Gulwinder “Gullu” Singh is a corporate real estate attorney who regularly teaches both secular and Buddhist classes and groups at InsightLA and at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, has taught mindfulness at the University of Southern California and has been a guest lecturer on mindfulness at UCLA Law School. Although he was exposed to meditation as a child, he found his own practice when he started his legal career, working at firms where the mindsets where insane and as a result, the job was extremely stressful.
Gullu spends several weeks per year teaching silent meditation retreats and has done over 200 nights of silent retreat practice including a 2-month retreat in 2017. Gullu is deeply inspired to share meditation as an antidote to stress, a way to cope more effectively with the challenges of work and live and to inject more sanity, compassion and wisdom into this world.
This talk explores the traditional benefits and scope of mettā practice, presenting loving-kindness as a force that steadies sleep, brightens the mind, supports concentration, and softens our relationships with human and non-human beings alike. Drawing on classical texts and modern teachers, it emphasizes beginning with what is possible—locating the goodwill already present and gently extending it outward. The practice culminates in the “all beings” category, cultivating an impartial heart free from indifference and ill will.
This talk explores how mettā supports freedom from the “second arrow” of mental reactivity. Drawing on vivid teachings from the Buddha, it shows that ill-will harms the one who holds it and that kindness is an aspirational training pointing to the limitless capacity of the heart. The path is framed through the Satipaṭṭhāna: purification of mind, the surmounting of sorrow, and the end of dukkha. Central is the role of vedanā—the pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral tone that conditions craving and resistance. Most suffering arises not from experience itself but from the mind’s rejection of what is here. Mettā becomes a relational posture toward life, saying “yes” to each moment and softening identification with pain. By noticing greed, aversion, and delusion, we transform them into generosity, love, and wisdom. The impartial heart learns to meet all experience with balance, discovering ease even amid difficulty.
This talk explores karuṇā as the heart that meets suffering with kindness and the sincere wish for its relief, without attachment to outcome. Compassion is not kind behavior but a wholesome state of mind from which wise action naturally flows. The talk distinguishes karuṇā from empathy: affective empathy can lead to exhaustion by taking on others’ pain, while compassion is “feeling for,” supported by warmth and equanimity. Rather than merging with suffering, we attune to the care already present within it. Karuṇā is a brahmavihāra—abundant, immeasurable, and energizing—capable of meeting personal and global pain with clarity and agency. Practical guidance is offered: begin with manageable suffering, pair compassion with balance, use simple phrases, and end with spaciousness for all beings.
Brief Overview of the Bramhaviharas and Guided Mettā Practiced. Gullu briefly describes the 4 divine abodes of Mettā (Benevolence), Karuna (Compasion), Mudita (Appreciative Joy) and Upekka (Equanimity). This is followed by a brief description of the difficulties often encountered in the mettā practice followed by a guided mettā practice using imagery and phrases to hold the intention for goodwill and even spark the actually feeling of goodwill
Talk Synopsis: Clearing the Poisons – Greed and Aversion
This talk explores how the Buddha’s teachings on dukkha and the three unwholesome roots—greed, aversion, and delusion—relate to the common mental obstacles that arise in meditation and daily life. Framed through the lens of the five hindrances, the talk looks closely at how these energies obscure attention and contribute to suffering.
The talk includes a practical discussion of temperament—how some of us tend more toward craving, others toward irritation or confusion—and how understanding these patterns can support clarity and compassion. Rather than trying to get rid of these states, the emphasis is on recognizing and relating to them with awareness, in line with the Buddha’s instruction to know dukkha and its causes.
Grounded in the Four Noble Truths, the talk points toward a path of practice that works with what's difficult—not as a problem to fix, but as a doorway to insight and freedom.
