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James Baraz's Dharma Talks
James Baraz
I try to convey that the wisdom and compassion we are looking for is already inside of us. I see practice as learning how to purify our mind and heart so we can hear the Buddha inside. In doing so, we naturally embody the dharma and help awaken that understanding and love in others we meet.
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2025-11-13 Impermanence: The Key to Equanimity 44:52
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The Buddha said the one reflection to always keep in mind is Impermanence, Anicca in Pali. When we have a deep understanding of impermanence we are more able to let go. However, there is an upside to impermanence too. No matter how difficult things are they will change. Often overlooked, this aspect of impermanence can give us courage and resolve in the face of hardship. Opening to the truth of impermanence deepens our capacity to be balanced in the face of change. This talk will explore this topic and how we can apply it in our lives.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Men in the Dharma (SF2G25)
2025-10-30 Instructions from My Teachers 40:12
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We all have teachers who've inspired us to see life in a new way. Who have been your inspirations? What have you learned from them? I thought I'd share some ways that instructions from two of my teachers--Ram Dass and HWL Poonja (Papaji)-- have shaped how I see the world and how I practice. The talk includes a recording of a significant dialogue from 1990 with Poonjaji that reconnected me with my joy. Here is a link to the dialogue of the Poonjaji satsang where James asked the question https://docs.google.com/document/d/16TnL2Zev-6r_mZPrgdSxSTaYLoyzdLOg3CnJ2U3D6C8/edit?tab=t.0 Here is a link to the video on Youtube that is over an hour long https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrjspK5fHiQ. James is at 23:38
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
2025-10-09 Navigating the Truth of Suffering 44:34
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Suffering is the Buddha's 1st Noble Truth. Sometimes it can feel like it's all too much, especially in these days of extreme unpredictability. Legitimate reactions of anger, confusion and discouragement can lead to feeling of hopelessness or resigned acceptance. How can we use the practice to not only skillfully hold those feelings, but to transform them into wholesome uplifting responses such as courage, trust and compassionate action?
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
2025-09-28 Devotion to the Sacred (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 2:06:47
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This talk explores the place of Devotion in practice and what it means to look at reality through the lens of Sacred Perception.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Devotion to the Sacred (262R25)
2025-09-25 You Are Loving Awareness 45:21
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Seeing sacredness, not only around us, but focusing inside the one who is perceiving. This mind/body (YOU) that is interacting with the world around it. I use Ram Dass's practice of seeing beyond this mind/body by abiding in the perspective "I Am Loving Awareness". This is where the devotional and non-dual meet. To aid in this exploration James shares some powerful cuts from the album Ram Dass, a collaboration of Ram Dass's voice and teachings with background music by East Forest, who will be offering a hybrid concert "Echoes of Ram Dass" at Spirit Rock October 19, 2025.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
2025-09-18 Longing for the Sacred 48:30
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With so much violence and insensitivity all around us, we can lose touch with our love for what is sacred. All that is required is a heightened sensitivity to tune into what is always around us.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
2025-09-04 Don't Know Mind - Letting Go of Conclusions 44:02
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Most of us like to have some sense of security thinking planning ahead or knowing what to expect can help us be more at ease. But the real freedom comes from realizing we really don't know how things will unfold. Although that might seem unsettling, it can allow us to be more at ease with the fundamental unpredictability of life.
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
2025-08-31 Your Practice is Not Just for You (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 66:18
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Your practice affects everyone around you. When you see your practice in this wider context, it evokes a whole dimension of inspiration and “joyful responsibility“ to cultivate wisdom and compassion within us. In this world with so much suffering—including the climate crisis and injustice in the world—more than ever we need to keep this in mind and see ourselves as “bodhisattvas in training“.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Labor Day Insight Meditation Retreat
2025-08-30 Loving the Whole Package: Self-Compassion and Metta for Self (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 31:50
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Practices to hold our suffering and to see our innate goodness
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Labor Day Insight Meditation Retreat
2025-08-29 Intrusctions: Opening to the Breath, Body and Physical Realm of Experience (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 57:37
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Labor Day Insight Meditation Retreat

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