Talks: Reflections on the Path

Letting Go of Controlling: The Path of Freedom – Part 2

Letting Go of Controlling: The Path of Freedom – Part 2

While it’s natural to try to control our life experience, our chronic controlling cuts us off from presence and obscures the loving awareness that is our essence.  This series of talks explores how we can let go in four key domains of controlling: clinging to thoughts,...

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Letting Go of Controlling: The Path of Freedom – Part 1

Letting Go of Controlling: The Path of Freedom – Part 1

While it’s natural to try to control our life experience, our chronic controlling cuts us off from presence and obscures the loving awareness that is our essence.  This series of talks explores how we can let go in four key domains of controlling: clinging to thoughts,...

read more
How Hope Can Heal and Free Us – Part 2

How Hope Can Heal and Free Us – Part 2

The mature expression of hope includes three elements: the aspiration for manifesting our full potential, a trust that this is possible, and an energy that engages to serve this unfolding. In this talk, we explore the importance of hope on the spiritual path, its shadow side,...

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How Hope Can Heal and Free Us – Part 1

How Hope Can Heal and Free Us – Part 1

The mature expression of hope includes three elements: the aspiration for manifesting our full potential, a trust that this is possible, and an energy that engages to serve this unfolding. In this talk, we explore the importance of hope on the spiritual path, its shadow side,...

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Coming Home to True Refuge

Coming Home to True Refuge

While we habitually try to control our life, our true refuge—the source of peace, safety and freedom—is in the direct realization of reality itself. This talk explores three archetypal portals to true refuge—awareness (buddha), truth (dharma) and love (sangha.) With each we...

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The Sacred Pause

The Sacred Pause

When we are lost in the trance of doing, our lives are on automatic, and contracted by sense that something’s wrong or missing. This talk explores the challenges of learning to pause, and the blessings that arise when we step out of our incessant mental and physical activity...

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Finding True Belonging in the Midst of Stress

Finding True Belonging in the Midst of Stress

Our deepest longing is to feel our belonging to each other and all life. This reflection examines the primary forces that keep us trapped in a trance of separation. We then explore two powerful dimensions of spiritual practice that can undo trance and reveal the sentience and...

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Awakening from Trance – Embracing Unlived Life

Awakening from Trance – Embracing Unlived Life

When physical or emotional pain is too much, our conditioning is to pull away and avoid direct contact with raw feelings. The result is a trance - we are split off from the wholeness of our aliveness, intelligence and capacity to love. This talk explores how this dissociation...

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How Do We Bridge the Divides?

How Do We Bridge the Divides?

The divides in our world can only exist if we humans are divided from our own full being and habituated to divides with others. In this reflection we explore bridging inner and relational divides as the grounds for evolving consciousness in our species and awakening to more...

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A Generous Heart

A Generous Heart

Our deep potential is to live from an awake, loving heart. This talk looks at how, with a kind and mindful attention, we can decondition habitual tendencies toward grasping and self-centeredness, and nourish the sense of connectedness and care that gives rise to generosity. As...

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The Wise Heart of Radical Acceptance

The Wise Heart of Radical Acceptance

When we are caught in self-judgment we forget the truth of who we are - our wholeness, awareness and love. This talk examines how we take the imperfect waves of our being personally, and become imprisoned in the trance of unworthiness, a limited and distorted reality. We then...

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Radical Self-Forgiving

Radical Self-Forgiving

When we can’t forgive ourselves, we remain imprisoned and separate from our world. This talk explores forgiving as a process of relaxing open the clenched fist of self-blame. As forgiving becomes deep and full, we discover the freedom of a spacious, awake and loving heart....

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