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Dharma Talks
2009-12-14 Mindfulness; The Flood Stopper 42:07
Thanissara
Centrality of mindfulness in the contemplative process. Khandas as self structure. Transformation within the womb of awareness.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Wings of Awakening: Cultivating the Five Spiritual Faculties

2009-12-13 If you understand one thing, you understand everything's journey 45:58
Thanissara
Meeting Ajahn Chah, All that arises passes. Patience and finding your own voice.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Wings of Awakening: Cultivating the Five Spiritual Faculties

2009-12-13 The Judging Mind 47:23
Eugene Cash
San Francisco Insight Meditation Community

2009-12-13 The Hard Things That Open the Heart 47:58
James Baraz
The Hard Things That Open the Heart
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2009-12-13 The Hard Things That Open The Heart 36:51
Rick Hanson
The Hard Things That Open the Heart
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2009-12-13 Reading the Book of the Heart 38:13
Kittisaro
Hindrances as the teacher, cultivating trust. Mindfulness is the path to the deathless. That which knows doubt isn't doubt.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Wings of Awakening: Cultivating the Five Spiritual Faculties

2009-12-12 The Map Of The Five Indriyas 57:21
Thanissara
The five indriyas in their four aspects. The balance of trudst and discernment. Path activity breaks up obstruction, the fruit arises according to its own nature.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Wings of Awakening: Cultivating the Five Spiritual Faculties

2009-12-12 Guided Meditation 26:54
Thanissara
Working with the three steams of energy, being with breath
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Wings of Awakening: Cultivating the Five Spiritual Faculties

2009-12-12 Loving Kindness 57:27
Yanai Postelnik
Gaia House Loving Kindness Retreat

2009-12-11 Compassion 52:42
Christina Feldman
Spirit Rock Meditation Center MBSR

2009-12-11 Wings Of Awakening Opening 49:51
Kittisaro
That which inclines the mind to Nibbana, original brightness.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Wings of Awakening: Cultivating the Five Spiritual Faculties

2009-12-11 Opening Talk for Loving Kindness Retreat 69:18
Yanai Postelnik
Gaia House Loving Kindness Retreat

2009-12-10 Shower the People with Love 46:04
James Baraz
This is a talk about establishing healing and reconciliation on both a personal and a community level. The Buddha taught was "As long as followers of the Way hold regular and frequent assemblies, they may be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as they meet in harmony, carry on their business in harmony, and break up in harmony, they may be expected to prosper and not decline."
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks

2009-12-10 Forgiveness 42:25
Mary Grace Orr
Insight Santa Cruz

2009-12-09 Longing to Belong 1:20:06
Tara Brach
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.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2009-12-09 By Not Holding to Fixed Views 60:37
Sylvia Boorstein
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2009-12-08 Wise Mindfulness 54:09
Christina Feldman
Spirit Rock Meditation Center MBSR

2009-12-07 Sangha, the value of community 58:03
Mark Coleman
The Buddha spoke highly of the value of Sangha, as a refuge and a support for practice & understanding. This talk explores what Sangha is & its positive values.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2009-12-07 It Wasn't Meant to Last 57:40
Myoshin Kelley
Part 1 of the 3 Characteristics. Exploring change as a fact of life.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge December 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2009-12-06 Energy and Intimacy Part 2 60:44
Mark Nunberg
Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-12-06 The Innernet 45:13
Jose Reissig
This newly coined term refers to the web of connections with our inner life, which remains largely unspoiled by conventionality. The Innernet stands as an invaluable tool for our trying times, and for the even more difficult times to come.
Dominican Sisters center at Saugerties :  Rhinebeck Sitting Group Retreat

2009-12-05 Autobiography In Five Short Chapters 52:58
Christina Feldman
Spirit Rock Meditation Center MBSR

2009-12-05 Why Do We Have To Be Human? 17:20
Ayya Medhanandi
Meditation is a renewable resource. “Why do we have to be human? O not because happiness exists – but because being in this Dharma realm means so much.” Our spiritual work reveals how we must hold the mind – as refuge, safety, and protection from harm. This is the basis for true happiness. We pay attention to what is impermanent and thereby discover deeper treasure, knowing Reality, the truest renewable resource. With the ego disabled from consciousness, we transcend beyond the bonds and blindness of our human existence.
The Dharma Centre

2009-12-05 We Are That Song 18:37
Ayya Medhanandi
Our suffering may feel too great or the mountain look too high. But we are resilient and we have it in us to do this work, to walk this path – if we can give up thoughts of self-cherishing and feel compassion for ourselves and for all beings. The fruit of this work is a treasure to be gained even in the smallest instant of awareness. With radical patience, just make peace with one moment of painful feeling. Then offer up the pain or misery. From the ashes of suffering, we turn inward to the clarity of the mind. Stay fully present in awareness, listening to that silence. Such a song comes – the pure sound of this awareness. That's what we are. We are that song.
Ottawa Buddhist Society (Sisters of St. Joseph Convent)

2009-12-05 Beginner's Mind 37:58
Jose Reissig
An invitation to reinstate our genuine and uncorrupted beginner's mind.
Dominican Sisters center at Saugerties :  Rhinebeck Sitting Group Retreat

2009-12-05 Wilderness of the Heart 59:18
Akincano Marc Weber
Gaia House Wilderness of the Heart

2009-12-04 Out of This World 27:40
Ayya Medhanandi
By deeply examining the mind as the Buddha taught, we see our stark human predicament, why we suffer and the real source of happiness. For he awakened to suffering’s end and the noble path to freedom. With immense gratitude for his teaching, we learn how we are caught grasping the world, compelled by its impingement and tormented ever after. We realize the ineffable vanquishing of that disease – when we stop giving vent to the wanting mind and live each moment from a pure compassionate and wise awareness. And so, quite apart from the world, we directly know here and now, within our own heart – the truest joy, the supreme peace of Nibbana.
Toronto Theravada Buddhist Community (TBC)

2009-12-04 Dharma 101 45:49
Jose Reissig
A review of the very basic teachings of the Buddha - i.e. The Four Noble Truths -, paying particular attention to their pragmatic and experiential nature.
Dominican Sisters center at Saugerties :  Rhinebeck Sitting Group Retreat

2009-12-04 Opening Talk for Wilderness of the Heart Retreat 38:19
Akincano Marc Weber
Gaia House Wilderness of the Heart

2009-12-03 Undoing Mental Knots 45:00
Anam Thubten
"Undoing Mental Knots" or "Getting Rid of Concepts"
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks

2009-12-03 Beginners' Class - The Frontier of Intimacy 21:44
Ayya Medhanandi
Hospice
Sati Saraniya Hermitage Hospice Talks and Guided Meditations

2009-12-02 Practicing with Views Part I 63:22
Donald Rothberg
We explore the nature of "views" (or strong beliefs or opinions) and how to practice with them by 1) grounding ourselves in some of the famous passages on views in the teachings of the Buddha, 2)identifying why and how views can be problematic and lead to suffering, and 3) offering practices this week to explore our views, whether personal, political or religious/spiritual.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2009-11-30 The Perfections/Paramitas with Kilung Jigme Rinpoche Part 2 68:10
Jack Kornfield
Theravadat & Tibetan approaches to the paramitas Part 2
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2009-11-30 The Perfections/Paramitas with Kilung Jigme Rinpoche Part 1 8:06
Jack Kornfield
Theravada & Tibetan approaches to the paramitas... Introduction to Rinpoche
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2009-11-30 Ananda 64:58
Carol Wilson
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge November 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2009-11-30 Acceptance and Surrender: Personal Stories 57:09
Robert K. Hall
Acceptance involves "letting in" and "letting out" regardless of approval or disapproval. Surrender can only happen when "the me" opens to it all - the yes and the no, the me and not-me.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thanksgiving

2009-11-29 Energy and Intimacy Part 1 55:07
Mark Nunberg
Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-29 Intimacy with the Body and Breath 34:32
Mark Nunberg
Guided Meditation
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-28 Trust And Letting Go Into The Unknown 58:54
Sharda Rogell
A talk given on a weekend retreat. With Trust as our main support, we begin to let go of our hopes and fears and drop into the truth of uncertainty. This is the doorway to freedom.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Living an Awakened Life: Insight Meditation Weekend

2009-11-28 With Every Breath, You Are Alive 57:28
Trudy Goodman
This talk weaves together questions from interviews about sexuality and gratitude for humanness with the 4 noble truths and 4 great vows and a smattering of dependent origination.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thanksgiving

2009-11-27 To Stand in the Middle of All Things 49:55
Myoshin Kelley
An exploration of the quality of equanimity and the unshakable balance that it brings.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge November 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2009-11-27 Wheel of Freedom 53:45
John Travis
The talk shares the wheel of Dependent Origination and how to tap into the Wheel of Freedom.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thanksgiving

2009-11-26 The Paradox of Completion 55:43
Teja Bell
Completion and Incompletion in the intimate weave of the Dharma of Understanding and then resting in the transcendent wisdom of pure unconditioned awareness.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thanksgiving

2009-11-25 Gratitude and Generosity 1:16:09
Tara Brach
While we value gratitude and generosity, our daily life can often have an undercurrent of complaint and an anxious kind of self-centeredness. This Thanksgiving Eve talk explores teachings and practices that reconnect us with the sense of wonder and abundance that characterizes our own awakened heart.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2009-11-25 4 Foundations as an Evolutionary Journey 58:34
Wes Nisker
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thanksgiving

2009-11-25 Distraction 61:52
Donald Rothberg
We look at the nature of distraction- not attending to what is our intended focus- in three main ways, each of which we can respond to: 1) our distraction moment to moment and how we train in mindfulness, 2) our distraction in our everyday lives, and 3) how our lives become distracted in relation to our deeper intentions.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2009-11-25 Space and Self 53:01
Catherine McGee
Gaia House November Solitary Retreat

2009-11-24 Live It Up 49:37
Trudy Goodman
Overcoming the brain's negative bias. Inclining the mind toward appreciation.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thanksgiving

2009-11-24 Ten Paramis: Equanimity (1) 56:46
Rodney Smith
Equanimity is a balance between the relative sorrows and ultimate perfection of the world. It is a full embrace of life as it is, without disturbance.
Seattle Insight Meditation Society
In collection: The Ten Paramis

2009-11-24 The Paramis 53:25
Yanai Postelnik
Gaia House November Solitary Retreat

2009-11-23 It Doesn't Belong to You 54:30
Robert K. Hall
A description of the autonomy of life functions and how they all are independent of the ego-self when when the ego claims ownership.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thanksgiving

2009-11-22 Energy and Joy 57:25
Mark Nunberg
Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-22 Baptism of Fire 17:47
Ayya Medhanandi
Sometimes it takes an illness or a loss to wake up. The wheel of Dhamma turns us towards the centre point, where all the mind’s movements are stilled so that we can see the truth of suffering. Fear arises but we can observe it ceasing in the light of our inner spiritual work. Gently, patient and aware, with selflessness and noble intent, we persevere.
Toronto Theravada Buddhist Community (TBC)

2009-11-20 Noble Subtrefuge - Four Royal Efforts 32:57
Ayya Medhanandi
How can we trick the mind out of its old habits? The Buddha emphasized the power of the four Right Efforts. These royal allies advance the mind to its highest potential, the supreme wisdom possible for a human being. We are here to work for and receive this, our rightful inheritance - awakening to the truth of the Dhamma through our own intuitive realizations.
Ottawa Buddhist Society

2009-11-19 Lessons from Nature 49:24
Myoshin Kelley
Discovering nature as both a support to meditation and a teacher.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge November 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2009-11-19 Opening the Doors of the Heart 56:04
Mary Grace Orr
How can we open our hearts? This talk explores the practices of forgiveness and compassion, as well as that of gratitude. The Metta Sutta provides the background for this exploration.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Insight Meditation Retreat

2009-11-19 The Body: The Storehouse of Experience 55:10
James Baraz
The body is where we store emotions and register deep insights. This talk explores the implication of those facts: how we keep getting caught in thoughts that we know don’t serve us and why it takes time and patience to embody the wisdom our mind knows is true
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley IMCB Regular Talks

2009-11-19 Joy 30:34
Christina Feldman
Gaia House November Solitary Retreat

2009-11-18 The Cure for Pain Is in the Pain 65:58
Howard Cohn
Working with the difficult mental states, especially the 5 hindrances.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Insight Meditation Retreat

2009-11-18 Refuge in Loving Presence 1:19:15
Tara Brach
There are times when there is so much fear and reactivity, that the first step in moving toward freedom is to connect with some sense of safety and love. This talk explores how an inner pathway to loving presence can support us in facing and awakening through traumatic wounding.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2009-11-18 Emptiness & Compassion Part IV 61:04
Donald Rothberg
After a short account of emptiness and how we cultivate a deeper understanding of it in very practical ways, we explore the nature of compassion. We look at how it can be developed and what forms it can take, all the time pointing to how mature compassion invloves a deep sense of emptiness and interconnection (and vice versa).
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2009-11-18 Views and Shifts in Views 49:00
Catherine McGee
Gaia House November Solitary Retreat

2009-11-18 Dependent Origination 59:37
Yanai Postelnik
Gaia House November Solitary Retreat

2009-11-17 Curiosity, Confidence and Contentment 45:48
Mary Grace Orr
We need places of refuge in our lives and we need an inner place of stillness. Curiosity, confidence and contentment as we develop mindfulness can be useful in developing inner refuge.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Insight Meditation Retreat

2009-11-17 The Wisdom of Non-Duality 65:39
Rob Burbea
Gaia House November Solitary Retreat

2009-11-16 Embracing Our Humanness 53:06
Mark Coleman
How do we open our hearts to the fullness of ourselves, our pain, and the whole human experience...
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2009-11-16 Silence of the Non-Reactive Mind 59:31
Carol Wilson
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge November 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2009-11-15 Getting And Not Getting 51:07
Greg Scharf
Much of our conditioning is about getting and having (things, experiences, etc) Our path in meditation and dharma practice is much more about letting go, relinquishment and surrender.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Two-Month Retreat

2009-11-15 Mindfulness and Right Effort 63:19
Kevin Griffin
Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-15 How are you? 30:04
Kevin Griffin
Guided Meditation
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-14 The First Buddhist Nuns 56:40
Greg Scharf
The Therigatha is a collection of enlightenment poems of the first Buddhist Nuns. The stories of the lives of these remarkable women and their poems of awakening can serve as a great inspiration to us as we follow in their footsteps.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Two-Month Retreat

2009-11-14 November Retreat: The Path of Letting Go 60:26
Mark Nunberg
Retreat Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-13 Meeting This Moment 50:52
Myoshin Kelley
Exploring the effort that it takes to meet this moment.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge November 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2009-11-13 The Power of Karma 63:50
Kevin Griffin
Guest Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-13 November Retreat: The Path of Effort 57:54
Mark Nunberg
Retreat Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-13 Homelessness 50:51
Yanai Postelnik
Gaia House November Solitary Retreat

2009-11-12 6 1/2 Awakening Factors 60:37
Pascal Auclair
Given during the 2009 2 month retreat at IMS
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Two-Month Retreat

2009-11-12 November Retreat: Devotion to the Present Moment 1:16:09
Mark Nunberg
Retreat Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-12 Don't Forget the Kindness 48:18
Catherine McGee
Gaia House November Solitary Retreat

2009-11-12 Anniversary 43:33
Mary Grace Orr
Insight Santa Cruz

2009-11-11 The Power of Paying Attention 57:22
Larry Yang
How paying attention is the path to freedom.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center LGBTQ: Awakening the Heart of Love and Wisdom

2009-11-11 Choosing Presence 1:19:21
Tara Brach
Spiritual awakening is energized by conscious intention. This talk explores how we get waylaid by habitual wants and fears, and the ways we can connect with the power and purity of our deep aspiration for love, truth and freedom.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2009-11-11 Kindness (Metta) , Joy (Mudita) and Equanimity (Upekkha) as Expressions of Wisdom 55:20
Mark Nunberg
Dharma Talk
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-11 Compassion (Karuna) - Meditation 33:31
Mark Nunberg
Guided Meditation
Common Ground Meditation Center

2009-11-11 Guided Metta Meditation - Neutral and Difficult Person 45:52
Greg Scharf
A short introduction to working with the neutraland difficult person - Followed by a guided Metta meditation
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Two-Month Retreat

2009-11-11 Emptiness & Compassion III 64:01
Donald Rothberg
We review the teachings on emptiness in the context of the broader teachings on the centrality of developing wisdom and compassion, expanding our examination of these teachings from last time. The last part of the session involving doing several exercises, partly explaining experience as a flowing "stream" (and seeing what obstructs the flow) and partly doing a series of four exercises with "ordinary objects" designed to take us out of our ordinary way of constructing things.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2009-11-10 Cultivating Beautiful Qualities, Beautiful Practice 49:12
Arinna Weisman
Cultivating beautiful qualities of mind and removing the unskillful. The practice of ending suffering.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center LGBTQ: Awakening the Heart of Love and Wisdom

2009-11-10 Ten Paramis: Metta (2) 58:50
Rodney Smith
To know love as stillness is to embrace the world unconditionally.
Seattle Insight Meditation Society
In collection: The Ten Paramis

2009-11-10 Meditation for Life 47:11
Martine Batchelor
Meditation is not an idea of getting to a mystical state but of helping us to release. It is not an exotic practice but it is more like eating, brushing our teeth - it is a way to nourish ourselves and to open and finally to let go. It is a lifelong journey where we learn to let go and stop grasping as we become aware of our life in each moment, accept each moment as it is. Meditation can help us to be more in the world, by being here and now we can be skillful and respond to whatever happens in the present. We develop clarity, we see the changing nature of things. When we are engulfed by feelings we can step back and say ‘how long will this last?’ We do not have to feed the feelings, we just need to be with them and watch them as they change. We can bring creative awareness to everything that we do and use it to be fully where we are, to be in our relationships in our life.
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley

2009-11-10 Papanca 38:13
Christina Feldman
Gaia House November Solitary Retreat

2009-11-09 The Perfection of Truthfulness 56:43
Jack Kornfield
On knowing the part of Self that "Truly" knows...
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2009-11-09 Anything Can Happen: Faith & Confidence in Awareness 56:22
Carol Wilson
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge November 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge

2009-11-08 Dana: Generosity As The Foundation Of Practice 61:30
Greg Scharf
One description the path of practice is as the ripening of the 10 paramis. This ties directly to the 3 trainings in Dana, Sila and Bahavana. This talk explains the practice of generosity as the foundation for out practice.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Two-Month Retreat

2009-11-08 The Eightfold Path: Right Concentration 47:05
Eugene Cash
San Francisco Insight Meditation Community

2009-11-07 Joining Our Practice With Others 60:15
Winnie Nazarko
We are deeply connected with others and experience their pain as well as own own. Learning to relate to out own difficulty strengthens our capacity for compassionate presence with others.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Two-Month Retreat

2009-11-07 No-Self in the Brain 44:01
Rick Hanson
Insights from Neuroscience about Not Taking Life Personally
Spirit Rock Meditation Center

2009-11-07 Entering the Stream 59:49
Stephen Batchelor
A reflection on the meaning of "stream entry" (sotapatti), based upon Pali canonical sources. The "stream" refers to the eightfold path and the "stream entrant" is one who has made that path their own. The talk explores the meaning of the three fetters that are "abandoned" on entering the stream as well as how stream entry is related to the three refuges.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Meditation and Study Retreat

2009-11-06 Dukka - Three Kinds Of Suffering 59:52
Rebecca Bradshaw
The first Noble Truth of Dukkha is to be understood deeply on out journey to freedom.
Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center Two-Month Retreat

2009-11-06 The Mature Heart - the Integration of the Four Brahmaviharas 1:12:48
Donald Rothberg
Preceded by a short chant by Rebekkah La Dyne, our yoga teacher for the retreat, we explore two main modes of transformation - one going into suffering, one involving beautiful states. We then focus on the latter, as expressed in the practice of the Brahmaviharas, the cultivation of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity - examining their near and far enemies, and how the four interpret each other in the mature heart.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Cultivating Clear Seeing, Opening the Heart

2009-11-06 Awakening Buddhahood and Compassion 56:37
Martine Batchelor
Explanation of de-grasping wisdom and compassion and meditative experience.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Meditation and Study Retreat

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