This dhamma talk and Q&A was offered on December 28 , 2024 for a Daylong Retreat at Karuna Buddhist Vihara Meditation Center.

This dhamma talk and Q&A was offered on December 28 , 2024 for a Daylong Retreat at Karuna Buddhist Vihara Meditation Center.

This dhamma talk, meditation and Q&A was offered on Decemberr 28,, 2024 for a Daylong Retreat at Karuna Buddhist Vihara Meditation Center.

03:01 Q1) Do you believe in Devas, and other subtle bodied beings in higher, lower and parallel realms? 03:12 Q2) When did you first start to believe in these things and why? 22:32 the next three questions flow together: Q3) Do you believe that belief in such things is central to the Buddhist world view and to Buddhist practice? Q4) What are the benefits if one can take this aspect of cosmology on board? Q5) What are the possible drawbacks if one does not? 41:03 Q6) Are there potential dangers in believing in such things? 44:28 Q7) Can you tell us some stories from personal experience, or things that you have heard first hand from your own teachers and friends, which might help us to be more open to the possibilities?

Our habitual ways of avoiding pain keep us from experiencing intimacy with our inner life and with each other. This short talk and guided meditation offers instruction in saying “yes” to the life we encounter. As we release resistance, we discover the creativity, wisdom and love that express our truest nature (a reflection from the archives).

When we are suffering, we are believing something untrue – usually a limiting story about who we are. This talk explores the roots of our self-doubts, and the teachings and practices that remind us of our basic goodness – the loving awareness that is our source (given at the Fall 2019 IMCW 7-Day Silent Retreat). I really invite you to experiment and find the way of remembering love that warms your heart because it’ll help you trust your heart and we deep down really want to trust the goodness of our hearts. May we trust who we are. ~ Tara