Tara Brach

2013-10-30 - Healing Self-Doubt - Siddhartha Gautama’s last challenge before enlightenment was doubt, and to some degree, most of us live with limiting beliefs about our own worthiness and goodness. This talk looks at the tenacity of self-doubt and the power of mindfulness, investigation and compassion in releasing its grip.

2013-10-30 - Guided Meditation: Relaxing Back into Presence

2013-10-20 SatPM (retreat) Guided Forgiveness Practice - Instructions, then a guided forgiveness meditation.

2013-10-19 - The Heartspace That is Our True Home - (retreat talk) - By dedicating ourselves to loving the life that is right here--ourselves--we discover the heartspace that holds this world. This talk explores the pathways of forgiveness, offering and letting in love, and gratitude that reveal the vastness of loving presence.

2013-10-16 - Part 2: Happiness - This 2-part series explores conditioned and unconditioned happiness: What blocks us from experiencing true well-being, and the skillful means that allow this natural expression of our being to shine through.

2013-10-16 Guided Meditation: Listening to, and Feeling, the Moment

2013-10-09 - Part 1: Happiness - This 2-part series explores conditioned and unconditioned happiness: What blocks us from experiencing true well-being, and the skillful means that allow this natural expression of our being to shine through. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-10-09 - Guided Meditation: Being Presence

2013-10-02 - Loving Life, Loving Earth - What will it take to have us collectively awaken to the suffering of our earth and respond? This talk looks at how we are destroying our larger body, the earth; what stops us from recognizing and opening to the suffering of loss, and ways we can evolve our consciousness and act on behalf of this precious life. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-10-02 - Guided Meditation: Choosing Living Presence

2013-09-25 - Part 2: Entering the Wilderness - On all spiritual paths, we journey into the inner wilderness to discover the nature of nature - the truth of who we are. The entry is through bringing a kind and full presence to the life of our bodies. These two talks explore the conditioning that leads us to dissociation, and the blessings of full aliveness, open heartedness and wisdom that arise when we come home to embodied presence. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-09-25 - Guided Meditation - Vipassana (Insight or Mindfulness)

2013-09-18 - Part 1 - Entering the Wilderness - On all spiritual paths, we journey into the inner wilderness to discover the nature of nature - the truth of who we are. The entry is through bringing a kind and full presence to the life of our bodies. These two talks explore the conditioning that leads us to dissociation, and the blessings of full aliveness, open heartedness and wisdom that arise when we come home to embodied presence.Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-09-18 Guided Meditation: Embodied Presence

2013-09-11 - Peace Work - The hope for inner and world peace lies in our evolutionary capacity to shift from Fight-Flight-Freeze reactivity to responding to aggravation with Attend-Befriend. This talk explores the three elements on this path of awakening that support us in this transformation: Remembering our true aspiration; taking full responsibility (for whatever arises in our experience) and widening the circles of our caring to include all beings. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-09-11 - Guided Meditation: Breath and Awareness

2013-09-04 - From Egoic to Unconditioned Loving - When we are caught in the sense of separation and unmet needs, our love is marbled with fear and attachment. This talk describes the chain of conditioning that perpetuates the constrictions of egoic love and explores several courageous activities--sharing our vulnerability, expressing love, extending and receiving love-- that awaken us to the vastness and freedom of pure loving awareness. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-09-04 - Guided Meditation - Letting Life Be As It Is

2013-08-28 - Part 2: Relating to the Fearsome Deities - Whenever Mara--the shadow side--appeared during the Buddha's life, his response was simple and liberating: "I see you Mara," and,"Please, come…let's have tea." In that spirit, this talk explores three approaches to relating to fear with a mindful and compassionate presence. The flute meditation at the end of the talk is given by Akal Dev. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-08-28 - Guided Meditation: Rest As Presence

2013-08-21 - Part 1: Relating to the Fearsome Deities - Our relationship to fear shapes our life experience. If we are unconscious, and reflexively try to manage fear, our identity takes the shape of the body of fear. If instead we learn to attend and befriend fear, we discover the freedom of our awakened heart. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-08-21 - Guided Meditation: Resting As Awareness

2007-09-26 - The Gift of Silence - Through all spiritual traditions, there is a valuing of silence and stillness. When the mind has quieted, it becomes possible to see into the truth of what we are. Yet quieting can turn into a battle with the process of the thinking mind. This talk explores practices that allow us to settle in a natural way, the presence which is silence itself, and the wisdom and love that flows freely when we live from that silence. Please support the continuation of this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Thank you for your generosity.

2007-09-26 - Guided Meditation: Into the Stillness

2013-08-07 - True Belonging - We all have a longing to belong. When pursued at the egoic level--often through our good-personhood projects--there may be temporary satisfaction but our sense of separation is ultimately reinforced. In contrast, bringing mindfulness and compassion to whatever is arising dissolves the sense of separation and reveals the basic goodness of our own loving presence. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-08-07 - Guided Meditation - The Aliveness and Space of Presence

2009-09-09 - From Story to Presence - A fundamental skill cultivated through meditation is awakening from our stories and arriving back in the aliveness of the moment. If we investigate, we find that a large portion of our stories create physical and emotional stress, separate us from others, and obscure the truth of who we are. In this talk you are invited to identify several of your "top ten hits", explore how these stories live in your body, and reconnect with living presence.

2009-09-09 - Relaxing the Heart

2013-07-24 - Three Gestures of Love - If we inquire "what is between me and presence" we usually find we've been caught inside a limiting story of self, contracted by wants and fears. This talk explores a simple yet powerful way of arousing loving presence and dissolving the narrow identification that keeps us from inhabiting our awakened heartmind.

2013-07-24 - Guided Meditation: A Listening, Receptive Presence

2010-10-13 - Introducción a la Meditación Parte 1: El Arte y Ciencia de la MeditaciónLa primera sesión define la meditación y describe las enseñanzas budistas que le dan contexto al camino de la practica. Exploramos las dos formas básicas de meditación - concentración y conciencia plena - y luego nos enfocamos en el entrenamiento de conciencia plena: trayendo atención de conciencia plena a la respiración y sensaciones corporales. Las meditaciones guiadas incluyen el establecimiento de una intención y la pausa sagrada; aprendiendo a "regresar" usando la respiración como un ancla; y "estando aquí" con una presencia encarnada. Transcriptora: Sashi Gabrielle ([email protected])Traductora: Lara Cozzo ([email protected])Editora: Diana Bermudez ([email protected]) Voz: Diana María Holguín ([email protected])

2013-07-17 - Absolute Cooperation with the Inevitable - This talk addresses common misunderstandings about acceptance (allowing, "letting be") and explores the challenges and blessings of opening to the raw emotions that we habitually avoid. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-07-17 - Guided Meditation: Letting Life Be, Just As It Is

2013-07-10 - Skeleton Woman: Embracing This Living and Dying World - Based on a wonderful myth told by Clarissa Estes, this talk looks at the way we run from "lady death" and the blessings of opening our arms and heart. It is a repeat from 2009-10-07 and fits in well with Tara's topic for next week. If we can embrace the whole of our nature with unconditional presence - including the inevitability of change and loss--we discover deep wisdom and enduring love. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2012-09-19 Guided Meditation: Embodied Spirit

2013-07-03 - Part 2: Hope and the Spiritual Path - In this talk we further define the nature of mature or spiritual hope as part of a trinity that includes trust and love, and explore what blocks its unfolding. We then review how different people have "hit bottom" and found their way to the energy, receptivity and openness of hope.

2013-07-04 - Guided Meditation: Beingness and Aliveness

2013-06-26 - Guided Meditation: The Dance of Aliveness

2013-06-26 - Part 1: Hope and the Spiritual Path - This talk looks at the difference between egoic hopes and fears, and the quality of hopefulness ("holy hope") that is an essential demension in spiritual experience. We reflect on the three components of hope that serve awakening: Aspiration, Trust and Dedication of energy.

2009-05-07 - Bodhisattva Path - Widening Circles of Compassion - A bodhisattva (awakened being) is committed to relieving suffering and living life from an all inclusive loving presence. This shift of identity from a self centered focus to one of realizing our radical interdependence is a natural part of our spiritual evolution and represents the hope for healing our world. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2009-05-02 - (retreat talk) Awakening from Virtual Reality - This talk examines how we get stuck in identifying as a separate, deficient self, and the way that a deep attention frees us from trance.

Tara is away this week. Enjoy a favorite talk from 12/9/2009. Spiritual practice reveals our belonging through bringing presence to three gateways: the aliveness of the present moment, loving relatedness, and the openness and lucidity of awareness itself. This talk includes guided meditations in exploring each gateway. Note: poem, "She Dreamed of Cows" is by Norah Pollard.

2013-05-29 - Practicing Meditation: "Getting Out Of Your Own Way" - The depth and vitality of a meditation practice depends on our sincerity, and an attitude of curiosity and friendliness. With this as the grounds, our practice will cultivate the clear seeing and openheartedness that expresses our deepest nature. This talk covers basic ingredients in a meditation practice, and includes a half hour of questions and responses. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donations allow us to continue to freely offer the teachings!

2013-05-22 - Being to Being - Loving Beyond the Trance - We have strong conditioning to relate to each other from a sense of separateness--persona to persona. This talk looks at what traps us in egoic relating and how several simple yet powerful reflections can open us to pure, unconditioned loving.

2013-05-15 Guided Meditation: Open, Wakeful Presence

2013-05-15 - Releasing the Barriors to Unconditional Loving - We long for love and habitually armor our hearts. This talk explores the aggression and clinging that protect our wound of feeling unlovable, and the ways that mindfulness can dissolve our defenses and reveal our inner refuge of pure loving presence.

2013-05-08 - Meditation: Coming Home to Being - Enjoy the meditation prior to the talk at Tara's Wednesday night's class at RRUUC.

2013-05-08 - Remembering Being - Our fear-based doings block us from realizing the formless dimension of our Being, and living from that source of wisdom and love. This talk explores the habitual control strategies that keep us from presence; and the role of mindfulness and lovingkindness in reconnecting with the ground of Being.

2013-04-28 - Retreat Talk: Loving Ourselves - The greatest truths we forget, and one of them is that if we don't love the life that is right here--what we perceive as self--we are unable to embrace our world. This talk explores the suffering of turning on ourselves and the deep freedom that arises when we commit to relating to our inner life with loving presence.

2013-04-24 - Letting Go Into Living and Dying - Our capacity to live and love fully is directly related to our acceptance of change and loss. This talk explores how we avoid the pain of loss, ways of practicing that open us to this changing world, and the gifts of letting go into the flow.