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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
James Baraz's Dharma Talks
James Baraz
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.
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2016-02-17 Planting Seeds of Happiness: Non-Greed, Non-Hatred and Non-Delusion 60:14
Every moment we are planting seeds of suffering or seeds of happiness. Through mindfulness, we are cultivating letting go and generosity (non-greed), kindness and love (non-hatred) and clarity and wisdom (non-delusion)
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Month-long
2016-02-16 Day 17 Brahma Vihara Instructions: Compassion: Neutral and difficult person 47:23
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Month-long
2016-02-12 Day 13 Morning Instructions: Cultivating the Wholesome 12:46
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Month-long
2016-02-11 Dharma Practice as a Path of Happiness 68:27
The Buddha encouraged cultivating, maintaining and increasing wholesome states in his teaching on Wise Effort. He also said to notice the gladness connected with these states. This helps create the conditions for the highest happiness to be experienced.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Month-long
2016-02-08 Day 9 Brahma Viharas: Dear Friend 49:23
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Month-long
2016-02-07 Day 8 Morning Instructional Sit: Vedana 45:31
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Month-long
2016-02-06 Making Friends with the Judging Mind 59:10
Most of us have a strong habit of not measuring up to our idealized standards of who we would like to be. Understanding this habit with compassion and learning to skillfully work with it as practice can become a potent doorway to awakening.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Month-long
2016-02-03 Day 4 Brahma Vihara Instructions: Metta for Self and Benefactor 57:48
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Month-long
2016-01-26 Turning Suffering Into Happiness 61:57
In every moment we have a choice of planting seeds of suffering or happiness. We can understand how to meet it skillfully.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center IMS Staff Retreat 2016
2016-01-19 Being Your Own Authority 63:08
We can appreciate good guidance but ultimately we need to learn how to listen to the Buddha or Quan Yin right inside. Includes the Buddha's five strategies for dealing with distracting thoughts.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Mindfulness, Insight, Liberation: The Foundations of Mindfulness-Based Modalities and Research
2016-01-12 Awakening Joy in Practice as a Path of Happioness 1:12:16
Holding practice as more than just working with suffering but as a cultivation of wholsesome states that open the heart and create the conditions for the highest happiness.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Joy on the Path: Insight Meditation Retreat
2016-01-07 "Turning Ghosts into Ancestors" Guest tonight: Joe Bobrow. 66:09
"James guest tonight is Joseph Bobrow, a respected colleague and Zen teacher, who's work with veterans has been a major contribution in helping them heal from the trauma of war. Joe very movingly talks about his work and his book: Waking Up from War - A Better Way Home for Veterans and Nations.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2016-01-05 No Comparisons - Working with The Judging Mind 62:29
How we get caught in comparing and judging and skillful ways to work with this practice challenge.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge January 2016 at IMS - Forest Refuge
2015-12-17 “Tenderizing the Heart” 60:41
It’s said that it is better to live with a moment of loving-kindness than 100 years without it. We might feel contracted or armored but just one tender moment where the heart softens even a little can be an opportunity to open us.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-12-10 “Mainlining Goodness” 54:23
Sometimes, when the news gets heavy we can overlook all the goodness around us. When things seem overwhelming, it’s important at times to balance out the 10,000 sorrows by tuning into the 10,000 joys and remembering it’s not all one way or the other. Hope you join us.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-12-03 "Letting Your Heart Break." 48:05
Like many, I was speechless upon hearing the news of the latest senseless mass shooting in San Bernardino. When we hear such incomprehensible news that breaks the heart or we are going through our own personal heartbreak, how can we hold it all? I don't profess to have the answers, but perhaps we can explore together in a useful way. I hope you join us.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-11-19 "Gratitude" 49:37
"The grateful heart not only includes appreciation for all the wonderful blessings in our life but also opening up to our pain in the context of gratitude."
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-10-24 2015-10-24 The Magic of Awareness with James Baraz and Anam Thupten 5:06:42
This daylong explores the magic of awareness as well as how to access it in meditation and outside formal meditation practice.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
2015-10-22 "I Didn't Know I Had It In Me: A Talk on Courage" 54:29
This talk is about the importance of courage in our practice. In stretch ourselves beyond our comfort zone, we discover an inner strength and confidence that allows us to transform fear into aliveness, realizing our full potential.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-10-15 Bringing Your Practice into the World 61:33
How your practice can unfold as you leave retreat includes seeing it as a path of happiness; value of opening to suffering; learning to listen to the truth inside and expressing your caring as compassionate action.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC 2015 IMCW Fall Retreat - Intimacy with Life
2015-10-12 Practice as a Path of Happiness 68:49
Dharma practice is not only about learning to be with suffering. Cultivating wholesome states and noticing when they're here is an essential part of practice that leads to the highest happiness. This talk includes some teachings of the Buddha on how to develop happiness in our lives.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC 2015 IMCW Fall Retreat - Intimacy with Life
2015-10-04 Closing the Day 14:12
Naomi Newman and James Baraz close the day with a Kabbalist creation story, and guided meditation.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center A Day of Connection: Sustainable Practice for a Sustainable World
2015-10-04 Sustained by the Gladness of the Wholesome 28:28
Wise effort includes developing and maintaining and increasing wholesome states. When anger and outrage are the source of our action we’re headed towards burnout and despair. When we come from caring and love, our actions are not only energizing for us but magnetizing for others.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center A Day of Connection: Sustainable Practice for a Sustainable World
2015-10-04 Introduction to A Day of Connectoin 18:43
Spirit Rock Meditation Center A Day of Connection: Sustainable Practice for a Sustainable World
2015-10-01 "Loving the Earth" 50:44
This talk given during the 3rd Annual Earth Care Week is about doing our part to contribute to the healing of our planet from love not fear. It includes opening up to the reality of the dukkha while seeing the possibility of being part of growing consciousness that's increasingly gaining momentum.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-09-17 "Anchoring Our Wisdom: Embodied Awareness" 53:19
How the Body Can Help Us Remember. (Note: We had some trouble with the sound system for the first few minutes.)
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-09-06 Bringing Your Practice into the World 59:56
How your practice can unfold as you leave retreat includes seeing it as a path of happiness; value of opening to suffering; learning to listen to the truth inside and expressing your caring as compassionate action.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Labor Day Retreat
2015-09-03 How the Practice Unfolds: The Five Spiritual Faculties 58:06
One way to understand how the process of mindfulness meditation leads to awakening is seeing how these five qualities of mind work together.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Labor Day Retreat
2015-08-27 Refinement of Mind, Part II. 53:44
Last week we spoke of practice as a process of purification, refining impurities of mind like a goldsmith refines and purifies gold. This week we’ll explore how the mind is refined by understanding how to balance three qualities that all need to work together. With Metta, James
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-08-20 "Refinement of Mind, Part 1" 52:59
One way to think of dharma practice is as a path of purification. The talk uses a discourse by the Buddha's as a way to describe this process. We can see how, little by little, over time we are purifying the mind and heart. The key is to keep facing in the right direction as we develop increasingly wholesome thoughts, words and actions.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-06-25 "Seeing the Big Picture" 53:49
"The key to equanimity is a spaciousness that holds all of our dramas in widest perspective. This talk was inspired by the film Planetary."
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-06-18 "Nice Guys Sometimes Finish First: Barbara Weiss, Steve Kerr and Pope Francis" 54:06
We are inspired by the goodness of others. Even more, their example motivates us to do good ourselves. The term "Elevation Response" is used in psychology to describe this phenomenon. The talk describes three people whose lives are inspirations and whose examples can help us bring out the best in ourselves.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-06-04 Castles Made of Sand 50:09
We get very attached to things as if they were extremely important (e.g. your basketball team winning a championship or a conflict with a friend). However, in the bigger scheme of things all of these seemingly crucial things can be held in the wider, wiser perspective of impermanence. A parable from Buddhist teachings helps illustrate this essence of true equanimity and wisdom.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-05-28 Just Like Me 54:07
A discussion based on Thupten Jinpa's book A Fearless Heart with particular focus on the profound practice of understanding our shared humanity.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-05-21 Q & A on Daily Life Dharma Practice 58:46
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-03-26 "The Choice Is Ours" 59:17
The Buddha said that hatred never ceases by hatred, but only by love. How can we heal from interactions with others that have hurt us or closed our heart? Once we learn to hold what has happened in a wise way, the heart can open and transform the hurt into compassionate understanding.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-03-19 Berkeley Community's Own New Green Committee 57:02
James along with Kerry Nelson, who is with Spirit Rock's Green Group and Sean Munding, from our community, are the speakers. Sean will be enthusiastically heading our Berkeley Community's own new Green Committee. We will be exploring using our practice to meaningfully address the issue of climate change.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-03-14 Intro to Insight Meditation with James Baraz & Kate Janke 1:36:12
Closing talk, Meditation and Q&A
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
2015-03-14 Intro to Insight Meditation with James Baraz & Kate Janke 65:33
Intro to Insight Meditation with James Baraz & Kate Janke Mid day Movement & Meditation Q&A
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
2015-03-14 Intro to Insight Meditation with James Baraz & Kate Janke 0:00
(Recording not available) 
Introduction & Meditation
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
2015-03-12 “What Lineage Will You Choose?” or "Choose Your Lineage" 57:17
Many influences shape the thoughts and perceptions of how we view ourselves and the world. Some result in a fear-based perspective that leads to suffering. Others create more clarity and love in our mind and heart. Can we consciously choose which ones will determine how we lead our lives and is it possible to not be run by deeply ingrained habits that no longer serve us?
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-03-05 "What Do They Really Think About Me" 55:57
Much of the time our actions are motivated more by concern about what others think about us than what our own truth is. What would it be like to not be ruled by those thoughts?
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks
2015-02-27 Deepening & Expressing Our Practice 60:26
After practicing for one month, what have we learned to apply in our life as we go home, or carry us through the next month as we continue our practice?
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Insight Meditation Retreat
2015-02-21 Trusting Your Buddha Knowing 60:21
With so many different approaches to practice how do we know if we're doing it "the right way?" And how can we decide which of the many voices in our mind to listen to? This talk includes the 5 strategies offered by the Buddha to work skillfully with distracting thoughts.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Insight Meditation Retreat
2015-02-20 Brahma Vihara Day 20 45:05
Mudita: Difficult Person
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Insight Meditation Retreat
2015-02-16 Working with the Comparing Mind 61:14
Comparing and judging is a deeply ingrained habit pattern that's present until full enlightenment. How can we hold it wisely and work with it skillfully?
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Insight Meditation Retreat
2015-02-15 Brahma Viharas Day 15 48:02
Karuna: Benefactor, Self, Dear Friend and Neutral
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Insight Meditation Retreat
2015-02-12 Morning Instructions #12 44:06
Remembering to Notice Wholesome States
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Insight Meditation Retreat
2015-02-11 Practice as a Path of Happiness 67:37
Dharma practice is not only about learning to be with suffering. Cultivating wholesome states and noticing when they're here is an essential part of practice that leads to the highest happiness. This talk includes some teachings of the Buddha on how to develop happiness in our lives.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Insight Meditation Retreat
2015-02-06 Brahma Vihara Day #6: Forgiveness 45:07
Spirit Rock Meditation Center February Insight Meditation Retreat

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