Dharma Seed - Tara Brach's Dharma Talks

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In Memoriam: Rick Woudenberg

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Tara Brach's Dharma Talks

Tara Brach

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A pervasive but often invisible source of suffering in our culture is self-aversion. We are a busy culture, and we move through our life feeling anxious and dissatisfied, but not fully conscious of how we neglect or judge our inner experience. We suffer from a lack of belonging: to our own bodies, to each other and to the earth. When we practice Buddhist meditation, we learn how to listen deeply and hold our life tenderly.

The open space of compassion allows us to realize that our thoughts and emotions are not who we are; they are waves in our ocean. This gives us the freedom to live more wisely and love more fully.

For over thirty-five years, I've been exploring the awakening of awareness with yoga, meditation, a clinical psychology practice and relationships in spiritual community (sangha). Since the untying of emotional knots is an essential part of "waking up," it is natural for me to weave these elements into my Buddhist practice and teaching. With formal practice, and a genuine engagement in sangha, we can cultivate the qualities of heart and awareness that allow for deep emotional healing and spiritual freedom.

Buddhism guides us in slowing down, quieting and paying attention in an honest and caring way. Through our mindfulness and compassion practices, we establish a sense of intimacy and belonging to our life. We discover that there is no Buddha "out there." Rather, we realize that our true refuge is the wakefulness, openness and love of our own natural awareness.

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2017-04-05 Soul Recognition: The Practice of Namaste 52:19	View Download Listen
In our daily trance we experience ourselves and others through a filter of wants, fears, stories and beliefs. Drawing on an engaging story from the legends of King Arthur, this talk explores how we can see past this conditioning by learning to see – in ourselves and others – vulnerability, goodness and awareness itself. Sometimes called “soul recognition,” this seeing is the essence of “Namaste” – realizing and honoring the sacredness that shines through all beings.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC : IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2017-04-05 Meditation: Awakening through the Inner Body 24:23	Download Listen
When we attune to the inner body, we discover a field of energy and aliveness that is the portal to pure presence. This meditation guides our attention to the inner body, opens to the play of sound and invites us to rest in the awake awareness that includes and is the grounds of this living world.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC : IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2017-03-29 Healing Addiction: De-conditioning the Hungry Ghosts 52:38	View Download Listen
This talk examines the suffering that arises when due to unmet needs for love and safety, our desire becomes narrowed and fixated on substitute gratifications. We then explore how we can bring mindfulness and self-compassion to the habits of obsessing, over-consuming and hurting ourselves and others that keep us from true happiness, connectedness and peace.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC : IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2017-03-29 Meditation: Loving Presence – (with a smile body scan) 20:10	Download Listen
This guided meditation helps cultivate the heartspace that can hold our life with tenderness and grace. We begin by using the image and felt sense of a smile in a body scan, and then open to the spacious presence that includes the changing moment to moment flow of experience. The meditation closes with a few minutes of offering loving blessings to our inner life, dear ones in need and all beings.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC : IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2017-03-22 Taking the “Exquisite Risk”: An Undefended Heart 50:36	View Download Listen
Poet Mark Nepo uses the phrase “exquisite risk” to describe our willingness to be fully alive, open, available, living true to our heart. This talk explores the challenges and blessings of taking the exquisite risk, both in becoming more intimate with our inner life, and in engaging with others from full authenticity.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC : IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2017-03-22 Meditation - Relaxing Back into Full Presence 23:36	Download Listen
This guided practice begins with a conscious breath that relaxes the body and mind, and then a body scan to awaken to the aliveness of the present moment. We then open into the natural awareness that includes the changing flow of sounds, feelings and sensations, and practice “relaxing back” when the mind gets lost in thought.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC : IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2017-03-15 Realizing Your Deepest Desires 52:19	View Download Listen
This talk differentiates between egoic intentions (driven by wants and fears), and our true aspiration (deepest desires) to manifest our full potential for awake awareness and love. We explore ways to realize and open to our deepest desires when we are stuck in self-promotion, grasping and conflict, so that our aspiration becomes a compass of the heart that can guide us in living with wisdom and compassion. “What’s my deepest intention. What really matters?”
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC : IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2017-03-15 Meditation: Letting Thought Clouds Come and Go 22:38	Download Listen
This meditation guides us through a body scan and into a relaxed, open presence. When we realize we are lost in a thought cloud, our practice is to relax open, listening to and feeling the life of the present moment. We are training to become increasingly aware of the gap between thoughts, the space where the light of awareness shines through.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC : IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2017-03-08 Healing Trauma: The Light Shines Through the Broken Places 53:05	Download Listen
Most of us have encountered trauma either in our own direct experience or with someone in our immediate circle. This talk examines the shame and suffering that arise from trauma and how meditation practices can support a path to full spiritual healing. We focus on practices that help us access a sense of love and safety, and then increase our capacity to bring presence to the unprocessed, unlived life in the body. (Note: For many who suffer from PTSD, therapy is invaluable and these practices are not considered as a substitute.)
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC : IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2017-03-08 Meditation: Getting Lost and Coming Back Here 19:45	Download Listen
This meditation establishes a sense of presence, of being Here, through a body scan and awakening the senses. We then notice when we’re lost and relax back into the wakeful stillness – the Hereness – that is our true home. Our practice concludes with the beautiful poem “Lost” by David Wagoner.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC : IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

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