Donate  |   Contact


The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Dharma Talks
2011-12-28 Guided Heart Meditation 43:37
Hugh Byrne
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC 2011 - IMCW New Year's Retreat - Awakening the Heart of Compassion

2011-12-28 Renewing and Revisioning our lives. Talk Guided meditations, and Ritual 48:12
Donald Rothberg
At this time of earth's stillness, it can be a wonderful time to touch our deeper aspirations, correct with our visions, and set intentions. We do this through reflections, guided meditation and ritual.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2011-12-28 Refuge 42:11
Christina Feldman
Refuge - this talk explores what it means to find refuge inwardly rather than in the world of changing conditions.
Gaia House New Years Retreat

2011-12-27 Knowing the Mind, Training the Mind, Freeing the Mind 58:59
Gil Fronsdal
Spirit Rock Meditation Center New Year's Retreat

2011-12-27 Opening Talk for New Year's Retreat 54:52
Christina Feldman
this talk also includes Rob Burbea, Jenny Wilks and Catherine McGee
Gaia House New Years Retreat

2011-12-26 Emptiness - Emotions, Expectation & Occupy 29:45
Amma Thanasanti
Against the Stream Dharma Punx, Ft. Collins CO
Shakti Vihara

2011-12-26 Emptiness - Emotions, Expectation & Occupy - Q&A 11:15
Amma Thanasanti
Against the Stream Dharma Punx, Ft. Collins CO
Shakti Vihara

2011-12-23 Christmas Reflections 26:52
Amma Thanasanti
at Dharma Punx in Denver
Shakti Vihara

2011-12-23 Christmas Reflections - Q&A 15:00
Amma Thanasanti
at Dharma Punx in Denver
Shakti Vihara

2011-12-22 Awakening the Higher Mind 59:50
Sharda Rogell
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks

2011-12-22 Gratitude and generosity 52:41
Rebecca Bradshaw
Discusses gratitude as openhearted receiving and the many blessings of giving
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge December 2011 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2011-12-22 The Outside Perfect: Ease, Luminosity, Spaciousness 56:31
John Travis
This talk describes cultivating and revealing ease of body, luminosity of mind and spaciousness of heart.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Insight Meditation Solstice Retreat

2011-12-21 Dharma: The Musical 7:22
La Sarmiento
La performs three dharma spoof songs for the 2011 IMCW Solstice Celebration. The first - "Waking Up is Hard to Do" - is about the delusion that suffering is easier than the effort it takes to wake up. The second - "Let it go, Let it go, Let it go" (written by Maureen Brady of the Snowflower Sangha in Madison, WI) - is about the practice of holiday equanimity. And the third - "My Mind's Prison Blues" - is a summary of the dharma and practice in the spirit of Johnny Cash. (Lyrics for 1st and 3rd songs by La Sarmiento).
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
In collection: No Mud, No Lotus

2011-12-21 No Mud, No Lotus 1:26:06
with La Sarmiento, Tara Brach
Our attitude in the face of life's challenges determines our suffering or our freedom. This solstice talk explores the light of compassion that blossoms when we honor our difficult times with a deep, mindful attention. This solstice evening includes chanting, singing and a candlelighting ceremony. (see video - show tracks)
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2011-12-21 How Fear Transforms into Love 57:52
Heather Sundberg
Through stories and practical instruction,s the talk illuminates the direct experience of fear and other challenging emotions and describes the transformation of fear into love through the practices of naming, mindfulness of the body/nervous system, lovingkindness and letting go.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Insight Meditation Solstice Retreat

2011-12-21 Greatness of Heart 53:34
Mark Nunberg
Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2011-12-21 The Miracle of Changing One's Mind 1:11:14
Sylvia Boorstein
Sylvia and Cliff Saran discuss the neuroscience of consciousness.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2011-12-20 Monthly Sitting & Inquiry: December 20, 2011 41:40
Gina Sharpe
New York Insight Meditation Center NYI Regular Talks

2011-12-20 Entering Darkness, Emerging Light 57:02
Donald Rothberg
At the Winter Solstice, we explore how our practice is in pat to be with the "dark" -- the still, the unknown, the difficult, the generative and fertile -- and in part to open to light , as it emerges from the dark, as we deliberately invoke qualities of light.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Insight Meditation Solstice Retreat

2011-12-18 Quarterly Refuges and Precepts: Beyond Craving 36:16
Mark Nunberg
Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2011-12-18 Wise Effort 52:10
Anushka Fernandopulle
San Francisco Insight Meditation Community

2011-12-18 Healthy Narcissistic Supplies 1:42:57
Rick Hanson
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2011-12-18 Is the self empty? Does the self even exist? 1:16:53
Rick Hanson
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2011-12-18 Return of Light 41:12
Amma Thanasanti
San Diego, CA
Shakti Vihara

2011-12-18 Return of Light - Q&A 20:28
Amma Thanasanti
San Diego, CA
Shakti Vihara

2011-12-17 A Case of Mistaken Identity 62:26
Howard Cohn
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-17 Metta & Compassion Practice D 26:27
Mark Coleman
Spirit Rock Meditation Center A Heart as Wide as the World

2011-12-17 Metta & Compassion Practice C 20:28
Mark Coleman
Spirit Rock Meditation Center A Heart as Wide as the World

2011-12-17 Metta & Compassion Practice B 23:07
Mark Coleman
Spirit Rock Meditation Center A Heart as Wide as the World

2011-12-17 Metta & compassion Practice A 24:29
Mark Coleman
A day exploring the practice of metta - lovingkindness & compassion - and discussing how to bring these into every part of our lives.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center A Heart as Wide as the World

2011-12-16 The Wise & Fearless Heart 62:26
Mary Grace Orr
Developing the Brahma Viharas (good will, compassion, gladness and equanimity), to strengthen the heart and meet fear.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-16 Closing Talk 46:35
Narayan Helen Liebenson
The Dharma in our life.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Women in Meditation: Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-15 Cultivating a Bodhisattva Heart 55:06
James Baraz
We don’t have to wait to take Bodhisattva vows to practice the Bodhisattva attitude of being there for another’s suffering. In this talk we explore principles and practices to cultivate compassion—the heart of the Bodhisattva ideal—including 1) developing a caring heart towards those we may not feel an affinity and 2) holding the pain we feel at another’s suffering with wise discernment.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks

2011-12-15 Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places 64:34
Howard Cohn
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-15 Morning Instructions - Last Day 44:05
Christina Feldman
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Women in Meditation: Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-14 Bhaddekarata Sutta 1:15:13
Larry Rosenberg
Cambridge Insight Meditation Center

2011-12-14 The Dance of Relational Trance 1:18:54
Tara Brach
When we become emotionally reactive in our relationships, we often go into a trance that creates separation and locks us into a narrow sense of self. This talk explores how, by pausing and deepening our attention, we can reconnect with the wisdom of our hearts. (video available)
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2011-12-14 Unburdening Ourselves for the Journey 49:40
Mary Grace Orr
Nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to be: these teachings help relieve us of our burdens.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-14 Non Self / Emptiness 43:17
Christina Feldman
The heart of the Buddha's path of awakening is the liberating understanding of non-self.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Women in Meditation: Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-14 Letting Go as the Path 56:40
Mark Nunberg
Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2011-12-14 Mindfulness and Wisdom 60:55
Donald Rothberg
(There is a long pause at the beginning) We complete our exploration of "mature" (or "right") mindfulness, focusing on how mindfulness may be disconnected from wisdom, how it can lead to wisdom, and how "mature" mindfulness is integrated with wisdom (as well as ethics and the awakened heart)
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2011-12-13 Satipatthana Sutta, Fourth Foundation: Discerning the Self 67:28
Rodney Smith
Discernment must ultimately understand the nature of self completely. Awareness saw in the Third Foundation how the self was born from a feeling and elaborated on with thought forming the story and image of "I." Even though that process is now understood (wisdom), still, because of its tremendous momentum, there may be a residual belief in the self when it arises. Discernment wears down that residual belief by tracking the sense of self through all its manifestations until there is no longer the belief in self even though there is the occasional arising of self.
Seattle Insight Meditation Society
In collection: The Satipatthana Sutta

2011-12-13 Morning Instructions 48:46
Christina Feldman
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Women in Meditation: Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-12 Luminosity 51:56
Nina Wise
A seasonal teaching about innate luminosity and the practice of kindness.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2011-12-12 NYI POC Sangha: December 2011 58:37
Gina Sharpe
New York Insight Meditation Center NYI Regular Talks

2011-12-12 Dimensions Of Desire 51:51
Christina Feldman
Discerning the difference between skillful/wholesome desire and craving is crucial to the path of awakening.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Women in Meditation: Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-11 Wise Intention 58:26
Anushka Fernandopulle
San Francisco Insight Meditation Community

2011-12-11 Morning Reflection 43:30
Christina Feldman
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Women in Meditation: Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-11 Guiding Teacher Transition 1:16:38
Mary Grace Orr
Insight Santa Cruz

2011-12-10 Refuge 43:21
Christina Feldman
Talking of refuge in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha - what does this mean in the path of awakening?
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Women in Meditation: Insight Meditation Retreat

2011-12-10 Deep Happiness by Venerable U Jagara and Shaila Catherine -First Guided Meditation 14:43
Shaila Catherine
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection: Deep Happiness by Venerable U Jagara and Shaila Catherine

2011-12-10 Deep Happiness by Venerable U Jagara and Shaila Catherine - Guided Meditation on Loving-Kindness 29:22
Sayadaw U Jagara
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection: Deep Happiness by Venerable U Jagara and Shaila Catherine

2011-12-10 Deep Happiness by Venerable U Jagara and Shaila Catherine - Guided Meditation 3 11:56
Shaila Catherine
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection: Deep Happiness by Venerable U Jagara and Shaila Catherine

2011-12-10 Deep Happiness by Venerable U Jagara and Shaila Catherine 10:47
Sayadaw U Jagara
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection: Deep Happiness by Venerable U Jagara and Shaila Catherine

2011-12-10 Deep Happiness by Venerable U Jagara and Shaila Catherine 66:49
with Sayadaw U Jagara, Shaila Catherine
These guided meditations and talks were given at a day-long program that explored the place of profound happiness in Buddhist practice. Although Buddhism is reputed to emphasize teachings on suffering, the teachings occur in the context of a path infused from beginning to end with contentment and joy. The teachings highlight the essential role that happiness plays in the development of our practice, from the enhancement of daily ease and well being, to the bliss that saturates the mind during meditation, and finally to the unsurpassed peace that comes with awakening.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley

2011-12-10 Life Dharma Daylong 1 29:14
Mary Grace Orr
Insight Santa Cruz

2011-12-10 Life Dharma Daylong 2 35:43
Mary Grace Orr
Insight Santa Cruz

2011-12-10 Life Dharma Daylong 3 8:08
Mary Grace Orr
Insight Santa Cruz

2011-12-10 Loving Kindness and Generosity 57:10
Kirsten Kratz
Power is not something we normally associate with qualities like loving-kindness and generosity. This talks explore how the cultivation of these beautiful qualities of mind and heart can foster strength, clarity, determination in our being and deepen wisdom and understanding.
Gaia House Loving Kindness and Generosity - a Metta Retreat

2011-12-08 Seeing Beyond Appearances 47:44
James Baraz
Bay Area musician, composer and dharma student Ben Rivers speaks about what it’s like to live with severe disability from Parkinson's and Lyme diseases. He shares about his life as we explore seeing beyond appearances, relating to someone who seems different as not so different, with their own unique gifts and challenges.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks

2011-12-08 Life Dharma 4 26:49
Mary Grace Orr
Insight Santa Cruz

2011-12-07 The Backward Step 1:18:03
Tara Brach
Our habit is to think we are on our way someplace else, and that our happiness is to be found outside ourselves. Yet realization becomes possible when we take the backward step into the formless dimension of our own being. This talk explores the two pathways that awaken us from our stories of self and reveal the love and awareness that is our true nature. (video available)
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2011-12-07 The Power of Mind Through Concentration 35:16
Sharda Rogell
We can actively engage in our healing & transformation by gathering skilful and wise intentions and consciously directing them. In this way we strengthen the creative potential of our mind. We can consciously direct our wise and skilful intentions in order to actively engage in our healing and transformation. In this way, we reinforce and strengthen the creative potential of our mind.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Qigong and Meditation: Healing and Awakening

2011-12-07 Realizing Cessation of Stress 56:48
Mark Nunberg
Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2011-12-07 Mindfulness and Metta 61:41
Donald Rothberg
We continue to look at how mindfulness can be understood in the larger context of connection with ethics, wisdom, and the awakened heart. Here we explore how mindfulness and metta can be sometimes seen as separate, but how both practices point to a mature integration-loving awareness, mindful caring, the mindful and wise heart.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2011-12-06 Working with the Hindrances 42:44
Howard Cohn
Mission Dharma

2011-12-05 Clinging to Self 58:49
Mark Coleman
What is the self, how is it constructed - Who do you take yourself to be. This talk explains how to examine the nature of self - the attachment to self image/identity & how a mindful relationship to it can bring much clarity & peace.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2011-12-03 Nothing is Outside the Heart 57:15
Thanissara
The three motivations for practice, and reflections on compassion.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Being Dharma

2011-12-03 Presence and the Radiance of Mind 61:30
Leela Sarti
Gaia House Embodied Presence

2011-12-02 Journey to the Deathless 55:20
Kittisaro
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Being Dharma

2011-12-02 Embodying Presence - Opening to Dukkha 57:26
Leela Sarti
Gaia House Embodied Presence

2011-12-01 Meeting Life with Lovingkindness 47:13
Ayya Santacitta
Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery

2011-12-01 Balancing Contentment With Aliveness 48:39
James Baraz
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks

2011-12-01 Love and Emptiness 52:18
Greg Scharf
This talk, given at the close of the annual 3-month retreat at IMS, examines the practice of Loving-kindness as an expression of the deepest wisdom.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 2

2011-12-01 Poking Holes in Reality 53:31
Sharda Rogell
We have a tendency to fixate on things through attaching and resisting. By knowing deeply the impermanent nature and relaxing our grip, we come into a wise relationship with the conditions of our life and open to the way things really are.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Being Dharma

2011-12-01 Life Dharma 3 34:32
Mary Grace Orr
Insight Santa Cruz

2011-12-01 Opening Talk for Embodied Presence Retreat 56:06
Leela Sarti
Gaia House Embodied Presence

2011-11-30 Mindfulness and Ethics 63:03
Donald Rothberg
In the context of the accelerating application of mindfulness in "secular" settings, we can ask questions about whether mindfulness is sometimes presented as a mere technique. We look at the nature of "nature" or "right mindfulness" (samma sati) and the importance of connecting mindfulness to the awakened heart, wisdom, and to ethics. In this talk, we focus especially on mindfulness and ethics.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2011-11-30 What is it all About 26:22
Amma Thanasanti
Insight Meditation of Ventura, CA
Shakti Vihara

2011-11-30 What is it all About - Q&A 28:36
Amma Thanasanti
Insight Meditation of Ventura, CA
Shakti Vihara

2011-11-29 Happiness Now - Why Wait for the Weekend 43:45
Howard Cohn
Mission Dharma

2011-11-29 Seven Factors of Enlightenment 37:16
Sayadaw U Jagara
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley Tuesday Talks—2011

2011-11-29 Life Dharma 3 Short 14:56
Mary Grace Orr
Insight Santa Cruz

2011-11-29 Surrender to Love 19:11
Amma Thanasanti
at Santa Barbara Vipassana Sangha
Shakti Vihara

2011-11-29 Surrender to Love - Q&A 26:57
Amma Thanasanti
at Santa Barbara Vipassana Sangha
Shakti Vihara

2011-11-28 Not Making Two 61:41
Winnie Nazarko
At the end of retreat, there are often concerns about how to take "this" back home. If we define "this" too narrowly, with a dualistic mind, we will miss the chance to practice effectively when we return to the conditions of lay life.Lay life is different, and offers the opportunity for practice which is broader, more dynamic, and more relational than that done on retreat. The Buddha himself saw his teachings as useful and beneficial to lay people as well as monastics, sometimes in surprising applications. Some of his teachings for lay people are discussed, clarifying that the 8 Fold Path can be practiced outside of silent retreat, in daily life.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 2

2011-11-28 Freedom From Attachment 48:40
Mark Coleman
How do you work with desire and attachment in the midst of daily life? Buddhist teachings give clear guidance on the power of exploring and understanding how the process of attachment arises and how we can cultivate a healthy relationship to desire and the sensory world. Mark gives many anecdotes from his personal journey with this theme.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2011-11-27 Understanding Suffering and Its Cause 50:20
Mark Nunberg
Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2011-11-26 Thanksgiving Retreat 2011 Third Q & A 50:51
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
Q & A session on November 26, 2011
Bhavana Society of West Virginia

2011-11-26 Dharma in the World 57:23
Anushka Fernandopulle
Leaving retreat, what should we pay attention to in our life? How can we continue to cultivate our practice?
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thanksgiving Insight Retreat

2011-11-26 Open the Gates to the Deathless 35:14
Ayya Medhanandi
The Eightfold Noble Path is the Buddha's map to freedom. His directions how to proceed are precise, rigorous and breathtaking - the better for our faith and diligence. Though we may falter or feel unworthy, we discard delusion of a self - the better for purifying our hearts. Wise, surefooted and joyous, we open the gates to the Deathless.
Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto

2011-11-26 Thanksgiving Retreat 2011 Talk Two 52:29
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
Second Thanksgiving Retreat Talk
Bhavana Society of West Virginia

2011-11-26 Thanksgiving Retreat 2011 Concluding Talk 35:24
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
Conclusion of the 2011 Thanksgiving Retreat.
Bhavana Society of West Virginia

2011-11-26 The Beauty of Desire (Part 2) 63:24
Rob Burbea
Gaia House November Solitary

2011-11-25 Three Characteristics of Existence: Portals to Freedom 66:03
Pat Coffey
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thanksgiving Insight Retreat

2011-11-25 Pariyatti and Patipatti 52:01
Ajahn Sumedho
33 of 43 from Luang Por Sumedho - CD: Talks from Thailand (2008-2014)

2011-11-25 Thanksgiving Retreat 2011 Second Q & A 42:07
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
Question and answer session from November 25, 2011
Bhavana Society of West Virginia

2011-11-24 Anatta: Investigating the Misperception of Self 57:59
Carol Wilson
As has been said, the self is a ghost that appears to exist only because it is not investigated. In this talk we explore some of the ways that we perceive experience inaccurately and create a view of lasting self. We also mention the advice of Achaan Buddhadasa to generate a contentment with emptiness.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge November 2011 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2011-11-24 Thanksgiving Retreat 2011 Talk One 50:42
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
Bhavana Society of West Virginia

2011-11-24 Instructional sit 35:43
Anushka Fernandopulle
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thanksgiving Insight Retreat

Creative Commons License