Resources: Beliefs and Thoughts
Beliefs and thoughts are navigational maps that are not inherently true. Rather, some serve us and others cause feelings of separation, self-aversion and/or blame of others. We can free ourselves from harmful beliefs by investigating them with a dedicated, mindful and courageous presence.
Below are some resources that you might find helpful in working with beliefs and thoughts:
Talks on Beliefs and Thoughts
Part 2: Healing Depression with Meditation
Most people get depressed at times, and many suffer greatly from bouts of major depression. At the heart of the suffering is the experience of severed belonging—of being...
Part 1: Healing Depression with Meditation
Most people get depressed at times, and many suffer greatly from bouts of major depression. At the heart of the suffering is the experience of severed belonging—of being...
Three Core Reminders for Spiritual Practice
This talk explores three powerful ways you can direct your attention when you find yourself emotionally stuck: Wake up from thoughts; feel your feelings and remember love. We...
Trusting the Gold – A Celebration of Tara’s New Book
The essence of the spiritual path is realizing, trusting and living from our natural awareness and love. This talk explores the two key pathways that help us awaken from the...
Freedom from the Prison of Limiting Beliefs
We suffer when we are caught in beliefs of our own or other's badness, unworthiness, or lack of value. These beliefs hurt our bodies, lead to violent and/or addictive behaviors,...
Sheltering in Love – Part 8: Finding Freedom in the Midst of Failure
Everyone faces personal failure, and it’s an extremely raw and painful feeling. If we have the courage to stay with the feelings, failure can become a portal to the realization...
Spiritual Hope: Trusting Your Awakening Heart
Our beliefs and understandings about reality directly impact our moment to moment experience of living. If we believe we will never change, that blocks the transformation that...
Wise Investigation: Dissolving the Trance
If we are suffering, it is because we are believing something that is not true and caught in emotional reactivity. A key tool in meditation is investigation – actively inquiring...
Trusting the Gold (retreat talk)
This talk looks at how our upbringing and culture lead us to mistrust who we are and become identified as a separate, deficient self. We then explore the practices of presence...
Living with Courageous Presence
[CC] ~ The essence of courage is to willingly feel our vulnerability; this is what allows us to respond to life with an undefended, wise heart. This talk explores the ways we...
Three Attitudes that Nourish a Liberating Practice
CC ~ A key spiritual inquiry is, “In this moment, what most serves awakening?” Rather than a particular style of meditation practice, it is our way of relating to our experience...
From Human Doing to Human Being – Part 2
Like Sisyphus eternally pushing the boulder up the hill, we can spend many moments busily trying to manage our life. This two-part talk explores how we can awaken from our...
Evolving Beyond “Unreal Othering”
What motivates us - as individuals and as a society - to build walls and knowingly hurt others? This talk explores the evolutionary roots of “unreal othering” and how when we are...
Three Domains of Formless Presence – Landlocked in Fur (retreat talk)
While we have evolved to experience a defining sense of separate self, our potential is to awaken to the formless dimension – the pure awareness is our shared source. This talk...
From Human Doing to Human Being – Part 1
Like Sisyphus eternally pushing the boulder up the hill, we can spend many moments busily trying to manage our life. This two-part talk explores how we can awaken from our...
Meditations on Beliefs and Thoughts
Meditation: Uprooting Limiting Beliefs with RAIN (9:21 min.)
This short meditation guides us in using RAIN (recognize-allow-investigate-nurture) when we discover we are caught in a limiting belief (an excerpt from the full talk, Freedom...
Meditation: Letting Go… Letting Be (16:57 min.)
This guided meditation invites us to imagine a clenched fist relaxing open, and explores this in releasing contractions in the body as well as the grip of thoughts. When we...
Reflection: Waking Up from Limiting Beliefs (8 min.)
A guided reflection meditation that addresses limiting beliefs surrounding interpersonal conflict - from the ending of the "Real but Not True" talk. Listen to the full talk, Real...
Other Resources on Beliefs and Thoughts
Blog: Looking Through the Eyes of Another – Transforming Separation into Shared Consciousness
Looking Through the Eyes of Another: Transforming Separation into Shared Consciousness I often talk about how suffering arises from the unseen, unfelt parts of ourselves. Only...
Blog: Loosening the Grip of Core and Limiting Beliefs
I’ve gotten free of that ignorant fist that was pinching and twisting my secret self. The universe and the light of the stars come through me.—Rumi Our core beliefs are...
Blog: Suffering: The Call To Investigate Beliefs
“Reality is always kinder than the stories we tell about it.” -Byron Katie Can you imagine understanding, even loving, someone who belongs to a group of people responsible for...
Blog: Creating an Unreal Other
It is easy to be untouched by stories we read in the newspaper, on the Internet or watch on the news about people suffering from unemployment, loss of loved ones, war or natural...