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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Tara Brach's Dharma Talks
Tara Brach
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.
2009-08-12 Happiness 1:10:35
The Buddha taught of two dimensions of happiness--that which is based on particular circumstances, and that which arises from unconditional presence. This talk explores the ways we block happiness; the attitude and meditative practice that give rise to worldly happiness and the state of Being that is experienced as pure happiness and freedom.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-08-05 Let Everything Happen to You 1:15:39
The now common adage "what you resist, persists" is a deep and important truth. This talk explores the often unconscious ways that we avoid the difficult parts of our experience, and the meditative strategies for cultivating an accepting and healing presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-07-08 Part 4 - Wise Practice - Taking Refuge in Awareness 1:15:55
This four week series reviews many key components of Buddhist meditation practice. Beginning with intention and attitude, we cover the strategies that help us arrive in presence, the key elements of mindfulness, working with difficult emotional states and the practices that awaken our heart. Each week will include guided meditations and reflections.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-07-01 Part 3 - Wise Practice - The Heart of Buddhism 1:14:17
This four week series reviews many key components of Buddhist meditation practice. Beginning with intention and attitude, we cover the strategies that help us arrive in presence, the key elements of mindfulness, working with difficult emotional states and the practices that awaken our heart. Each week will include guided meditations and reflections.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-06-24 Part 2 - Wise Practice 1:18:00
This four week series reviews many key components of Buddhist meditation practice. Beginning with intention and attitude, we cover the strategies that help us arrive in presence, the key elements of mindfulness, working with difficult emotional states and the practices that awaken our heart. Each week will include guided meditations and reflections.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-06-17 Part 1 - Wise Practice 1:15:56
This three week series reviews many key components of Buddhist meditation practice. Beginning with intention and attitude, we cover the strategies that help us arrive in presence, the key elements of mindfulness, working with difficult emotional states and the practices that awaken our heart. Each week will include guided meditations and reflections.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-06-10 Don't Know Mind 1:14:31
Thoughts, and more broadly, conceptual knowledge, cannot lead to the direct realization of truth, of reality. While thoughts are an essential part of surviving and thriving, spiritual awakening only becomes possible when we step out of the trance of thinking. This talk invites listeners into the radical openness and freedom of not-knowing.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-06-03 The Attitude that Perpetuates Suffering 1:10:46
Our conditioning is to conclude that "something is wrong" when we encounter difficulty. This way of relating to experience binds us in a trance--it locks in the identification with a separate, victimized, self; it leads to unwise action and it removes us from presence. This talk guides us in recognizing our often unconscious attitude towards what is happening, and arriving in the unconditional presence that is the source of love, wisdom and freedom.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-05-27 Celebrating Vesak: Oh Nobly Born 1:12:28
Vesak is the Buddhist holiday that celebrates the Buddha's birth, enlightment and death. What links these events is the radical and powerful message of all Buddhist teachings: We each have the potential to realize and live from and awakened heart and mind. This talk explores how the key mythological, psychological and spiritual junctures of the Buddha's life are entirely relevant to our own transformation.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-05-20 Three Gifts That Serve Freedom 56:43
There are three spiritual capacities that are essential for our freedom. The first, forgiveness, is the releasing of stories that this self, or another, is bad. It is an opening of the heart to include all parts of our own being and this world. The second, inner fire, is the energy of devotion to what most matters to us. The third, looking within to realize what we are, reveals the truth of reality itself. This talk uses an ancient Indian teaching tale and guided meditations to explore these core elements of spiritual liberation.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

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