Talks: Reflections on the Path

Jung wrote that our suffering arises from the unseen, unfelt parts of our psyche. This talk explores ways we can establish a healing presence by recognizing and communicating with the parts of our being that we habitually ignore or judge.

We easily habituate to feeling stressed, leaning forward, trying to figure things out and get things done. The undercurrent is we are living reactively--resisting unpleasant experience, seeking out more comfort and ease--perpetually wanting life to be different than it is. In...

We easily habituate to feeling stressed, leaning forward, trying to figure things out and get things done. The undercurrent is we are living reactively--resisting unpleasant experience, seeking out more comfort and ease--perpetually wanting life to be different than it is. In...

One of the most liberating realizations is that we don’t have to believe our thoughts. In this talk we look at the suffering caused by limiting beliefs–“I am unworthy, unloveable, unsafe”–and the process by which we open into the full aliveness and potential of our being.

The suffering of perceiving ourselves as separate selves expresses as fear, aggression, shame and a host of other afflictive emotions. This talk examines how, by taking refuge in the present moment, and taking refuge in love, we reconnect with our wholeness, and the timeless presence that is home. This inquiry includes a guided meditation on the power of prayer to carry us back to our natural belonging.

This talk investigates the core conditioning that creates and sustains trance. We then explore two gateways to realizing and inhabiting our true nature – inquiry and letting go. Watch the video of “Part 2 – Freedom: Taking the Backward Step”

We suffer when we are identified with our egoic conditioning and unable to recognize the spirit – the love and awareness – that animates our own and all beings. In this talk we explore how recognizing our vulnerability and basic goodness helps us to see through the mask and realize who is here.

Equanimity, the mindful presence that neither grasps nor resists experience, is the grounds for unconditional love and wise action. This talk explores the conditioning that entraps us in reactivity, and two primary pathways for coming home to this natural state of balance and presence.

What makes joy rare? How do we awaken this beautiful capacity to embrace life? In this talk we explore the obstacles to joy and the attitude and practices that free us to “love what is.”

“Enlightenment is intimacy with all things” teaches Zen Master Dogen. While we long for this intimacy, we are conditioned to avoid the vulnerability and fear that an intimate presence can arouse. This talk explores how our mindfulness and heart practices cultivate the capacity to be intimate with our sensations of aliveness, our emotions and the beings in our life.

Some contemporary evolutionary theories track our development from survival of the fittest to group selection whereby we have the capacity for cooperation and empathy. This talk explores how our meditation practice of attending and befriending consciously facilitates the unfolding of our full evolutionary potential. The talk includes a guided meditation that helps us widen the circles of belonging to include all beings.

Tsoknyi Rinpoche (in conversation with Tara Brach) – In talking about his new book, Tibetan teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche describes the layers of self that cover over our “essence love,” and the way that mindfulness reconnects us to our true nature.

One of the great sources of hope is the “quiet revolution” of mindfulness that is appearing in schools, hospitals, prisons, the military, corporate settings and the lives of millions of people around the world. In this talk, US Congressman Tim Ryan points to highlights of this revolution–which are reviewed in his compelling new book, A Mindful Nation. He shares about his own personal experience with mindfulness practice and his commitment to seeing the mindfulness and compassion at the center of our work for a better future.

Most of us have core fear beliefs that obscure our true nature and bind us in repeating patterns of painful emotions and behavior. This talk looks at the beliefs that limit us and the freedom that is possible when we investigate them with a kind, mindful awareness.