The Heart of Light Podcast

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 29, 2023, about enthusiasm. What is the difference between enthusiasm and excitement? How hungry are we for truth and growth? What is the critical role of accepting feedback in spiritual life? This talk was the fourth in a series of six talks on the Paramitas in the Mahayana tradition. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the I-Revolution at East Bay Healing Collective on May 28, 2023, about memory. How do we work with the stories we tell ourselves? What kind of commitment do we have with ourselves? What does it mean to “remember” the part of us that is eternal? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 22, 2023, about patience. What does patience have to do with expectations and capacity? What is the “near enemy” of patience? How do we cultivate equanimity and presence? This talk was the third in a series of six talks on the Paramitas in the Mahayana tradition. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 15, 2023, about discipline. How do we cultivate discipline? What is the connection between discipline and self-love? What are the subtle differences between self-discipline and the paramita of discipline? This talk was the second in a series of six talks on the Paramitas in the Mahayana tradition. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 8, 2023, about generosity. When is giving true generosity? What are the connections between generosity and vulnerability? What are the many forms of generosity in everyday life? This talk was the first in a series of six talks on the Paramitas in the Mahayana tradition. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 1, 2023, about the Jungian idea of the Shadow. How does pretend otherness differ from true otherness? How do we work with the deeply held patterns of permission that bind us? What is so frightening about stepping into our authentic power? This talk fell on the Celtic holiday of Beltaine. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 24, 2023, about the meaning of life. How does living in the head prevent us from having richly meaningful experiences? How deep is our ability to connect? What is the role of inner silence in contacting what is most meaningful? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 17, 2023, about humility. How does the wounding of toxic shame pervert our understanding of humility? How can we joyfully embrace letting go of ego’s many self-glorifying attachments? How is healthy humility deeply grounded in self-love? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the I-Revolution at East Bay Healing Collective on April 16, 2023, about emotional sovereignty. How are healthy boundaries a gift to ourselves & others? What does it mean to cultivate a warrior’s discipline? What are the challenges and rewards of embracing deep self-responsibility? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 10, 2023, about recognizing the Sacred. How is taking anything for granted a poison in in spiritual life? Are we alive to the way that beauty can move us? Do we allow out heart to be touched by all the love around us? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 3, 2023, about the Last Supper discourse. What is the role of humility & humiliation in spiritual life? What ideal of love furthers our unfolding? How do we move closer to the interconnection that is our primary reality? This talk fell on the Monday of Holy Week. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on March 27, 2023, about transformative healing. How do we work with the core pain of shame & self-hatred? What are the paradoxes of healing? How do we trust in the possibility of healing our life? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on March 20, 2023, about inner renewal. How do we contact the vivid freshness of life? How do we honor what is emerging in those close to us? How do we keep up with the edge in us that is fearless about growth? This talk fell on the Vernal Equinox. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on March 13, 2023, about the first chakra. What is our relationship to belonging? How do we work with toxic shame? How do we arrive fully in our bodies and in our lives? This was the last in a series of three talks on the first three chakras. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on March 6, 2023, about the second chakra. What is our relationship to patterns of holding & release? What is our relationship with pleasure and addictions? How do we relate to those aspects of the world and to those aspects of ourselves that are in uncontrollable flow? This will be the second in a series of three talks on the first three chakras. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on February 27, 2023, about the third chakra. What are healthy boundaries and why are they rare in our culture? How do we strengthen our boundaries? What does it mean to cultivate one’s own power? This was the first in a series of three talks on the first three chakras. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on February 20, 2023, about discipline, one of the paramitas of the Buddhas. Why is self-discipline so hard in modern times? What are the potential pitfalls of cultivating discipline? How do we craft a discipline that affirms and nurtures all of who we are? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on February 13, 2023, about mysticism in everyday life. What is irreducible about ordinary sense experience? How does silence reveal the radiance of the world? How do we approach the intimate mystery beneath our own deepest vulnerability? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on February 6, 2023, about antiracism & Buddhism. How does antiracist work dovetail with Buddha dharma? How do we unpack the racism held in our bodies? How do we embody love & compassion in a healing & integrative way? This talk fell on the first Monday of Black History month. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on January 30, 2023, about desires vs. real needs. How do we distinguish authentic needs from imagined fantasized needs? How well do we distinguish between enough and too much? How do we simplify our needs? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on January 16, 2023, about the sacrifice of love. How deeply do you give? In what ways are you prepared to risk yourself in love? How do we cultivate the capacity to step into the more profound levels of letting go? This talk fell on the evening of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on January 9, 2023, about believing in oneself. What would it mean to have faith in oneself? How would we live if we really trusted ourselves and our intuitions? How do we cultivate greater self-trust and self-fidelity? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on January 2, 2023, about confinement and choice. What true choices do we have in relating to outer unpleasant constraints? How do we relate to our own inner stuckness? What is the paradoxical wisdom of transformation that opens the door to a whole new experience? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is a dharma talk on December 27, 2022, about unique vs. special. What are the profound ways we are unique? What are some of the traps around seeing ourselves or our lives as special? What is the relation of humility to these ideas? This talk fell on the Christian feast of St, John, Apostle & Evangelist. Here is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on December 19, 2022, about resilience. How do we cultivate resilience? How do we push past ego’s imagined limits? How do we cultivate faith in our core wisdom & strength? This talk fell on the first day of Hanukkah and a couple days before the winter solstice. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on December 12, 2022, about reckless love. How do we respond to the overwhelming reckless love of the Sacred for us? How can we be more reckless, in totally healthy & functional ways, in our practice of compassion & love? What are the risks inherent in the most noble forms of love? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on December 5, 2022, about intense experiences. How does Buddhism enhance our ability to integrate intense experiences? How does intensity enhance our attention and vitality? How do we bring that heighten vitality back to stillness and to the safety of everyday life? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on November 28, 2022, about waiting. How do we wait and what does the way we wait say about us? What are the gifts and challenges associated with waiting? How do we relate to the disconnected parts of ourselves that have been waiting for love & connection since before our earliest memories? This talk fell on the first Monday of Advent. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on November 21, 2022, about the four levels of gratitude. How do we open our eyes to the miracles of life? How is “taking for granted” a toxin to the soul? How can we begin to receive even difficult experiences as gifts? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on November 14, 2022, about Buddhism in a time of moral conflict. What guidance does Buddhism give us for relating to polarized conditions? What nuance does Buddhism offer to our own cherished moral ideals? How do we embody an invitation to a deeper human unity? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on November 7, 2022, about the Christian ideal of loving one’s enemies. How is this seen through the lens of the Buddhist ideal of compassion? How does our relation to inner otherness limit how open we can be to external others? What is the work we can do to move beyond fear and moral disgust toward genuine love? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on October 31, 2022, about risk and safety. Where in our bodies do we find a true feeling of safety? Do we recognize and embrace risk as an irreducible part of all growth and all authentic connection? How do the tools of Buddhism help us to live with courage in an uncertain world? This dharma talk took place on the Celtic holiday of Samhain. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on October 24, 2022, about patience, one of the paramitas of the Buddha. What typical mind-patterns lead to impatience? What is the Buddhist perspective on impatience? How do we develop and deepen patience? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on October 17, 2022, about the dynamics of pain. How does emotional pain bamboozle the strategic rational mind? How do the dysfunctional inner bids for connection demand that we wisely reparent ourselves? How do Buddhism and the other Wisdom Traditions offer us a treasure trove of healing possibilities? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on October 10, 2022, about impermanence. To what extent do we understand ourselves as journeying through the temporary conditions of our life? How do we relate to those parts of Life that are in uncontrollable flow? As we experience a world and a body that constantly change, and often not for the better, how do we continue to affirm love and joy? This talk took place on the first day of Sukkot. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on September 19, 2022, about facing darkness. Darkness calls to mind what metaphors and what experiences? How do we respond to those metaphors? What can we learn from reflecting on darkness? This talk took place a couple days before the Autumnal Equinox. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on September 12, 2022, about avoidance. When is avoidance healthy vs. unhealthy? What do patterns of avoidance reveal about our boundaries and attachment style? How do we generate additional suffering when we try to avoid the unavoidable pain of life? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on September 5, 2022, about spiritual work. How do we know that we are doing the Work at all? How rigorously honest are we with ourselves? How do we actively expand our capacity? How much do we act from true freedom? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on August 29, 2022, about control & anger. What is our relation to the aspects of Life that are always in uncontrollable flow? What is the core anger that arises when our control & independence feel threatened? What is our fierce core resistance to the wisdom of surrender? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on August 22, 2022, about Story Stewardship. What does it mean to listen well? How do we contribute to narrative trust in a relationship? How do we hold the stories of others in a way that both affirms them as they are and invites their deeper growth? This dharma talk was Part 3 in a 3-part series on Brené Brown’s theory on Cultivating Meaningful Connections. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on August 15, 2022, about the Courage to Walk Alongside. How do we accompany others so that our compassion authentically lands in their lives? How are our own boundaries a profound gift to others? How does risking ourselves in compassion to others bring us closer to our own essential nature? This dharma talk was Part 2 in a 3-part series on Brené Brown’s theory on Cultivating Meaningful Connections. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on August 1, 2022, about the archetypal masculine. How does the healthy life-affirming masculine look, and what are the crucial differences from toxic masculinity? What is the healing wisdom that we all can draw from archetypal masculine? This talk fell on the Celtic holiday of Lughnasa. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on July 25, 2022, about freedom. What is problematic about our ordinary ideas about freedom? How do we recognize our unfreedom? What does true freedom look like? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on July 11, 2022, about the Zen ideal of the Wabi Sabi. How does “wanting it all” function as an addictive trap? What do our fantasies reveal about the deep patterns of clinging that cut us off from joy? How do we find peace and fulfillment with the imperfection in ourselves and in others? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on June 27, 2022, about making friends with Death. How do we cultivate a more conscious and mindful relationship with Death? What is the wisdom that comes from an ongoing awareness of Death? Why does a “yes” to Death lead to a much deeper “yes” to Life? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on June 20, 2022, about the paradoxes of fullness. In various area of your life, how well do you discern the boundary between enough and too much? What are the kinds of emptying out that lead to the fullness we seek? How do these processes relate to the Daoist and Buddhist perspectives on emptiness? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on June 13, 2022, about joy vs. fun. When does fun derive from pure joy and when it is merely an escape or distraction? How do the dynamics of addiction warp our sense of happiness? How do we invite more playfulness into our lives? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on June 6, 2022, about alignment with the Sacred. In what ways is our life off-kilter from how we know we should be living? How deep is our commitment to inner growth? How can the inner invitation of the Sacred transform our lives by its magnetism? This talk fell on Whitsuntide Monday, the Monday following Pentecost Sunday. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 30, 2022, about enthusiasm, one of the Paramitas of the Buddha. How does enthusiasm differ from excitement? What is the profound relationship between enthusiasm and the quality of our attention? How can we draw on and live from the enthusiasm that is part of our essential nature? This talk fell on the Monday before Pentecost Sunday. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 23, 2022, about grief. What invitation do we make to grief? How do we hold grief in our bodies? How do we cultivate a more noble and magnanimous attitude toward life’s inevitable experiences of loss? This is the quote sheet for the talk.