Very light guidance, 45 min, simple samatha and anicca.

The three "characteristics" of anicca, dukkha, and anatta are perhaps better understood as perceptions.

Vortrag & Geführte Meditation

The quality of dāna, giving, is not dependent on materiality or even a charitable obligation. It’s a Dhamma practice that makes you stronger than you thought you were – it brings up your nobility. It’s a privilege to give because it makes you glad, and so the enlightenment factors arise in the mind. For the one receiving, giving brings forth integrity – one wants to live up to the offering. This is the dāna principle; everybody wins. This dāna is a step on the Path to awakening.

Beloved Philosopher, Teacher and Sacred Activist Terry Patten sadly passed away a few days before this talk. His last book, A New Republic of the Heart, is an inspiring teaching on how to face the global crises we are in. As he went through his own final journey he shared how one can face death with courage, wonder, grace and trust. It was a blueprint for how to meet the pain and sorrow of the world with those same qualities. This talk includes a powerful, clear, deeply moving clip excerpt of Terry's last teaching a week before he passed plus some of his teachings that have touched so many.

Aloka-Dharma-Zoom

Geführte Meditation | Aloka-Dharma-Zoom

Meditation on letting go guided by Bhante Akāliko. Dhamma talk by Bhante Sujato about sisters: Mahāpajāpati and Māyā – the Buddha's mother and aunt/stepmother. Bhaddā as the first nun.

Impermanence stares us in the face. How then can we free ourselves to understand the raw truth of what we are? There is a sorrowless state, a way out of the pains of life where we can abide in blameless happiness and inviolable peace. It may appear elusive and out of reach. Yet we need only incline our minds faithfully to giving up all that is false, divisive, fearful or fragile. We begin to know the joy that subdues all sorrow. One taste of that and we are on the Path, sheltered in the unsurpassed protection of the Dhamma.

Theravada Gruppe Salzburg

Geführte Meditation | Theravada Gruppe Salzburg

Vortrag & Geführte Meditation

The Buddha famously taught that the Sangha is the most important aspect of “the Holy Life”. And Indigenous wisdom (and recent biology) teach us that natural systems are also a sangha, a web of connection, kept healthy by reciprocity and generosity. Betsy reflects on the dharma of the “Mother Trees”, and how elders (and youth) feed the life of our human ecosystem.

Only when we face our fears can we discover the freedom to love without holding back. This talk looks at how unprocessed fear contracts our body, heart and mind, and on a societal level is the cause of othering and violence. We then explore how arousing mindfulness, compassion and prayer can enlarge our basic sense of Being. As we deepen attention to the nature of awareness, we discover a refuge that is timeless…a refuge that is our true home.

This RAIN meditation helps us explore pathways to nurturing ourselves in a way that brings profound transformation and healing.

How can we keep open and stay engaged when our hearts are breaking and we just want to shut down? How can we cultivate a "no-matter-what commitment" as Terry Patten teaches? How can we develop "Active Hope" as Joanna Macy calls it. That is the topic of this week's exploration. The talk includes a powerful 20-minute conversation between Joanna Macy and Thanissara that took place a month before this recording.

Meditation guided by Bhante Sujato. Dhamma talk by Bhante Sujato on desire and contentment, the four Noble Truths, and how meditation can lead to deeper contentment.

Anger, grief and fear are primary reflexes that have the potential of taking us back to our safe, sympathetic intimate environment. To the extent that we have lost connection to the capacity of our autonomic nervous system to discharge stress, emotional energies freeze and don’t get resolved. This leave residues that sour and cripple the heart. So we practice cultivating our intimate environment; it's from here we can meet and transmute these afflictive emotions with pure presence.

Our practice and training take place in a field that includes the internal and external environments we’re living in. What we can’t do through our willpower we can receive through the different qualities in the environment. Connect it all, then everything will come into balance – there is an intelligence that we haven’t been aware of. You get so far with your own willpower and the rest comes from this source which is beyond that.

A talk to the Buddhist Fellowship - Singapore Nov 14, 2021

00:05 Q1 If one does not believe in kamma and rebirth, does it affect one's dhamma journey? 01:07 Q2 What kind of actions give rise to neither dark or bright kamma and how do they lead to the end of kamma and rebirth? 08:42 Q3 How do relics come about? How and why do they grow and multiply? 24:47 Q4 How difficult is it to get another human rebirth? 29:37 Q5 If we have broken a precept, how can we remedy it so we will not fall into a lower rebirth?

When we meditate, we are alone and yet with all the world. Thoughts intrude from all sides. But we land softly, secluded within, protected, serene. Gently we open the door to the heart with unassailable trust. We bend and bow silently, observing the breath with an empty mind. Then what’s the result of that? Giving our full attention to this moment, we are absolutely present, feeling every nuance of the ground beneath us or the pressure of each breath. Mindfulness deepens our awareness. Now we truly know the boundless peace of the mind's radiance.

Vortrag & Geführte Meditation | Die drei Zufluchten & die fünf ethischen Grundregeln

A Conversation between Tara and Rev Angel Kyodo Williams – Our happiness and capacity to love fully arise as we face and embrace all domains of our existence. In this conversation we look at the often unexamined societal conditioning that, when unseen, perpetuates caste systems that harm ourselves and all involved. Our inquiry: For the sake of freedom, how do we deepen our attention to see the forces that cut us off from wholeness, from belonging, from living from an awake, compassionate heart?

When we are fully awake, love shines through our entire body and being. This meditation awakens that embodied love through the image and felt sense of the smile, scanning through the body, resting in loving presence and offering loving prayer.

This free dharma talk is the third in a series on the "7 Factors of Awakening," which are factors that what we nurture and develop on the path of awakening, as well as being descriptors of the awakened state. Tina gives a series of three talks on the "7 Factors," providing practical descriptions of how to cultivate and recognize these factors in our practice, and in daily life.

Joyful meditation on spiritual friendship guided by Bhante Akāliko (during which internet connection was temporarily lost). Dhamma talk by Bhante Sujato: how to kiss "Saṃsāra" goodbye?

Gratitude arises when we are in sacred relationship with life—present, open and receptive. This talk explores how central gratitude is to our physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing, and then looks at the ways we can directly gladden our minds with gratitude. We end with a guided meditation that includes sharings from the group. The audio includes a poem of blessing by John O’Donohue with a brief cut from Robert Gass – Om Namaha Shivaya (from the archives).

Our incessant thinking removes us from the full aliveness, vastness and mystery of Being. This guided practice helps us inhabit our energetic forms, and rest in the vast, formless stillness that gives rise to this ever creative living world.

A talk spurred by two questions: 00:49 Q1: How can we find meaning and purpose in the worldly life if we have aspirations to live a monastic life but have to be in the worldly life for family? 22:23 Q2: Since I began meditating, I have become very emotional. I am very quickly moved to tears and I start crying, either when seeing something ordinary and negative, like people arguing in the street or something painful, when I witness the suffering of people, children or animals. I sometimes start crying when reading or hearing a dhamma talk. In my chest, negative emotions like anger and frustration feel even heavier and more dense than before. Is this normal? What can I do to deal skillfully with these emotional states? I am deeply grateful!

Breath meditation led by Bhante Sujato. Dhamma talk by Bhante Sujato on letting go and finding peace: identify wants, understand suffering, take small and doable steps, experience your progress, gain wisdom.

Tilorien Monastery

Talk & Guided Meditation | Tilorien Monastery

Four Brahma Vihara as a support to developing mindfulness and wisdom. A talk given to students of the Mahachula International Buddhist College Nov 29, 2021.

Patience is love, a faith both fearless and true. How can we know and embody that? How can we value each moment and care for it, patiently turning the mind away from the world to the peace within us – to that raw dimension of a subtle and stunning silence? The less we cling, the deeper we enter it. Emboldened by formidable spiritual tests, as we abandon and purify the mind, the Path unfolds beneath our feet. With joy, wisdom, and gratitude, we persevere to the heart’s freedom – the Deathless.

While the holidays can be times of loving celebration, they can also highlight relational conflicts and challenges. This talk explores how, given the stress of the season, we can bring grace and openheartedness to ourselves and others. Tonight’s class closes with special music: “Love is the Answer” by Len Seligman (with his permission). You can learn more about Len and listen to his latest offerings at https://www.lenseligman.com

Taking in the Goodness: Rumi said, “Whenever some kindness comes to you, turn that way – toward the source of kindness.” This meditation guides us to look for the source of loving and to turn in that direction. It begins with a lovingkindness practice that spreads the image of a smile into the body, then continues with a practice of seeing the goodness of ourselves and others.

Aloka-Dharma-Zoom

Geführte Meditation | Aloka-Dharma-Zoom

Breath meditation by Bhante Sujato. Dhamma talk by Bhante Sujato on "Dune" by Frank Herbert. AI and consciousness. The Buddha's concept of "subtle materiality" as physical properties of internal experiences (sukhuma vs oḷārika).

Talk & Guided Meditation | Blaisantkerk, Gent

Guided Meditation | Blaisantkerk, Gent

Guided Meditation | Blaisantkerk, Gent

Our healing and freedom unfolds as we bring radical acceptance – a mindful, allowing presence – to our moments. This interview looks at how we wake up out of the stories that keep us in fear and self-doubt and discover a true intimacy with ourselves and our world.

We arrive in presence through the gateway of the body, scanning through with awareness, and then resting with the breath and body sensations. As we include whatever arises with a gentle and kind attention, our inner refuge becomes increasingly stable and openhearted. This meditation ends with a brief lovingkindness prayer.

Die Praxis der Körperachtsamkeit ist das Fundament der Achtsamkeitspraxis. Den Körper achtsam wahrzunehmen und zu erforschen ermöglicht uns einen anderen Zugang und eine andere, gelöstere Beziehung zum Körper als unsere normale, objektivierende Sicht des Körpers. Dies ist der Boden für die Kultivierung von Achtsamkeit, von Sammlung und von Einsicht in die wahre Natur des Körpers.

Meditation on the earth element led by Bhante Sujato. Dhamma talk by Bhante Sujato on the relationship between humans and environment / earth. Gilgamesh. Climate conference, the cost of change, economy as a system that should support human life instead of vice versa. Q+A: Tibbarāga. Jataka tale of "The Golden Deer". Mulapariyāya Sutta.

Unser Geist kann unser bester Freund oder unser schlimmster Feind sein - je nachdem, ob wir ihn auf das Heilsame oder Unheilsame ausrichten. Dharmapraxis bedeutet, das Heilsame zu kultivieren und zu stärken - wir kultivieren ethisches Verhalten, heilsame Geistesfaktoren und Weisheit. Dadurch säen wir die Samen des Glücks und des inneren Friedens.

We are often at war with our difficult emotions—judging and hating ourselves for our fear, anger, clinging or shame. And as a society, we turn on others as lesser or bad, as the enemy. These talks explore how, in both domains, our continued evolution, healing and freedom depends on learning how to embrace what we have pushed away.

Our conditioned mind is filled with distractions, including worry-thoughts that continually create anxiety in the body. This meditation guides us in relaxing the body, and then establishing the breath as a home base. By gathering and collecting the attention, the mind can settle and allow for a relaxed, wakeful presence.

Meditation and Dhamma talk on cessation by Bhante Sujato. Cycles of life: cessation is bliss. The ending of things makes new things possible. The story of the long-lived arahant. Q+A: The top ten suttas. Psychic powers.

Though we may feel lost in the world, on the path of purification we find secure refuge and blessings shower down upon us. It is by the power of our own mind that we bring forth what is resplendent in this world. We use suffering as our teacher and live in forgiveness, gratitude, and clear seeing – grounded in the treasures of Truth. Doesn't the ocean care for each wave until it reaches the farther shore? Just so, we entrust our aspiration to liberate the heart in the care and protection of the Dhamma.

We become entangled in the creations and reactions that arise based on ignorance. Mindfulness immersed in the body is where we can experience release from the powerful reflexes and currents. Translate the complexities of thoughts into the simplicity of emotional drives, and feel them in the body. Tune into what’s given – awareness, presence, stability – this is comfortable, this is pleasure, this is our basic ground.

LOve is a big subjects. I've taken a few qualities to look at

There are Ten Perfection. I have centred on two: Generosiy and Renunciation. How with Gratitude they form a virtuous circle which can lead to liberation.

This season is full of holidays! There is Solstice, celebrating the rebirth of the sun after the longest darkest night. There is Hanukah, celebrating the mystery of enduring, impossible light protecting the sacred. And there is Christmas, honoring the birth of the prophet and teacher Jesus (often called “The Light of the World”). Betsy reflects on the miracle of being born at all, against impossible odds, and how we are shaped by the causes and conditions we are born into. Darkness and Light, Joyful Existence and Dukkha- we’ll celebrate the whole mess!

We are often at war with our difficult emotions—judging and hating ourselves for our fear, anger, clinging or shame. And as a society, we turn on others as lesser or bad, as the enemy. These talks explore how, in both domains, our continued evolution, healing and freedom depends on learning how to embrace what we have pushed away.

Loving presence is an innate capacity, and it can be cultivated. This meditation begins with a scan arousing a relaxed tender presence in the body, then brings loving attention to our inner life, and in widening circles, to our world.

When the days are shortest and darkness is all around, we have holidays to help us remember the light. In this talk we reflect on the heart practices of gratitude, forgiveness and love that help us stay connected to the light inside and around us.

Including reflections on the life of Archbishop Desmond Tutu

We are often at war with our difficult emotions—judging and hating ourselves for our fear, anger, clinging or shame. And as a society, we turn on others as lesser or bad, as the enemy. These talks explore how, in both domains, our continued evolution, healing and freedom depends on learning how to embrace what we have pushed away.

As the year comes to an end, we mark and celebrate this transition point by reflecting on where we are in our lives and consciously get in touch with our vision for the coming year. The Buddha talked about the power of having Wise Intention and "Clear Comprehension of Purpose" to keep us facing in the right direction. As a community we can support each other through reflecting on what we've learned in 2021 and share a ritual to call forth our vision for the coming year.

Notice the web of conditions we all share, connections we take for granted – we are not separate from that, we are that weave. The decent human response is to cultivate virtue and goodwill, develop wisdom; such skillful causes and conditions purify the heart. This is the kamma that leads to the end of kamma. Connection to Dhamma via spiritual friendship leads out of suffering. It’s important to recognize such connectivity as a skillful quality, not a bondage.

Beginning with metta for a benefactor, then oneself, mostly using the reciting phrases practice method

Let us truly live with compassion enough to care. And share that beautiful mind energy with a depth of awareness and attention to each moment. Keeping far from the noise of the world, every breath, every new moment will arise in a field of compassion and condition the next moment after it, the next breath, with kindness and presence of mind. Just so, we learn the art of loving all that we are and the path's unfoldings that free us from fear.

This talk explores the three archetypal refuges of awareness (Buddha-nature), truth (Dharma) and love (Sangha) through stories, illustrations and reflections. We end with a Refuge ceremony that can be done by anyone who feels drawn. (To participate you will need a 20” red string.)

This guided meditation invites us to imagine a clenched fist relaxing open, and explores this in releasing contractions in the body as well as the grip of thoughts. When we deeply let go and let be, our energy flows freely. We reconnect with our natural aliveness, love and awareness.

If you have concerns about the future this is a meditation to access your Wisdom Self. This is a longer version (25 min) and there is a shorter version available as well (10 min). Many people find this meditation very helpful and do it regularly.

Questions about; 1) listening to the dharma 2) how to reset from difficult experiences 3)what exists after we die 4) facing environmental change 5)and using the momentum of the stress of these times to awaken.

This is a guided meditation that can help you with concerns about the future. It accesses your Wisdom Self. There is a short version (this one) and a longer version (25 min).

May this be the year for you to Awaken. Strategies, tools, and insights to move towards awakening even in difficult times. This talk is also available via video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhZZONPLjoc

Please join us for this 8-week “32 Parts of the Body” meditation class that has rarely been taught in the West. This practice will cultivate deeper insight into the true nature of the body and most importantly to help see through the identifications, conditionings, beliefs, and narratives – the erroneous view of self. It has also been used for healing illness. Various methods will be taught to strengthen mindfulness of the body and to explore the mind/body connection. Each class will consist of silent and guided meditation, chanting of the body parts and small and large group discussion. These teachings and practices will help develop greater clarity, wisdom, and compassion; and foster the depth of practice.

Guided meditation on noticing and dwelling on what's uplifting in the heart.

Wise Hope, as articulated by Roshi Joan Halifax, can be a wise practice for our times. Unlike "Ordinary Hope" it does not focus on a desired outcome, but is rooted in the sense of infinite possibility in the face of, and in fact BECAUSE of, the groundless and impermanent nature of reality.

All of our actions, our entire life experience, arises from the energy of intention. While it’s natural that our intentions are shaped by egoic wants and fears, when we bring this into conscious, compassionate awareness, we can discover the deep aspiration that guides and energizes our awakening hearts and minds. This talk explores the movement from egoic intention to liberating intention…the movement from “my will” to “my heart’s will” (a favorite from the archives).

When we fully inhabit our body, we discover the space and wakefulness of awareness itself. In this meditation, we rest in this open awareness, and when the attention narrows into thoughts, we practice relaxing back into the openness that includes passing sounds, sensations and feelings. We close with a brief offering of lovingkindness to our own hearts and our world (with community OMs – no bell at end).

How do we meet the challenges of our times? This talk reflects on how we can shape and train the heart-mind to have access to qualities that enrich our potential and resilience.

00:53 Please explain the idea of the pāramī; 04:59 Letting go of thinking/expectation; 07:44 Using the sound of silence in practice; 15:58 How Qigong connects to practice; 24:47 Tension in tongue and jaw; 25:03 Remaining “upright and joyful”; 29:23 Family does not agree with my practice; 34:13 Dealing with pain; 38:10 Experience of a deep horrific fear; 43:45 Out of body experiences while meditating; 45:19 Relationship between release of somatic knots and releasing the citta; 48:55 Regrets and resentment; 50:13 Can you speak about the āsava? 53:37 Difference between peace, serenity and tranquility? Pīti and sukha?

We listen to a 2009 talk by ecologist, Buddhist, and systems thinker Joanna Macy, on the 5 gifts of uncertainty -- gifts for these unstable and uncertain times. With further teachings from Betsy Rose on Martin Luther King and Gandhi, and these gifts manifest in their life work.

Quieting our busy bodies and minds brings alive our heart and spirit. This practice begins with a reading on silence by Gunilla Norris, and then includes guidance in letting go of tension, opening to aliveness and resting in a caring and wakeful awareness.

Resilience and Wisdom in an Uncertain World, a conversation between IMCW’s executive director, Trisha Stotler and Tara Brach. The Buddhist scriptures describe a mind that “no longer shakes, in a world where everything is shaking.” Our times are deeply stressful and troubling, and we need individual and collective ways of responding from our deepest understanding and care. In this interview, Tara reflects on the perspectives and ways of practicing that allow us to engage in relationships and our larger society from an awake compassionate heart.