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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Dharma Talks
2001-06-23 Questions We May Ask 29:34
Rebecca Bradshaw
How meditation practice helps us answer the questions, "Who am I?" and, "What brings me happiness?".
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center

2001-06-22 Opening Talk Of Young Adults Retreat: Wildness And Kindness 32:25
Michele McDonald
Remembering how to take care of ourselves, each other, and the world. Talk includes saying precepts together and a guided meditation.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Young Adult Retreat

2001-06-20 Everyone Is Responsible, No One is Guilty 62:37
Sylvia Boorstein
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-06-18 Freedom Through Letting Go 63:27
Debra Chamberlin-Taylor

2001-06-17 Day 9: Four Kinds Of Horses 4:51
Reb Anderson
Gaia House Retreat with Reb Anderson

2001-06-17 Meditacion Del Amor Bondadoso 27:24
Rebecca Bradshaw

2001-06-16 Day 8: Untitled 20:41
Reb Anderson
Gaia House Retreat with Reb Anderson

2001-06-16 Instrucciones para la meditacion vipassana 32:19
Rebecca Bradshaw
date estimated

2001-06-15 Day 7: Resetting The Table 15:03
Reb Anderson
Gaia House Retreat with Reb Anderson

2001-06-15 Connection And Disentanglement 50:40
Michele McDonald
Finding our balance by connecting with life as it is, even as we release control over the results.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Vipassana Retreat

2001-06-14 Day 6: Dreg Slurpers 6:36
Reb Anderson
Gaia House Retreat with Reb Anderson

2001-06-14 The Four Noble Truths 53:27
Rebecca Bradshaw
Understanding how the causes of suffering, and the path of purification, can lead us to freedom.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center

2001-06-13 Day 5: Riding Bare Back 8:38
Reb Anderson
Gaia House Retreat with Reb Anderson

2001-06-13 The Soul and The Cosmos are Dancing 58:30
Sylvia Boorstein

2001-06-13 A Blue Hole In The Heart 53:28
Michele McDonald
Understanding the meaning of wisdom and emptiness. Ignorance can seem like bliss, but learning from life experience brings the happiness of wisdom.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Vipassana Retreat

2001-06-13 Transforming Fear 59:17
Tara Brach
When we are identified inside the body of fear, our life contracts and our heart becomes hard. With the practices of mindfulness and compassion, we open our sense of being into the loving awareness that has room for fear.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center

2001-06-12 Day 4: Mind Dwelling Nowhere 44:45
Reb Anderson
Gaia House Retreat with Reb Anderson

2001-06-11 Day 3: Bodhisattvas And Buddhas 22:16
Reb Anderson
Gaia House Retreat with Reb Anderson

2001-06-11 Courage and Tenderness 63:46
Jack Kornfield

2001-06-11 Courage And Tenderness: Stories For An Awakened Heart 59:16
Jack Kornfield
Stories that remind us of the qualities of faith and compassion which can bring us to freedom. Includes questions and answers.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2001-06-11 The Secret To Happiness 51:34
Michele McDonald
Cutting through indifference and ignorance so we can live in greater freedom. The secret to happiness is not short-term self-interest, but learning how to liberate ourselves through our life lessons.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center

2001-06-10 Day 2: Appropriate Response 31:54
Reb Anderson
Gaia House Retreat with Reb Anderson

2001-06-10 Cascading Pools of Metta 45:40
Guy Armstrong

2001-06-10 Cascading Pools of Metta 45:26
Guy Armstrong
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-06-10 Gateway To Freedom: First Foundation Of Mindfulness 48:55
Arinna Weisman
The essential practice for freedom.
Santa Fe

2001-06-09 Day 1: Opening Talk 23:53
Reb Anderson
Gaia House Retreat with Reb Anderson

2001-06-09 Nada Practice 42:31
Ajahn Amaro

2001-06-09 Establishing Our Practice: Concentration And Mindfulness 52:07
Rebecca Bradshaw
Paying attention to how concentration and mindfulness work together to provide a foundation for meditative investigation.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center

2001-06-08 Nothing Special 1:37:33
Ajahn Amaro
date uncertain

2001-06-06 Purity Of Heart 52:01
Michele McDonald
Creating the understanding that purifies love, compassion, appreciation and equanimity.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Metta Retreat

2001-06-06 Desire And Awakening Spirit 53:47
Tara Brach
When desire unfolds into craving and addiction, it becomes the source of great suffering. This talk examines the nature of desire, and the attitudes and practices that allow us to relate to this energy with freedom. When regarded wisely, desire is the stream that returns us to the ocean of loving.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

2001-06-04 Encouraging The Light Of Metta 56:00
Steven Smith
Understanding metta as a concentration and purification practice.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Metta Retreat

2001-06-03 The Kindness Of Patience 43:19
Susan O'Brien
Patience as it supports the practice of the Brahma Viharas.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Metta Retreat

2001-06-02 Does Metta Work? 46:10
Michele McDonald
Exploring how and why the Loving Kindness practice works.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Metta Retreat

2001-06-01 Freedom and Resurrection 51:56
Nina Wise
date unknown

2001-05-30 Restlessness And Worry 1:13:56
Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia
Contemplating restlessness and worry -- what this mind state consists of and how to recognize it; name it; embrace it; and investigate it according to the Buddhist teachings.
Cambridge Insight Meditation Center

2001-05-27 The Eight Worldly Conditions 57:41
Guy Armstrong
Our lives are always touched by the changing conditions of gain and loss, praise and blame, pleasure and pain, success and failure. How the meditator finds refuge in not clinging.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-05-26 Cultivating The Wholesome: The Brahma Viharas 64:27
James Baraz
Right Effort includes developing and increasing wholesome states by recognizing them or inclining the mind to their development. The four states of loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity can be consciously developed through practice. (Includes experiential exercises.)
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center

2001-05-26 The Secret To Happiness 48:22
Michele McDonald
The secret to happiness is not short-term self-interest but rather learning how to liberate ourselves through our life lessons.

2001-05-23 The Buddha Knows The Dhamma 61:49
Guy Armstrong
Our deepest nature is a purified awareness like the Buddha's. This awareness has the power to know and liberate the phenomena of afflictive emotions.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-05-22 Licht der Erkenntnis 46:15
Fred Von Allmen
Die Täuschung der Unwissenheit durchschauen
Meditationszentrum Beatenberg

2001-05-20 You Are the Buddha 64:48
Howard Cohn
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-05-17 Investigating George W. Bush Mind 64:23
Ajahn Amaro
A talk discussing how to apply investigation in practice and how to skillfully use thought to explore Dhamma.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Buddhist Contemplation

2001-05-16 Investigate Down To The Core 66:09
Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia
Through meditation practice, we become more skilled at identifying what we are experiencing, opening to it with a loving heart, and examining it with an eye to insight. When we connect fully with what we feel, the heart is not troubled and the nature of experience is apparent.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Buddhist Contemplation

2001-05-15 Listening To The Inner Committee 1:29:41
Ajahn Amaro
A sharing of ideas about an alternate form of self view, helpful especially in terms of depersonalizing emotions.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Buddhist Contemplation

2001-05-14 Wedding of Body and Soul 62:44
Jack Kornfield

2001-05-13 Nothing Is Everywhere 66:59
Ajahn Amaro
Ajahn offers reflections on the myth of the adversary practicing with the Four Noble Truths.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Buddhist Contemplation

2001-05-12 Personality View 60:52
Ajahn Amaro
Offering reflections on the Buddhas teaching regarding self view; how it arises and how it is overcome through insight.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Buddhist Contemplation

2001-05-11 Opening Talk: Refuges And Precepts 45:36
Ajahn Amaro
Offering reflections on the form of retreat and the meaning of the refuges and precepts.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Buddhist Contemplation

2001-05-10 Freedom 36:25
Charles Genoud
Gaia House Gaia House Retreat

2001-05-09 What is the Mind 42:54
Charles Genoud
Gaia House Gaia House Retreat

2001-05-07 Who Are You Really? 59:43
Jack Kornfield
An inquiry into the essence of who we really are, accepting and honoring the totality of ourselves.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2001-05-05 Moving from Retreat Life into Daily Life 67:36
Narayan Helen Liebenson

2001-05-03 Giving and Receiving 46:23
Yanai Postelnik
Gaia House Gaia House Retreat

2001-05-02 Practice is Not For Yourself 46:02
Yanai Postelnik
Gaia House Gaia House Retreat

2001-05-02 You Are the Buddha 60:41
Howard Cohn
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-05-02 When Things Don't Go Our Way 49:52
Michele McDonald
Instead of pretending to be okay when our beautiful dreams get blown apart, can we learn to respond with compassion, ease and balance?
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-05-01 Responding with Wisdom 45:29
Sharda Rogell
Gaia House Retreat with Sharda Rogell

2001-05-01 The Great Heart of Life 50:29
Yanai Postelnik
Gaia House Gaia House Retreat

2001-05-01 Is Something Lacking ? 43:43
Charles Genoud
Gaia House Gaia House Retreat

2001-05-01 Renunciation 58:47
Ajahn Amaro
Renunciation as a path to freedom: contentment and simplicity in everyday life. (Estimated date of talk. Exact date unknown)
Cambridge Insight Meditation Center

2001-05-01 Emotional Wakefulness 45:51
Christina Feldman
Because of the power of our emotions, we are called upon in this practice to cultivate emotional mindfulness and emotional freedom. What is the interface then between experiencing our feelings fully, and maintaining emotional equanimity, or balance? How can we relate to our emotional life in a way that allows the creative power of our hearts to awaken?

2001-05-01 The Five Powers Of Mind 46:57
Narayan Helen Liebenson
The five powers of mind are confidence, effort, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. This talk addresses how they balance and work together, bringing inner freedom.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center

2001-04-30 Teachings of Ajahn Chan 62:32
Jack Kornfield

2001-04-30 The Teaching of Ajahn Chah 63:04
Jack Kornfield
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-04-29 Buddhism and the Red Road 30:09
John Travis
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-04-29 Refuge 52:22
Christina Feldman
Taking refuge is an invitation to explore our inner capacity for awakening wisdom and compassion.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-04-25 Taking Difficulties as a Path 64:34
Donald Rothberg
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-04-25 Taking Difficulties as a Path 63:49
Donald Rothberg
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-04-24 The Lion's Roar: Strength, Confidence And Wisdom From The Heart Of Metta 63:24
Marcia Rose
"When the heart enters into the mind, the mind then has quite a different quality." Learning to abide in our practice and in our life as a whole with kindness and patience--the heart of metta--we are then able to respond rather than react to what life offers. Stories woven into this talk are from the time of the Buddha and from our contemporary time that exemplify what the Buddha called "The Lion's Roar."
Mabel Dodge, Taos

2001-04-23 No 'me', No 'i', No 'mine': Liberation In Not Clinging 65:16
Marcia Rose
The essential aim of the Buddha's teaching is toward the understanding that comes through our own direct experience; that there is no person who is a 'self' and no thing- nothing- that is a separate self.
Mabel Dodge, Taos

2001-04-22 Suffering: Its Cause And Its End 1:16:57
Marcia Rose
Through deep understanding, we can find the end of the restlessness of constant craving and resistance; the end of suffering.
Mabel Dodge, Taos

2001-04-21 Seeing the Buddhnature 38:28
Martine Batchelor
Gaia House Gaia House Retreat

2001-04-21 The Gateway To Relief 1:13:49
Marcia Rose
Change is the fabric of life; its very essence. How often do we forget, ignore, or distract ourselves from this natural truth and then suffer the consequences? Clearly seeing and accepting impermanence is truly the acceptance of life.

2001-04-21 The Gateway To Relief: Understanding Impermanence 1:14:04
Marcia Rose
Change is the fabric of life; it's very essence. How often do we forget, ignore or distract ourselves from this natural truth and then suffer the consequence? Clearly seeing and accepting impermanence is truly the acceptance of life.
Mabel Dodge, Taos

2001-04-20 Spontaneity and Wise Response 44:52
Martine Batchelor
Gaia House Gaia House Retreat

2001-04-20 Come See For Yourself: The Power And Presence Of Concentration And Mindfulness 60:00
Marcia Rose
This practice is a path of inquiry, investigation and discovery that we fully participate in and experience for ourselves. By the power of our own attention-mindful awareness, with great interest and energy, we develop a concentrated clarity of presence, taking the time to look very deeply at our own experience of body, mind and heart. Through this process we are able to see and experience the nature of things. This is what leads to the deepest wisdom and happiness. This is what leads to awakening/liberation..
Mabel Dodge, Taos

2001-04-19 Choiceless Awareness In Action 52:54
Larry Rosenberg
Learning to be with whatever appears in our sitting practice is excellent training for the changing and uncertain conditions of daily life.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Vipassana Retreat

2001-04-18 Paramita Meditation 67:53
Sylvia Boorstein
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-04-18 The Four Foundations Of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide For Living In The Present 47:38
Michael Grady
Pragmatic mindfulness gives us full, immediate presence.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Vipassana Retreat

2001-04-18 Holding Hands 30:10
Sylvia Boorstein
In thinking about the path of awareness and the refining of the heart that is the purpose of Buddhist philosophy, Sylvia suggests that she would like to amend the Eightfold Path to be the "Ninefold Path," adding Right Relationship as the ninthfold. Right Relationship is the sense of connection we feel in the world that holds us up. Hand holding is the metaphor Sylvia uses to symbolize this connection. Hands take us from the womb, and they put us in the grave. In between, it is one big "hand holding."
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2001-04-17 Trust In Being The Knowing 67:43
Ajahn Sumedho
Using reason and logic, that is, acquired knowledge, we get caught in dualistic positions: right and wrong, good and bad, etc. We tend to establish a fixed view about things. In this talk Ajahn Sumedho is trying to get us to a place beyond such dualistic thinking, beyond taking sides. He says that intuitive awareness involves a one-pointedness (ekaggata) that includes, rather than excludes. It is not dualistic. Transcendence is a matter of “being” it, not thinking about it.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-04-16 Living In The Present 42:26
Michael Grady
Living fully in the present brings energy and joy.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Vipassana Retreat

2001-04-15 Knower Of The Worlds 54:49
Ajahn Sumedho
We can be empowered in practice through getting to know the nature of the world we live in and through learning from the way it is. Taking refuge in knowing the truth-- the laws of nature-can free us from a selfish struggle with the way things are.

2001-04-15 The Fierce First Step 35:51
Arinna Weisman
How to practice in our daily lives.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center (Angela Center)

2001-04-14 Opening Talk with Michael Grady 53:45
Larry Rosenberg

2001-04-14 The First Noble Truth: What's Noble About Dukkha 66:46
Ajahn Sumedho
The Buddha's teachings are all about awakening to the truth of suffering, or dukkha, and finding the end to it. Our potential for awakening begins to be realized when we shift our attitude to take an interest in suffering, learning from the way it is, and understanding how it gets created. Opening to the truth about suffering, we also open our awareness to something greater -- the ultimate reality.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-04-13 Living With The Reality Of Aging, Sickness And Death 52:41
Ajahn Candasiri
Our society emphasizes fitness, strength, youth, and vitality, and yet the body runs its own course. We can do things to keep it strong and healthy, but these types of measures are limited. We are blessed to have the Buddhist teachings because they encourage us to come to terms with aging, sickness and death -- fundamental truths of our existence.

2001-04-11 Refinements of Life 1 and 2 65:31
James Baraz

2001-04-11 The 2nd Refinements of Life 69:02
James Baraz

2001-04-02 Enlightenment 63:53
Jack Kornfield
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-04-01 Heartful Awareness 45:54
Sharda Rogell
Gaia House Retreat with Sharda Rogell

2001-03-31 Emotional Wakefulness 42:34
Christina Feldman
Because of the power of our emotions, we are called upon in this practice to cultivate emotional mindfulness and emotional freedom. What is the interface then between experiencing our feelings fully and maintaining emotional equanimity or balance? How can we relate to our emotional life in a way that allows the creative power of our hearts to awaken?

2001-03-29 Refinement Of Mind - part 2 60:08
James Baraz
The Buddha explained how concentration, energy and equanimity work together to help purify a practitioner's mind over time. How can we wisely develop and bring to balance these qualities essential to waking up?
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley

2001-03-28 The Middle Path And Freedom 49:13
Narayan Helen Liebenson
This talk is an exploration of what the Middle Path is: it includes discussion on the extremes of self indulgence and self-denial, as well as fantasy and worry.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center

2001-03-26 Liberating Insight 51:52
Anna Douglas
Realizing the aim of insight and its effect on how we view reality.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2001-03-23 Seasons Of The Heart 40:47
Anna Douglas
This talk gives an overview of the continually changing terrain of practice-- the various seasons of the heart, which expose us to all sides of human experience. A question is then explored: where is progress on the path to be found if we keep cycling through the same seasons of the heart?

2001-03-22 Refinement Of Mind - part 1 63:45
James Baraz
The Buddha's discourse on refinement of mind from the Anguttara Nikaya describes the process a practitioner experiences in moving from grosser types of attachment to more subtle and refined ones. This talk focuses on how the practice affects our thoughts, words and actions as we continue our journey of awakening.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley

2001-03-19 Equanimity 51:35
Nina Wise

2001-03-19 Equanimity 49:06
Nina Wise
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

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