|
Dharma Talks
2023-06-22
Mindfulness Tool Kit for Working with Difficult Emotions (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
58:43
|
Diana Winston
|
|
In this talk we explore the core tools that we can use when we are struggling with difficult emotions, whether on retreat or in daily life. These tools are Mindfulness (of course): we learn how to be present with our emotions, practice RAIN, and meet our difficult thoughts and emotions with a fearless heart. The second tool is Wisdom: how can we "enlist the wisdom mind" to help us when we are lost in a challenging emotion.The third is Love: how we bring self-compassion and kindness to ourselves and our difficulties when we most need it. Lastly, Awareness Itself: Recognize the part of us that is stable, free, and luminous even in the midst of difficult emotions. Includes real-life examples.
|
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
:
Mindfulness For Everyone
|
|
2023-05-28
Recognizing the Good (week 3) - Meditation
33:46
|
Mark Nunberg
|
|
The weekly practice groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one's practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that will help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome.
|
Common Ground Meditation Center
:
Weekly Dharma Series
|
|
2023-05-28
Recognizing the Good (week 3) - Talk
37:28
|
Mark Nunberg
|
|
The weekly practice groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one's practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that will help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome.
|
Common Ground Meditation Center
:
Weekly Dharma Series
|
|
2023-05-28
Selfless Drive to Nibbana
19:46
|
Ayya Medhanandi
|
|
We are travelling a spiritual highway. Our precepts are like safety belts – upholding the core of our humanity with moral restraints that serve as both compass and anchor. They also act like brakes on our Dhamma vehicle, safeguarding us through the wilderness of the world while grounding the mind in an integrity of presence. With pure awareness, we have a stethoscope of the mind, steering and balancing us joyfully on the path so that we can wake up out of the darkness. We carry the Buddha in our hearts like an imperishable lamp, a supremely compassionate parent, our wise and formidable shepherd to help us overcome every hardship. Yes, we’re in self-drive – selfless – crossing to the far shore, Nibbana.
|
Satipanna Insight Meditation (SIMT)
:
Uncompromising Nobility
|
|
2023-05-21
Recognizing the good (Week 2) - Talk
35:28
|
Mark Nunberg
|
|
The weekly practice groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one's practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome. No registration necessary. Led by Mark Nunberg.
|
Common Ground Meditation Center
:
Weekly Dharma Series
|
|
2023-05-21
Recognizing the good (Week 2) - Meditation
35:25
|
Mark Nunberg
|
|
The weekly practice groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one's practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome. No registration necessary. Led by Mark Nunberg.
|
Common Ground Meditation Center
:
Weekly Dharma Series
|
|
2023-05-17
Releasing the Habits That Imprison Your Spirit – Part 2
59:34
|
Tara Brach
|
|
Addictions of all levels of intensity arise from disconnection and are spiking globally. Humans are experiencing epidemic levels of loneliness, and this combined with engineered products and substances that are highly addictive leads to great suffering. In these two talks, we explore how we get hooked on behaviors that we know cause harm, and how mindfulness and self-compassion can serve our freedom. Key to this process is reconnecting with our inner life, and remembering we are in this together, awakening together.
|
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
|
|
2023-05-10
Releasing the Habits That Imprison Your Spirit – Part 1
50:52
|
Tara Brach
|
|
Addictions of all levels of intensity arise from disconnection and are spiking globally. Humans are experiencing epidemic levels of loneliness, and this combined with engineered products and substances that are highly addictive leads to great suffering. In these two talks, we explore how we get hooked on behaviors that we know cause harm, and how mindfulness and self-compassion can serve our freedom. Key to this process is reconnecting with our inner life, and remembering we are in this together, awakening together.
|
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
|
|
2023-05-07
That Seed of Awakening Within Us
24:07
|
Ayya Medhanandi
|
|
Remember compassion like the Buddha’s. Remember courage like the Buddha’s – a mind strong, centered, wise and welcoming; spacious, supple and open. We look within and wake up to that seed of awakening. Standing for truth instead of delusion and weakness, even if what we have is not enough – we make it enough. Even from a tiny seed of awakening, plant it in the soil of contentment. Watch it grow into a tall, magnificent refuge in Truth that is not conceptual but is realized intuitively. You are here in the moment like never before.
|
Sati Saraniya Hermitage
|
|
2023-03-27
The Three Refuges - Understanding Dhamma - Week 3 - Talk
39:03
|
Mark Nunberg
|
|
Please join in for this four week course examining the traditional three refuges as the central practice of clarifying and strengthening one’s spiritual aspiration and intuition about the path. Without this ongoing deepening of understanding regarding the means and ends of our spiritual practice we tend to pick and choose what we like from the many choices that exist today. The Buddhist practice of taking refuge as a conscious intentional act goes against the stream of our habit energies. Taking refuge as an ongoing practice is how we keep what is most important in mind as we practice meditation and navigate our busy days. The Three Refuges exist to strengthen our allegiance with intimacy and clear comprehension of the way things are, allowing for a wiser, more compassionate and creative engagement with our lives.
|
Common Ground Meditation Center
:
Buddhist Studies - The Three Refuges
|
|
2023-03-27
The Three Refuges - Understanding Dhamma - Week 3 - Meditation
30:05
|
Mark Nunberg
|
|
Please join in for this four week course examining the traditional three refuges as the central practice of clarifying and strengthening one’s spiritual aspiration and intuition about the path. Without this ongoing deepening of understanding regarding the means and ends of our spiritual practice we tend to pick and choose what we like from the many choices that exist today. The Buddhist practice of taking refuge as a conscious intentional act goes against the stream of our habit energies. Taking refuge as an ongoing practice is how we keep what is most important in mind as we practice meditation and navigate our busy days. The Three Refuges exist to strengthen our allegiance with intimacy and clear comprehension of the way things are, allowing for a wiser, more compassionate and creative engagement with our lives.
|
Common Ground Meditation Center
:
Buddhist Studies - The Three Refuges
|
|
2023-03-27
My Religion is Kindness
22:39
|
Ayya Medhanandi
|
|
Joy comes softly. First, we plow through the labyrinth of our emotional compost. We know anguish, selfishness, and all their truant cousins. Then we learn skillful ways to let go. Dying to the ‘self’, the heart is purified. Even despair and the darkest energies vanish in the presence of a happiness that is beyond ownership. There is no ‘one’ to hold on, die, or awaken, but the heart is compassionate, free, and at peace with all things.
|
Sati Saraniya Hermitage
|
|
2023-03-15
Compassion for All Living Beings
1:28:53
|
Tara Brach
|
|
We often talk of widening the circles of compassion. This talk explores the qualities of mature compassion, what blocks us from this embodied and inclusive caring, and how each of us can awaken a heart that responds to our world’s suffering.
This event was live-streamed and includes a talk, several guided reflections, and a Q&A session.
|
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
|
|
2023-01-15
Day 5 Evening Talk: Metta Practice and the Life and Work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
63:28
|
Donald Rothberg
|
|
On Dr. King's birthday, we explore three broad areas connecting metta practice, Buddhist wisdom teachings, and other heart practices, with the life and approach of Dr. King: (1) the deep resonance between metta practice and the grounding in love and the beloved community that is central for King; (2) the close parallels between the development of non-reactivity aiming at the end of dukkha in Buddhist practice and the teachings and practices of nonviolent action; and (3) the other aspects of the awakened heart central for Dr. King, including empathy, compassion, forgiveness, joy, and equanimity. Included is the playing of three short recordings of Dr. King speaking.
|
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
:
Metta Retreat: Cultivating the Wise, Awakened, and Responsive Heart
|
|
2023-01-15
Awareness, Clear Comprehension, and Wisdom
27:38
|
Mark Nunberg
|
|
The weekly practice groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one's practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that will help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome.
|
Common Ground Meditation Center
|
|
2023-01-15
Awareness, Clear Comprehension, and Wisdom
42:12
|
Mark Nunberg
|
|
The weekly practice groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one's practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that will help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome.
|
Common Ground Meditation Center
:
Weekly Dharma Series
|
|
2022-12-31
Shave Your Heart
13:57
|
Ayya Medhanandi
|
|
Can we resolutely walk the moral high road and discover Dhamma treasures in the fertile ground of the heart? Good-will or heroic metta, will serve as our anti-inflammatory, quelling the fires of greed, anger, fear, and blame along with every other uncharitable mind state. ‘Shaving’ the heart with kindness and compassion, we ascend the mountain until there is no more mountain and no ‘one’ to climb it.
|
Portland Friends of the Dhamma
|
|
2022-12-31
Fertile Ground for Liberation
23:22
|
Ayya Medhanandi
|
|
To escape clinging to the world and the creations of thought, we purify and tame the restless mind until we directly know the impermanence, unsatisfactory and selfless nature of all conditioned things. No matter what comes, we endure. A diet of discernment, gratitude, and the heart's unconditional compassion rescue us from the swamp of fear and unwholesomeness. Seeing the whole truth and nothing but the truth, we walk with the Buddha, a true spiritual friend to ourselves and to all the world.
|
Portland Friends of the Dhamma
|
|
2022-12-24
Working with Thinking as a "Part"
13:16
|
Amita Schmidt
|
|
Thinking itself is actually just a part, a protector part, and this meditation will help you have compassion for this part. The meditation will also give you insight into your thinking and what it's true purpose is. Knowing this will help you on the meditation cushion and in your daily life practice.
|
Clintonville Sangha Ohio
|
|
2022-12-17
Taste the Mountain
28:08
|
Ayya Medhanandi
|
|
Rather than running away from suffering, we use it as the way to deliverance. Out of suffering, we draw beneficial mind states, especially compassion – not blaming our dukkha on any external or internal conditions but letting them go. If we are content with simple blessings, our gratitude consecrates the breath that we are breathing right now. We rest in awareness and experience the truth of the present moment – fleeting, flawed, formless and empty. In the stillness of now, we taste the mountain.
|
Ottawa Buddhist Society
|
|
2022-12-17
Kuan Yin Compassion Meditation
9:01
|
Amita Schmidt
|
|
The first 3 minutes explains about Kuan Yin, and the practice of Compassion as a listening and bearing witness to suffering. Then there is a short and simple, 5 min Kuan Yin meditation, on listening with the ear of the heart.
|
Clintonville Sangha Ohio
|
|
2022-12-08
Q&A
48:40
|
Ajahn Amaro
|
|
Questions précised - 00:10 Q1 When we take refuge, what are we taking refuge from? 00:48 Q2 The path is to end suffering. Why don’t we look at suffering and enquire what it is. Perhaps we will see it is our own creation and this may be easier than the longer way. 05:30 Q3 Is all sadness, all anger suffering or is suffering the feeling of being pulled down … into an ocean for example? 07:37 Q4 I am a retired solider and I don’t this this kind of self-actualization, “who am I”, I don’t think we can ask in our profession. What advice can you give? 17:25 Q5 In Mahayana very often liberation is spoken of as a state of painlessness, fearlessness and “one taste”. What does the Pali tradition say about this apparent 24-7 blissful state? 24:32 Q6 What does it say in the Pali canon about Ananda giving Buddha this food? How is it interpreted in the Southern tradition? 27:30 Q7 You mentioned Ajahn Sumedho dealing with anger. When we deal with intense emotions is it a good way to exercise patience endurance and use whatever practice works so you can skilfully navigate the situation? 29:56 Q8 I need a little clarity about consciousness beyond the simple meaning of awareness. Particularly in jhana practice, how does one understand infinite consciousness? 31:59 Q9 Regarding meditating on compassion, we are advised to expand it to all living beings. Do you have any advice? I find it difficult to engage with people I have never met. 36:32 Q10 Could you elaborate about the liberative relationships you spoke of? Put simply, my kids and grandchildren are overseas and I miss them. How can I deal with this better?
|
Deer Park Institute
:
Sakkāydițțhi — ‘Self-View’, the First Obstacle to Enlightenment
|
|
2022-12-08
Q&A
50:13
|
Ajahn Amaro
|
|
Questions are précised - 00:09 Q1 - Can you clarify more about compassion. It seems quite dark in English. And does karuna also have some suffering in it? 04:28 Q2 - What are the training steps in the Thai Forest tradition? Also what is spoken about full buddhahood in the southern tradition? 21:41 Q3 – You said not to be carried away with rupa, form and perception and you also mentioned discriminating consciousness. I have trouble with this last one. Can you elaborate? 27:43 Q4 – What does the word ajahn mean? 28:21 Q5 – Did you say that you could not lie down to sleep? 26:30 Q6 – We are an outcome of our relationships and programmes formed over a long period. Is it possible to re-programme ourselves, even while staying in the same environment? 43:34 Q7 – Why is meditation the primary means of insight or analysis. What about writing? Or talking to others?
|
Deer Park Institute
:
Sakkāydițțhi — ‘Self-View’, the First Obstacle to Enlightenment
|
|
2022-12-04
Ajahn Achalo at Bodhgaya
1:19:02
|
Ajahn Achalo
|
|
Ajahn gives a dhamma talk and answers questions at the 17th International Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony. 00:00 Introduction 03:15 Dhamma talk 41:27 Q&A - Questions are précised. 41:27 Q1: On retreat I can sit for about 45 minutes before I have to move, but outslde retreat, I can sit still for only about 20-25 minutes. Can you advise me please? 57:12 Q2: Can you clarify please ' I read a translation that says one mark of awareness is 'holding'. But my experience is that it is discernment or acknowledgement that is a mark. 1:00:40 Q3: I have read the word 'feeling' being applied to the body and also 'feeling' applied to the mind. But my understanding is that feeling is in the mind only and what the body experiences in called a sensation, not a feeling. Can you clarify this? 1:02:23 Q4: Why is 'form' included in the 5 kandas / skandas? It seems I experience 'feeling', not form. 1:04:29 Q5: Can you please describe the 37 path factors? (Ajahn says he will address it in his talk on Dec 8th). 1:05:50 Q6: Regarding attachment, how can we relinquish attachments when we also want to live in a state of love and compassion with others? Is there not a conflict there? 1:10:25 Q7: We do meditation to empty our minds, but can we live in this world with an empty mind? 1:13:24 Q8: I am new at this and struggle to conduct a practice and not being imposed on by kalyanamitta who advise me not to meditate but only to serve. 1:14:47 Q9: (in view of your answer) Should we then practice alone and not have kalyanamitta? What is sangha then? 1:16:39 Q10: Is consciousness really conscious in itself or is it dependent?
|
Bodhgaya
|
|
2022-11-30
Just Practise Kindness
31:12
|
Ayya Medhanandi
|
|
Every moment of right mindfulness is a gift of pure attention, clarity and discovering the true origin of our pain. Applying the alchemy of kindness and compassion towards ourselves and others, we break through the veils of delusion to experience a selfless happiness, peace, and wise benevolence. Measureless are these blessings of the Dhamma.
|
Sati Saraniya Hermitage
|
|
2022-11-25
Q&A
58:05
|
Ajahn Sucitto
|
|
00:33 Can you please explain the significance of the phrase “the four pairs, the eight kinds of noble beings”; 03:11 The suttas talk of a body witness. What does this mean?; 05:10 Are consciousness, awareness and citta the same thing?; 15:13 Can you speak more about the aggregates please – rupa, vedena, sanya, sankara, vinnyana? 24:03 Could you explain context and purpose in relation to sampajañña / clear comprehension? 29:52 What is meant by “mindfulness preceding the object”. Does this precede the knowing of a specific phenomenon? 32:12 Why does the mind often feel it needs to be comfortable in order to settle? Do we need to relinquish this need? 37:51 Sometimes I get the feel g the breath doesn’t want me following it; 41:22 Some teachers suggest experiencing the breath as a concept rather than a physical sensation. Did the Buddha emphasize one over another? 46:45 I have a lot of fear arising and I send it metta-karuna but samadhi seems to make it stronger; 50:27 Pease speak about the hindrance of doubt, particularly self-doubt; 55:25 Can you speak about compassion and emptiness of self.
|
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge
:
Mapping the Territory: New Light on the Satipatthana
|
|
2022-11-23
Talk: Taking Everything As An Opportunity for Learning 2
66:18
|
Donald Rothberg
|
|
We explore how to practice with the intention to take everything as the opportunity for learning--an approach which is named in different ways in Buddhist and other traditions, including the Zen saying, "The obstacle is the path," and the Tibetan Lojong teaching, "Turn all obstacles into the path of practice." How do we follow this intention as individuals, groups or communities, or whole societies? We look particularly at ways to take everything as practice as individuals and some of the challenges of such an approach. A key is opening to challenging or difficult experiences when they are in the "workable" range and not overwhelming, with mindfulness, wisdom, and compassion. Out of such a process may come gifts and the "cleaning up" of our residues of compulsive greed, aversion, and delusion!
|
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
:
Monday and Wednesday Talks
|
|
2022-11-18
A Path of Prudent Happiness
28:33
|
Ayya Medhanandi
|
|
How blessed we are to walk this path of awakening into the vast frontier of the mind. We discover unimaginable treasures using our inheritance from the Buddha and directing ourselves with the compass of compassionate wisdom. This walk is internal, silent, hidden. We are learning to actually see with new eyes – clear and far-sighted – but well-attuned to our penetrating task of exploration and discernment. What has felt painful and fearsome really holds powerful antidotes to pain and fear. What we most valued pales when compared to the joys of pure awareness, and of knowing and sharing the true gifts of our humanity.
|
Ottawa Buddhist Society (Galilee Centre)
:
A Way of Benevolence: Freedom from Fear,
Peace and Wise Compassion
|
|
2022-10-22
Our Dhamma Compass
23:09
|
Ayya Medhanandi
|
|
Strong in restraint, courageous in wisdom, we use the compass of right view to steer us on the Noble Eightfold Path, while right intention sustains the healing actions of mind that let go unwholesome thoughts and endless fabrications. We learn to live and respond to life compassionately, responsibly, mindfully, with integrity and noble presence of mind. Healing from above and below, from the outside and internally, we listen to the unspoken silence of the heart that resounds in the galaxies. Keenly aware, supremely blessed, we rejoice in the totality of unbounded compassion.
|
Ottawa Buddhist Society
|
|
2022-10-22
And Then Your Heart Will Shine
19:02
|
Ayya Medhanandi
|
|
How can we tread the path of nonviolence that rises above anger, blame, and mistrust? Try choosing compassion, kindness and forgiveness. For inner peace is nowhere to be found if not within your own heart. Even in the throes of tempestuous life situations, draw out courage from that as water from a deep well within. By the power of refuge in what upholds Truth, you navigate through the most fearsome obstacle even if it seems impossible. And then your heart will truly shine.
|
Ottawa Buddhist Society
|
|
2022-10-06
From Heartbreak to Compassionate Action
55:06
|
James Baraz
|
|
Kaye Cleave is a sangha member and film producer of the award-winning movie Catherine's Kindergarten. Catherine’s Kindergarten is the story of Kaye's emotional journey to confront her grief after the death of her only child, juxtaposed with her physical journey to a Nepalese mountain village to open a school in memory of her daughter. It is a truly moving experience. I'm proud to be part of Kaye's journey and in the film. Kaye will share some of her story of how the practice helped her process her grief and transform it into compassionate action. We share a clip of the movie and discuss the process of how we can turn heartbreak into meaning.
|
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
|
|
2022-09-21
Radical Acceptance – Our Gateway to Love and Freedom
39:38
|
Tara Brach
|
|
Our capacity to realize the truth of who we are and to love fully, arises from moments of true acceptance. This means meeting our unfolding life with an unconditional, open and tender presence. This talk on Radical Acceptance explores how the trance of unworthiness contracts us away from presence, and how activating mindfulness and self-compassion with RAIN loosens the grip of self-aversion and awakens our hearts.
|
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
|
|
2022-09-14
Navigating Conflict with a Wise Heart – Part 2
57:05
|
Tara Brach
|
|
This series of talks offers guidance in transforming conflict into a portal for awakening your understanding, flexibility and compassion. We look at how to heal our own unmet needs and not be dependent on others changing; and how to engage with another person when both are dedicated to mindful communication. We also extend our exploration to societal conflict. The talks are accompanied by reflections and meditations that can directly enhance your capacity to respond to conflict from the most wise and caring part of your being.
|
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
|
|
2022-09-07
Navigating Conflict with a Wise Heart – Part 1
54:33
|
Tara Brach
|
|
This series of talks offers guidance in transforming conflict into a portal for awakening your understanding, flexibility and compassion. We look at how to heal our own unmet needs and not be dependent on others changing; and how to engage with another person when both are dedicated to mindful communication. We also extend our exploration to societal conflict. The talks are accompanied by reflections and meditations that can directly enhance your capacity to respond to conflict from the most wise and caring part of your being.
|
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
|
|
|
|