What if aging, illness, and death aren't enemies to avoid, but teachers bowing at our feet? This talk explores the Buddha's radical invitation to turn toward life's inevitable difficulties—not with morbidity, but with the clear-eyed realism that sets us free. Through poetry, contemporary dharma voices, and the ancient practice of death awareness, we discover how contemplating our mortality doesn't diminish joy—it ignites it. When we stop living heedlessly and wake up to the preciousness of this breath, this moment, this life, we find the courage to love completely and let go gracefully. A New Year's reflection on endings, beginnings, and the alchemy that transforms suffering into compassion.

As we head into the darkest period of the year we are processing dark forces of ignorance and hate in the news each day. The light and loving awareness can hold all the forces of ignorance-- both inside us and around us--with compassionate understanding This is a time to remember all that is good.

Metta is a profound shift in perspective, linking the astronauts overview effect with the Buddha's teachings on Boundlessness. Through story, reflection and classical teaching, we explore how the heart opens beyond "me", revealing clarity, shared belonging and the identity shift that makes compassion the only sane response.

This talk explores how a wise sense of hope can help us in times of rapid change and challenge. While the near enemy of hope fixates on particular outcomes, wise hope can be seen as an open-hearted quality that enables us to meet uncertainty with wisdom and compassion. The talk also explores the relationship between grief, acceptance and hope.

Reflections and guided practice on cultivating karuna (compassion) for a friend and a stranger.