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Dharma Talks
2020-06-20 Mantra of Compassion 14:15
Ayya Medhanandi
Fear is the absence of love. Our inner purification is a movement away from fear to the embodiment of pure love - even to love the dying moment. We grow in stillness and peace as if sailing an ocean of joy, in the peace of the mind's deepest waters where we can touch the Deathless. A guided meditation and reflections offered during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Madison Insight Meditation Group

2020-06-10 Exploring Aging, Sickness and Death as Transformative Practices 39:13
Matthew Daniell
Cambridge Insight Meditation Center

2020-05-24 The Quail's Tale: A Path to Harmlessness 41:38
Ayya Medhanandi
Praising Truth for its own sake, we lean in the direction of Truth. We make our intention not to harm by body, speech, or thought. Harmlessness leads to selflessness. Selflessness leads to the Deathless. To boundless compassion. It will save us from the flames of greed, violence, and delusion raging around us. Like the baby quail. What saved it from the forest fire was the purity of its own truth developed over lifetimes. A talk given in a Toronto Theravada Buddhist Community (TBC) zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Toronto Theravada Buddhist Community (TBC)

2020-05-12 31b The Body 22:03
Bhante Bodhidhamma
Unfortunately the laptop stopped! Luckily, I was coming to an end. Death contemplation is taught by the Buddha, see my Talk 03,04,45. I would simply have said that body as subjective experience is to be investigated and is a path itself to liberation from suffering.
Satipanya Retreat Centre

2020-05-09 Loss, Grief and Death: Impermanence in Pandemic Times 56:25
James Baraz
The Buddha said to reflect each day on the facts of old age, sickness and death. He also said to to come to terms with the fact that everything and everyone near and dear to us will be separated from us. In these Covid-19 days our practice becomes letting go of what was and adjust to a new way of being. This practice of impermanence includes opening to loss, grief and death which is explored in this talk.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks

2020-05-05 31 Body as Meditation Object 22:01
Bhante Bodhidhamma
Unfortunately the laptop stopped! Luckily, I was coming to an end. Death contemplation is taught by the Buddha, see my Talk 03,04,45. I would simply have said that body as subjective experience is to be investigated and is a path itself to liberation from suffering.
Satipanya Retreat Centre Talks on the Middle Length Discourses

2020-05-03 Dhamma Stream Online Puja: The Gift of Vulnerability 32:03
Ajahn Sucitto
It’s possible to meet suffering with an open heart. If the heart can open to grief, pain and vulnerability, a new view is possible – one beyond the cycle of birth and death. Keep the heart open to Dhamma, rooted in faith and goodwill. This is the Path to the deathless. *Sutta References: Therīgatha 6:2; Samyutta Nikaya 12:23; Samyutta Nikaya 1:10
Cittaviveka At Home with the Homeless: Ajahn Sucitto Locked Down

2020-05-01 On the Cross of Our Illusions: A Guided Dying Meditation and Reflections 42:36
Ayya Medhanandi
To simulate the natural process of death is to experience the impermanence of the five aggregates and a pure awareness that knows the inherent emptiness of things as they truly are. Dying is a potent doorway for liberation of mind and the best death we can die is shattering the ego. Then we can let go of fear once and for all. This guided meditation was given during a death and dying retreat in an Australian church in 2004.
Australian Insight Meditation Network

2020-04-16 talk: hope, hopelessness and equanimity 26:29
Jill Shepherd
Exploring ways to open more fully to the truth of impermanence and death, then looking at equanimity as an antidote to any tendency to swing between hope and hopelessness
Auckland Insight Meditation

2020-04-05 05 Contemplation of Death again! 32:01
Bhante Bodhidhamma
Satipanya Retreat Centre Talks on the Middle Length Discourses

2020-04-05 04 Contemplation of Death - Living more awake 21:41
Bhante Bodhidhamma
This is the Buddha's advice on how we should contemplate death in order to over come our fear. The outcome, paradoxically, is to live a fuller life.
Satipanya Retreat Centre Talks on the Middle Length Discourses

2020-04-03 03 Coronavirus and the Contemplation of Death 18:19
Bhante Bodhidhamma
What different positions people take re Lockdown. Importance of coming terms with death.
Satipanya Retreat Centre Talks on the Middle Length Discourses

2020-03-11 Letting Go - Release - Freedom (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 60:35
Eugene Cash
Satipatthana - Four Foundations of Mindfulness offers us specific meditation practices with the body, breath, in four postures, in all activities, with the elements, with death, vedana, the heart/mind and the dharmas including hindrances and the seven factors of awakenings. Each of these practices includes a through line: One abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. The not clinging to body, heart, mind or any experience is both the foundation of the Buddha's teaching and the doorway to freedom. It's the experience of coming into alignment with ' he way things are.'
Spirit Rock Meditation Center March Monthlong

2020-03-04 From the Ordinary Habitual Mind to the Buddha Mind 16: Working with Our Psychological Conditioning 3 62:28
Donald Rothberg
We begin by pointing to how combining traditional Buddhist training with transforming psychological and social conditioning and unresolved material suggests the contours of a contemporary path of awakening. We then identify some of the main areas of the contemporary “shadow,” of unconscious, unresolved conditioning and developmental wounds, such as anger, fear, death, shame, conflict, trauma, grief, sexuality, and so on. We then give a “map” of four stages in the transformation of the shadow (particularly in a meditative context), starting with finding ways to access the shadow, then learning to be with and explore the shadow, then transforming the shadow, and then integrating the shadow work with daily life.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2020-02-23 Q&A 55:48
Ajahn Sucitto
What is mindfulness; What is investigation; Unusual images arising in meditation; Death and afterlife; How to deal with vulnerability of heart?
Emoyeni Retreat Centre :  Clearing and Renewal

2020-02-20 Practising with Death and Dying 2:35:07
Rob Burbea
CRUCIAL NOTE: It is highly unlikely that this talk will be properly or adequately understood without a prior very good working familiarity and competence – both in actual practice and conceptually – with Soulmaking Dharma teachings and practices, as well as with Insight Meditation. Without this background it may be that the talk will in fact be misunderstood, and it is unlikely that the talk will be helpful. Please note too that much of the material in this series of talks (In Psyche’s Orchard) is based on or continues explorations of material laid out in a particular previous series (Four Circles, Four Parables of Stone and Light). In Psyche’s Orchard was recorded by Rob at his home.
Gaia House In Psyche's Orchard

2020-02-11 Four Noble Truths & Mindfulness of Death (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 52:15
John Martin
This talk provides an overview of the Four Noble Truths, with primary focus on the Noble Truth of Dukkha and the Noble Truth of the Cause of Dukkha. Mindfulness of death is reviewed as a support for practice.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Monthlong

2019-12-17 Death and the Poignancy of Life 61:37
Matthew Brensilver
William James said that death was the ‘worm at the core’ of the human condition that turns us all into ‘melancholy metaphysicians.’ A century later, awareness of mortality is documented to affect our thinking and emotional lives in powerful ways. It figures prominently in Buddhist practice. In what ways does consciousness of death distorts our view and lead us away from wisdom and compassion? Alternatively, how can we open to the truth of finitude such that our heart is softened? Can we intuit the freedom or love that might be released were we more deeply at peace with our mortality? In this evening program, we’ll consider the way death can harden or soften our heart – and how dharma practice might lead us to a life that feels complete. All are welcome.
New York Insight Meditation Center

2019-11-13 Doors To The Deathless 43:52
Jaya Rudgard
The door of non-clinging is always open. Readings from verses on the Faith Mind and Tilopa's "Song Of The Maharudra"
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 2

2019-10-15 One Taste: Return To The Root 64:33
Kittisaro
The merging of the Mahayana and Theravada. Kuan Yin's method. Turning the mind to the deathless.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge October 2019 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2019-10-09 Entering The Mula Sutta: Journey To Freedom 33:16
Kittisaro
Born of desire are all things. Ruled by mindfulness are all things. Yielding deliverance as essence are all things. Turning the mind to the deathless.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge October 2019 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2019-09-28 Coming into Presence through Reflecting on Death and Birth 50:31
Brian Lesage
This talk offers reflections on how reflecting on the inevitability of our death as well as the wonder of our birth establishes presence in a powerful and transformative way.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1

2019-08-28 17 talk: impermanence and death 48:34
Jill Shepherd
Exploring the universal characteristic of anicca-impermanence in terms of the body, and beginning to contemplate our own mortality as a way to gradually release fear of death
Te Moata Retreat Center :  Freedom Here and Now

2019-08-12 A Matter of Death, Life, Truth and Recovery 24:13
Ayya Medhanandi
Call suffering by its true name and the face of the Dhamma will emerge from within us. We meet the truth of impermanence, of death, and the universality of pain as we carve out the understanding of who we are and why we are here. Nourish the mind with virtue and shine the light to our true home, to insights that repair what has been broken and free us from fear, anxiety, and the many sufferings we have endured.
Satipanna Insight Meditation (SIMT) :  For Our Long Lasting Benefit

2019-08-11 Death - Portal of Deliverance 38:50
Ayya Medhanandi
Contemplating the 4 elements, the 32 parts of the living body, and the remains of the body in a charnel ground, we gain a deeper understanding of impermanence and the intrinsic impersonal and empty nature of the body. Seeing it for what it truly is can free us from fear of death. We study it and gradually unveil the true gift of death as a portal to our liberation.
Satipanna Insight Meditation (SIMT) :  For Our Long Lasting Benefit

2019-08-10 Rapping on the Coffin 25:23
Dhammadīpā
a talk on death and its teaching of radical honesty
Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery

2019-07-16 Taking the Problem out of Pain 47:45
Shaila Catherine
In this talk, Shaila Catherine encourages practitioners to view illness and pain as opportunities to practice equanimity, patience, and mindfulness of the body. When we are sick or in pain, we can still practice being attentive to present conditions, and reflect that all beings are all also subject to illness and death. Illness is not wrong; it is inevitable. The more we resist this fact, the more mental suffering we add to our physical difficulties. When we learn to be present with both pleasant and unpleasant feelings, we will know an experience of profound peace.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
In collection: Meditation in Hard Times

2019-06-21 Reflections on Death and Being Born (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 44:11
Brian Lesage
This talk shares how reflecting on our death and our precious birth situates mindfulness in a transformative way.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Spring Insight Meditation Retreat

2019-05-15 Grateful for This Moment of Life (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 51:28
Eugene Cash
Gratitude arises as the 5th Brahma Vihara. It is a quality of heart ripened by our coming into harmony with the reality of life and death. As we waken to the truth that this is the only moment there is, we discover the magic, mystery and beauty of simply Being.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Maranasati: Contemplating Death, Awakening to Life

2019-05-14 The Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness of Death (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 55:48
Bob Stahl
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Maranasati: Contemplating Death, Awakening to Life

2019-05-12 Working Wisely with Challenges of Practice and Life and Death (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 48:33
Bob Stahl
How to work wisely with the 5 hindrances as well as working wisely in meeting life and death.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Maranasati: Contemplating Death, Awakening to Life

2019-05-11 Do Not Waste Your Life (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 48:21
Eugene Cash
Exploring Maranasati: Mindfulness of Death/Awakening to Life. This talk highlights the normalcy of Death. We survey how death is related to in various Buddhist traditions as well as discussing personal experience of death as part of contemplative practice.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Maranasati: Contemplating Death, Awakening to Life

2019-04-08 A Beautiful Truth (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 44:08
Ayya Anandabodhi
Exploring the 5 aggregates, aging, sickness & death
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Mindfulness of Breathing

2019-03-27 The Four Remembrances 50:43
Tara Brach
When we attune to the reality of impermanence and death, we remember what most matters to us. But in daily life we can lose precious swaths of time in a reactive trance, on our way somewhere else, and lost in problem solving, judgment and worry. This talk reflects on four remembrances or practices – Pausing, Yes to life, Turning toward love, and Resting in awareness – that help us awaken from trance and live true to the loving presence that is our essence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2018-12-02 38 Release 46:33
Ajahn Sucitto
Practicing for release follows the trajectory of knowing (ñāṇa) and culminates in realization (aññā). We review the aggregates with dispassion, recognizing their causal basis, and stop taking them to be self. Devotional practices support the shift from self-consciousness to trackless consciousness where self, other, future, past are no longer concocted. This is the turning towards the deathless.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge November 6 - December 4 2018 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2018-11-28 Guided Meditation 13 - Death of friends, loved ones and teachers meditation 45:53
Ajahn Achalo
Anandagiri Forest Monastery

2018-11-19 Morning Reflections On The Death Of A Benefactor 17:01
Winnie Nazarko
A friend who sat the 3-month retreat 17 times, has passed away. As she was preparing, this talk by Ajahn Chaah was offered to her.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 2

2018-10-14 Aging Sickness and Death and the Five Daily Reflections. 58:26
Jaya Rudgard
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Three-Month Retreat - Part 1

2018-10-01 Morning Reflection: Spiritual Urgency – Samvega 18:29
Marcia Rose
What are the seeds that bring you to spiritual practice? What is life about? What is death…its significance, its meaning: Can I be happy? How can I live gracefully, peacefully in this life with all the challenges & difficulties in the changing world…with all the challenges within me?
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge October 1 - November 5, 2018 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2018-09-18 Spiritual Urgency: Reflections on Aging, Dying, Death, and the Urgency of Finding Peace 64:24
Michele McDonald
True North Insight Freedom Through Understanding: Insight as the Path to Peace

2018-09-14 The Mysterious Creative Process of Living and Dying (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 50:54
Anna Douglas
Life and Death as a process of change and transformation.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Spirit of Creativity

2018-08-20 Nachiketo and the Lord of Death - How to move through difficulties as a transformative initiation. Monday night dharma talk. 61:02
Jack Kornfield
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2018-08-15 Death – Come and Take My Hand 46:24
Ariya B. Baumann
What is our relation to death? To our death? Are we prepared for this certain event in our life? The frequent reflection on the inevitability of death sets free the energy to do what is meaningful and beneficial in our life. Our priorities become clear and we do not waste time with trivial things.
Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre Month-long retreat with Ariya Baumann

2018-07-06 Death - Our Close Friend 52:50
Ariya B. Baumann
The reflection on death should be frequently practiced by anyone who seeks freedom from suffering. It arouses the necessary urgency and makes us think about our priorities in life.
Perth, Australia :  Retreat at Jhana Grove: June/July 2018

2018-07-04 Skeleton Woman: Embracing This Living and Dying World 45:58
Tara Brach
Based on a wonderful myth told by Clarissa Estes, this talk looks at the way we run from “lady death” and the blessings of opening our arms and heart. If we can embrace the whole of our nature with unconditional presence – including the inevitability of change and loss–we discover deep wisdom and enduring love. (a favorite from the archives) May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing it and no holding back, the way it is with children. Then in these swelling and ebbing currents, these deepening tides moving out, returning, I will sing you as no one ever has, streaming through widening channels into the open sea. — from Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, by Rainer Maria Rilke
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2018-07-03 The Benefits of Walking Meditation 64:38
Ariya B. Baumann
The practice of walking meditation is not to underestimate. The benefits are numerous not only on the physical and mental level but also in facilitating deep liberating insights into the three general characteristics and the deathless.
Perth, Australia :  Retreat at Jhana Grove: June/July 2018

2018-07-01 22 Q&A: Relational Snags, Power of Resolve, Liberation from Clinging 1:10:53
Ajahn Sucitto
Why did you become a monk; the place of women in this lineage; relational snags; strengthening pāramīs; what survives death; stream entry; identifying is another word for clinging; responses to the group process exercises
Insight Retreat Center :  Dhamma-fields Dhamma-nature

2018-06-18 Why Practice in Nature, Part 2: Cultivating Wisdom and Insight 47:08
Mark Coleman
This talk explores how a contemplative immersion in nature supports insight into impermanence, death, selflessness and freedom.
Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center Awake in the Wild: Summer Solstice Meditation in Nature Retreat

2018-06-07 Maranasati: Mindfulness of Death (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 56:31
Eugene Cash
Mindfulness of death is both personal and impersonal. Eugene gave a picture of his experience of death and it’s relationship to his personal practice that included his time as a hospice volunteer/trainer, as a son caring for his dying parents, and, his near death experience. He also outlined Buddhist teachings about death in the Theravada and Zen lineages.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Aging, Dying and Awakening

2018-05-11 Maranasati: Grateful for Life and Death (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 51:51
Eugene Cash
Maranasati leads to being real and being grateful for both life and death. As we mature and deal directly with the truth of death we value life and the preciousness of existence. This reality brings gratefulness of all that is given–– our bodies, hearts, minds, the earth, sky, universe and each moment.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Contemplating Death/Awakening to Life (Maranasati Retreat)

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