Dharma Seed - James Baraz's Dharma Talks

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In Memoriam: Rick Woudenberg

The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings

James Baraz's Dharma Talks

James Baraz

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I try to convey that the wisdom and compassion we are looking for is already inside of us. I see practice as learning how to purify our mind and heart so we can hear the Buddha inside. In doing so, we naturally embody the dharma and help awaken that understanding and love in others we meet.

I try to use the formal teachings as a doorway for people to see the truth in themselves. I feel I'm doing my job when people look into themselves to come to their own deep understandings of the truth, access their own inner wisdom and trust in their "Buddha-knowing," as Ajahn Chah called it, which is different from their intellectual knowing.

The Buddha-knowing is a deeper place, underneath the concepts, which is in touch with the truth, with our seed of awakening. I want practitioners to have more and more confidence in, and familiarity with, that deeper place of knowing. It is accessing this dimension of our being that becomes the guide to cutting through the confusion caused by greed and fear. We have everything we need inside ourselves. We do not need to look to a teacher when we remember who we really are.

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2016-11-17 "Equanimity: Finding Balance In Difficult Times" 61:48	Download Listen
In times of uncertainty and emotionally charged situations the teachings show us the power of equanimity–a balance of mind and heart. This is very different from a resigned quietism. Equanimity involves the courage to feel all our intense emotions and act from a balanced, committed heart.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-11-03 "The Big Shift: Learning to Open to Experience" 65:49	Download Listen
Our typical response to very negative or positive experiences is to contract in relation to them--either with aversion or attachment. The practice helps us cultivate a radical and much more skillful and profound relationship to them--having the courage and compassion to meet and learn from the negative as well as the wisdom to enjoy the positive while realizing its impermanence. This talk explores different qualities of heart and mind that help us do just that.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-10-20 "Schadenfreude: Working with Your less than Noble Thoughts" 57:21	Download Listen
People in powerful positions can cause suffering and harm to others by spreading hate. It's natural and healthy to want to see them defeated. But what about when we actually enjoy seeing their misfortune and demise? How can we use a dharma lens to understand and hold those feelings?
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-10-06 Finding Freedom Through Grief 48:53	Download Listen
How can we process deep pain and turn it into deepening compassion and understanding? Kaye Cleave shares her moving story with James and the community about losing her 18-year old daughter and finding a way to transform her grief into meaningful beneficial action. The talk begins with this video about her trip to Nepal to build a school in honor of her daughter. To view the video: Catherine's Gift, go to Youtube.com at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HILTuvNRXrg
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-09-29 "The Four Faults of Natural Awareness" 57:04	Download Listen
James Baraz and son Adam Baraz discuss "The Four Faults of Natural Awareness", a Tibetan teaching (e.g.#1: "So close you can’t see it.") Adam presents the teaching and he and James discuss it with each other and community members.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-09-22 "The Issue of Othering" 58:04	Download Listen
Dedicated to the memory of Bob Kaneko, a dharma friend who recently passed away. As a child Bob spent years 4-8 in a Japanese Internment camp in California,1942-1946. This talk explores how easily we humans can unfairly treat and oppress those different from us. We see this daily in the media with hateful rhetoric stirring fears in many. How can we use practice to skillfully respond?
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-09-15 Awakening Joy for Kids: Bringing the Dharma to the Next Generation 59:49	Download Listen
James talks about the new book he co-authored with classroom teacher, Michele Lilyanna, and the importance of planting seeds of wisdom and compassion in the hearts of future generations.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-09-08 "All It Takes Is a Moment" 48:23	Download Listen
Even when we see how the mind and heart are contracted and caught, we might still be stuck. Seeing clearly how we're identified with the "story" doesn't necessarily reduce the suffering. It's a good and important start. The real shift occurs when, at some point, the heart releases and truly opens to access genuine metta.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-09-04 Practice as a Path of Happiness 64:27	Download Listen
The Buddha was called "The Happy One." Though he taught about suffering, the purpose was to experience true happiness.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center : Labor Day Insight meditation Retreat

2016-09-03 Metta Practice - Self and Dear Friend 29:59	Download Listen
Guided metta practice with introductory remarks.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center : Labor Day Insight meditation Retreat

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