can perfect generosity, all the rest will follow.” When we do not apply these principles, we move into unnecessary suffering. Achariya Doug states, “If you`re not doing it for yourself, the teacher can talk about it until the cows come home home and it won`t make particularly much difference in your life because its not being applied.” However, when applying these principles in our everyday lives unnecessary suffering cannot arise. 

 “These Paramis are precious and awesome,” says Catherine Sensei, “to the point where we teach a course on it called “Becoming a Work of Art.”

 This excerpt was taken from the “Right Effort – Healing the Splits Within” series given as part of the “Year of Victory” program in 2017, and recorded at Clear Sky Retreat Center in B.C., Canada. To register for our mailing list or to attend any upcoming events, please visit us at www.planetdharma.com