Spring Washam shares Buddhist wisdom on planting seeds of happiness, remembering who you are, and awakening for the benefit of all beings.
In this dharma talk exploring the Buddhist quality of Bodhicitta—the awakened heart-mind—in relation to the Way of the Bodhisattva—awakening for the benefit of others—Spring Washam offers optimism and hope on the spiritual path. Sharing funny personal stories and enlightening Buddhist legends on cultivating seeds of happiness for the future by remembering who you truly are now, Spring uncovers the selfless, compassionate heart of the awakening Bodhisattva.
Bhavana: Planting Seeds of Happiness
Beginning the dharma session by relaying the Buddhist wisdom subtly encased within a quick multi-paneled Charlie Brown comic strip, Spring Washam introduces the breakthrough realization of ‘getting out of your own way.’ Highlighting how to work with one’s own mind by planting seeds of joy and happiness for the future, Spring outlines nuances of meditation, mindfulness, and intention, in relation to our sadhana.
“So much of the work we are doing is cultivation. We are cultivating the garden of the heart. Mental development is the word ‘bhavana’ used with Buddhist practice. We are gardeners, and we gotta get in that yard.” – Spring Washam
Cultivate your inner garden, planting seeds of spiritual practice to blossom for harvest in the future, on Ep. 95 of Pilgrim Heart
Remembering Who You Are: Optimism & Hope in Buddhism (11:56)
Sharing her revelatory and ever-deepening journey on the path of Buddhism, Spring focuses in on the profoundly optimistic and hopeful aspects of the teachings, which at their core state: ‘You’re already awakened, you just forgot.’ Through this lens, Spring reveals that the spiritual process to wholeness is about remembering who you are.
“As I got to know the teachings more and more, it was hopeful. It was saying, ‘You’re already awakened, you just forgot.’ So this whole process is: remembering, bringing back, bringing into wholeness, remembering who you are.” – Spring Washam
‘O Nobly Born, remember who you are!’ Jack Kornfield illuminates the wisdom in this Buddhist recognition of our true nature, on Ep. 82 of Heart Wisdom
The Legend of Shantideva: Bodhicitta & Bodhisattvas (20:28)
Sharing how one truly open heart can make a world of change, Spring elucidates the Buddhist quality of Bodhicitta – an enlightened heart-mind aimed at awakening for the benefit of all beings. Recounting a story of Shantideva, an 8th-century Indian Buddhist monk, Spring depicts the Bodhisattva Way of Life, which is an inner proclamation that: for the benefit of all beings I will quickly awaken.
“In essence, Bodhicitta’s highest form is that: ‘I will awaken for the benefit of others, I will live a spiritual life for the benefit of others. I will frame my spiritual life, I will motivate myself on this path. When I fall into doubt or the hinderances, I will remember this quality and keep walking.’ It becomes this light you carry: ‘For the benefit of all beings I will awaken.'” – Spring Washam
Dive into the Buddhist quality of Bodhicitta—the awakened heart-mind—with Joseph Goldstein, on Ep. 42 of the Insight Hour