Dharma Seed - James Baraz's Dharma Talks

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In Memoriam: Rick Woudenberg

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James Baraz's Dharma Talks

James Baraz

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I try to convey that the wisdom and compassion we are looking for is already inside of us. I see practice as learning how to purify our mind and heart so we can hear the Buddha inside. In doing so, we naturally embody the dharma and help awaken that understanding and love in others we meet.

I try to use the formal teachings as a doorway for people to see the truth in themselves. I feel I'm doing my job when people look into themselves to come to their own deep understandings of the truth, access their own inner wisdom and trust in their "Buddha-knowing," as Ajahn Chah called it, which is different from their intellectual knowing.

The Buddha-knowing is a deeper place, underneath the concepts, which is in touch with the truth, with our seed of awakening. I want practitioners to have more and more confidence in, and familiarity with, that deeper place of knowing. It is accessing this dimension of our being that becomes the guide to cutting through the confusion caused by greed and fear. We have everything we need inside ourselves. We do not need to look to a teacher when we remember who we really are.

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2016-09-29 "The Four Faults of Natural Awareness" 57:04	Download Listen
James Baraz and son Adam Baraz discuss "The Four Faults of Natural Awareness", a Tibetan teaching (e.g.#1: "So close you can’t see it.") Adam presents the teaching and he and James discuss it with each other and community members.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-09-22 "The Issue of Othering" 58:04	Download Listen
Dedicated to the memory of Bob Kaneko, a dharma friend who recently passed away. As a child Bob spent years 4-8 in a Japanese Internment camp in California,1942-1946. This talk explores how easily we humans can unfairly treat and oppress those different from us. We see this daily in the media with hateful rhetoric stirring fears in many. How can we use practice to skillfully respond?
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-09-15 Awakening Joy for Kids: Bringing the Dharma to the Next Generation 59:49	Download Listen
James talks about the new book he co-authored with classroom teacher, Michele Lilyanna, and the importance of planting seeds of wisdom and compassion in the hearts of future generations.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-09-08 "All It Takes Is a Moment" 48:23	Download Listen
Even when we see how the mind and heart are contracted and caught, we might still be stuck. Seeing clearly how we're identified with the "story" doesn't necessarily reduce the suffering. It's a good and important start. The real shift occurs when, at some point, the heart releases and truly opens to access genuine metta.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-09-04 Practice as a Path of Happiness 64:27	Download Listen
The Buddha was called "The Happy One." Though he taught about suffering, the purpose was to experience true happiness.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center : Labor Day Insight meditation Retreat

2016-09-03 Metta Practice - Self and Dear Friend 29:59	Download Listen
Guided metta practice with introductory remarks.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center : Labor Day Insight meditation Retreat

2016-09-01 Mindfulness with Attitude 59:21	Download Listen
Understanding just what mindfulness is and how it works, as well as the attitudes that support its cultivation by learning to open to experience.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center : Labor Day Insight meditation Retreat

2016-08-25 "A Box Full of Darkness" 55:48	Download Listen
Mary Oliver wrote: "Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too was a gift." When life brings us unwanted suffering it's sometimes possible to use the experience to deepen our wisdom and compassion, what has been called "grace disguised as obstacles."
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-08-18 "The Tall Poppy and the Shrinking Violet" 49:23	Download Listen
Strong identification with self often leads to an insecurity that can manifest in two extremes: someone hungry for recognition, validation and praise or someone who is shy, lost in self-judgment, and afraid of being exposed as an impostor. Both of these are all too human. There is a middle path where one knows ones worth and appreciates their wholesome qualities while not identifying with them. This talk explores how practice can support a wise understanding that allows us to just be ourselves and know that is enough.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

2016-06-23 "Light brings out the darkness. Darkness brings out the light." 49:08	Download Listen
It seems that the interplay between ignorance and consciousness is an on-going dance--within ourselves, in our relationships and within our society. Understanding this dance can help us hold it all with greater equanimity. (At the time of the talk James was under the impression that the UK vote in process would have the country remain in the EU. As it turned out the vote ended up the other way.) This link below goes along with the theme for this week’s talk: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/broadway-stars-orlando-tribute-song_us_5768ea6de4b0fbbc8beb8b7b?sectio=
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley : IMCB Regular Talks

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