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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Tara Brach's Dharma Talks
Tara Brach
A pervasive but often invisible source of suffering in our culture is self-aversion. We are a busy culture, and we move through our life feeling anxious and dissatisfied, but not fully conscious of how we neglect or judge our inner experience. We suffer from a lack of belonging: to our own bodies, to each other and to the earth. When we practice Buddhist meditation, we learn how to listen deeply and hold our life tenderly.
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2015-04-20 Morning Q and Response - Working with Trauma 13:11
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2015 IMCW Spring Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2015-04-19 Meditation: Forgiving Ourselves and Others (with instructions) 34:15
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2015 IMCW Spring Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2015-04-18 Standing and Walking Meditation Instructions 10:36
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2015 IMCW Spring Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2015-04-18 Question/Response - Working with Pain and with Recurring Thoughts 9:05
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2015 IMCW Spring Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2015-04-15 True Happiness - Realizing Well Being 1:15:02
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Well being is the deep contentment that arises from a relaxed, wakeful presence. This talk explores the beliefs and habits that contract us away form presence, and several key ways we can nourish our natural capacity for happiness.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-04-08 Three Liberating Gifts - Part 3 - Looking in the Mirror 1:14:41
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This 3 part series is based on a teaching story from the Upanishads that shows our potential to awaken from an ego-based trance and discover the full luminosity and freedom of our natural awareness. In each class we'll explore one of the three gifts considered as essential on the spiritual path. The first is the capacity to forgive, to let go of the blame and resentment that prevents our hearts from being open and free. The second gift is "inner fire," the capacity to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to what we most cherish. The third gift is a "mirror" or the capacity to look deeply into our own hearts and minds and realize the truth of who we are. Each class includes guided meditations that explore how these gifts can be nourished right here and now in our lives.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-04-01 Three Liberating Gifts: Part 2 - Inner Fire 1:16:34
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This 3 part series is based on a teaching story from the Upanishads that shows our potential to awaken from an ego-based trance and discover the full luminosity and freedom of our natural awareness. In each class we'll explore one of the three gifts considered as essential on the spiritual path. The first is the capacity to forgive, to let go of the blame and resentment that prevents our hearts from being open and free. The second gift is "inner fire," the capacity to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to what we most cherish. The third gift is a "mirror" or the capacity to look deeply into our own hearts and minds and realize the truth of who we are. Each class includes guided meditations that explore how these gifts can be nourished right here and now in our lives.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-03-25 Three Liberating Gifts: Part 1 - Forgiveness 1:12:54
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This 3 part series is based on a teaching story from the Upanishads that shows our potential to awaken from an ego-based trance and discover the full luminosity and freedom of our natural awareness. In each class we'll explore one of the three gifts considered as essential on the spiritual path. The first is the capacity to forgive, to let go of the blame and resentment that prevents our hearts from being open and free. The second gift is "inner fire," the capacity to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to what we most cherish. The third gift is a "mirror" or the capacity to look deeply into our own hearts and minds and realize the truth of who we are. Each class includes guided meditations that explore how these gifts can be nourished right here and now in our lives.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-03-18 Freedom from Fear-Based Beliefs 1:13:28
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This talk looks at how we get imprisoned in fear based, limiting beliefs. We then explore key meditative steps that help release these veils and reveal the fullness and goodness of our essential being.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-03-04 Sure Heart's Release 1:18:52
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The pathway to our awaken heart includes deep recognition of our barriers to love, and as we open, the courage to express our love. This talk includes a reflection and practice that can support us in inhabiting our full capacity for loving presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-02-25 From Dragons to Schmoos - Meeting Life with Compassionate Presence 1:13:23
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The trance of unworthiness is sustained by our aversion to the dragons - the difficult emotions and related behaviors that are a deeply conditioned part of the human experience. In this talk we explore the awakening that is possible as we recognize our reactive patterns and instead of judgment, offer a loving and healing presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-02-18 Part 2: Basic Elements of Meditation Practice 1:26:51
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This two-part series offers a clear and fresh understanding of practices that cultivate mindful awareness. The first class examines our attitude towards practice and gives guidance on posture, establishing an anchor for attention, and learning to concentrate and collect the mind - “coming back.” The second class focuses on the practice of mindfulness - “being here,” and the component qualities of clear recognition and an allowing non-judgmental presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-02-11 Part 1: Basic Elements of Meditation Practice 1:11:42
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This two-part series offers a clear and fresh understanding of practices that cultivate mindful awareness. The first class examines our attitude towards practice and gives guidance on posture, establishing an anchor for attention, and learning to concentrate and collect the mind - “coming back.” The second class focuses on the practice of mindfulness - “being here,” and the component qualities of clear recognition and an allowing non-judgmental presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-01-28 Inhabiting Our Bodies with Presence 1:18:26
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Our conditioning is to pull away from our physical experience when it is difficult. When we regularly dissociate, we are removed from the source of our power, intuition and capacity to love in a full way. This talk looks at the ways we leave our body and the path of homecoming to living loving presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-01-21 Listening to the Calling of Our Hearts 1:21:46
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In any moment, our intention - what we are energetically wanting - shapes our life experience. While our deepest intention may be to realize and live from loving awareness, we are often driven by egoic fear and grasping. This talk explores how mindfulness can recognize our prevailing intention, and by staying present, kind and accepting, we can reconnect with the deeper longings that carry us to awakening and freedom.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-01-14 Refuge in Loving Relationships 1:23:32
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Bringing presence to our relationships reveals our connectedness and essential Oneness. This talk explores two domains of this awakening with others: Realizing our shared vulnerability - that we’re in it together - and recognizing the inherent goodness or sacredness that lives through everyone.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2015-01-07 Taking Refuge in Your Own True Nature 1:26:42
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The three classic refuges of Buddha (awareness), Dharma (truth) and Sangha (loving relatedness) are each expressions of our deepest essence. This talk reflects on the refuges and includes guided meditations and a closing ritual that helps us remember the pathway home in our daily life. (note: to participate in the ritual you will need a piece of red string about 28 inches long)
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-12-31 Guided Heart Meditation with Instruction: Forgiving Ourselves and Others 33:05
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2014 IMCW New Year Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2014-12-30 "Landlocked in Fur" - Three Domains of Formless Presence 65:45
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While we have evolved to experience a defining sense of separate self, our potential is to awaken to the formless dimension - the pure awareness is our shared source. This talk explores how we can undo the identification with thoughts, emotions and feelings that keeps us landlocked and unable to trust and live from our naturally loving and radiant essence. NOTE: beginning poem is "Landlocked in Fur," by Tukaram, from “Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West” (Ladinksy, 2002)
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2014 IMCW New Year Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2014-12-30 Meditation: The Luminous Space of Awareness 28:24
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This meditation shifts attention from form to the formless source of all Being. Discover and rest in continuous space, filled with the light of awareness.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2014 IMCW New Year Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2014-12-27 Meditation: Awakening Loving Awareness (with instructions) 47:47
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2014 IMCW New Year Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2014-12-24 Embodying Loving Presence (retreat talk) 68:24
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This talk looks at the evolutionary fear-patterning that creates separation in our relationships, and at the practices that open us to giving and receiving love. (NOTE: talk given at the IMCW summer residential retreat on 2014-08-02)
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-12-17 Intimacy with Life: Part 2 58:50
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This season is one of celebrating the light and love that is our unifying source. And yet at these times our society is being forced to face its deep patterning of racial oppression, amongst other expressions of violence. These two talks investigate the process of turning against ourselves and others, and how intentional and deep presence can heal the suffering of separation.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-12-10 Intimacy with Life: Part 1 1:17:47
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This season is one of celebrating the light and love that is our unifying source. And yet at these times our society is being forced to face its deep patterning of racial oppression, amongst other expressions of violence. These two talks investigate the process of turning against ourselves and others, and how intentional and deep presence can heal the suffering of separation.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-11-26 A Generous Heart 1:18:02
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Our deep potential is to live from an awake, loving heart. This talk looks at how, with a kind and mindful attention, we can decondition habitual tendencies toward grasping and self-centeredness, and nourish the sense of connectedness and care that gives rise to generosity. As we bring these heart practices alive in our most immediate relationships, they have the power to evolve consciousness in widening circles across the world. 
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-11-19 Awakening Through Change and Loss 1:19:42
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Our capacity to live and love fully is entirely related to how we open to the truth of impermanence. This talk examines how our ways of trying to control life solidify our perception of being separate and threatened. We then look at the wings of mindful presence and compassion that open us to loss and grief, and reveal the loving awareness that is beyond birth and death.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-11-12 The Sacred Art of Listening 1:14:40
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Just as presence is the heart of meditation, so deep listening is at the center of all conscious, loving relationships. This talk explores how our wants and fears block listening, ways we can deepen our capacity for listening, and the healing that unfolds when we truly feel heard by another.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-11-05 Radical Self-Honesty: The Joy of Getting Real 1:12:55
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Our suffering arises from the unseen, unfelt, resisted parts of our psyche. This talk explores ways we can deepen self-honesty and reconnect to a wholeness of being that enables us to live with spontaneity, confidence, wisdom and love.  Quote from Elizabeth Lesser: "My prayer to god every day: Remove the veils so I might see what is really happening here and not be intoxicated by my stories and my fears."  
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-10-30 Removing the Barriers to Love (Retreat Talk) 66:09
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In our daily trance of feeling separate, we spend many moments wanting others to be different so we can feel better. This talk explores the heart awakening that unfolds when we deepen our commitment to seeing what is happening inside us. Only then can we see another with clear eyes, and realize the love that arises from our inherent Oneness.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2014 IMCW Fall Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2014-10-29 Meditation - Compassion Practice - Tonglen 29:41
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2014 IMCW Fall Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2014-10-27 Guided Heart Meditation: Forgiveness 29:37
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2014 IMCW Fall Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2014-10-26 The Portal of Fear (Retreat Talk) 64:08
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Bringing presence to the contraction of fear is a universal part of spiritual awakening. This talk explores two interrelated pathways of opening to and transforming fear.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2014 IMCW Fall Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2014-10-26 Morning Meditation and Instruction 25:51
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2014 IMCW Fall Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2014-10-22 Part 2: Happiness 1:18:09
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The Buddha said that he would not teach about happiness if it were not possible to realize this experience of peace and deep well-being. In this three part series, we explore two kinds of happiness - that which arises out of particular causes and the experience of “happy for no reason.” The talks examine the attachments that block happiness, ways to “gladden the mind,” and the liberating presence that naturally expresses as pure happiness. 
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-10-15 Part 1: Happiness 1:21:12
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The Buddha said that he would not teach about happiness if it were not possible to realize this experience of peace and deep well-being. In this three part series, we explore two kinds of happiness - that which arises out of particular causes and the experience of “happy for no reason.” The talks examine the attachments that block happiness, ways to “gladden the mind,” and the liberating presence that naturally expresses as pure happiness. 
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-10-08 Part 2: Unconditional Love 64:14
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These two talks explore key elements in manifesting our innate capacity for unconditional love. Both talks include teachings and meditative strategies for recognizing our blocks to loving, and, through courageous, embodied presence, discovering who we are when not confined by the limiting beliefs and feelings of an egoic self. The first focuses on accepting and embracing our inner life, and the second, on the awakening of a loving presence that includes the whole of this living world.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-10-05 Engaged Buddhism 9:25:57
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with Larry Yang, Ruth King, Tara Brach, Thanissara, Various
Applying the insights from meditation practice and dharma teachings to situations of social, political, environmental, and economic suffering and injustice. Contributions are offered by individual teachers, and organizations such as Buddhists for Racial Justice.
2014-10-05 Mindfulness and Climate Action : 1 1:13:52
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with Jack Kornfield, Ruth King, Tara Brach, Thanissara
Thanissara with Tara Brach, Ruth King and Jack Kornfield.
In collection: Mindfulness and Climate Action
2014-10-01 Part 1: Unconditional Love 1:15:37
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These two talks explore key elements in manifesting our innate capacity for unconditional love. Both talks include teachings and meditative strategies for recognizing our blocks to loving, and, through courageous, embodied presence, discovering who we are when not confined by the limiting beliefs and feelings of an egoic self. The first focuses on accepting and embracing our inner life, and the second, on the awakening of a loving presence that includes the whole of this living world.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-09-24 Awakening from the Landlocked Self 1:22:22
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The Buddha taught that our suffering arises from forgetting who we are. This talk explores the trance of identifying as Somebody, and the compassionate witnessing that allows us to discover the freedom of our natural being.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-09-17 (On Climate Change) Earth’s Crisis - On the Edge of the Roof 1:19:32
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This talk views the ecological dis-ease of our planet through the lens of our evolutionary unfolding. We explore the egoic trance that has precipitated the destruction of our environment, and the inner practices of presence that enable us to respond from love and wisdom.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
In collection: One Earth Sangha
2014-08-27 Loving Truth - The Power of Investigation 1:19:21
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A key element in spiritual awakening is wise and compassionate investigation. This talk explores how investigation and inquiry (the use of questions) serves emotional healing, intimacy with others and the deepest realization of who we are.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-08-20 Bringing Awareness to Doing 1:19:07
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One of the core domains of egoic trance is addictive doing - chronic activity driven by fear and wanting that keeps us from realizing a wholeness of Being. This talk looks at how addictive doing keeps us in the map of time, identified as a separate self, always on our way somewhere else. We then explore ways we undo this conditioning by pausing and opening to the liberating dimension of Being.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-08-06 Part 2: Trusting Your Basic Goodness 1:22:31
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This talk continues the exploration of what causes our distrust of ourselves, others and life, and the pathways to realizing and trusting who we are. We explore the steps of awakening from limiting beliefs, dissolving the resistance to direct embodied presence, and discovering the space and tenderness - the formless dimension - that is indivisible and whole.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-07-30 Part 1: Basic Trust 1:19:05
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One of the expressions of an awakened heart-mind is a basic trust in reality. These talks explore the severed belonging that gives rise to mistrust, and two primary pathways to realizing and trusting the indivisible field of loving awareness that is our source.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-07-23 Evening of Inquiry 1:16:55
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In this class, Tara offered a guided meditation, some brief words on connecting with the felt sense of our experience, and opened the class to questions.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-07-09 Nourishing a Liberating Intention 1:17:26
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The Buddha taught that this entire world arises out of the tip of intention. Intentions can arise from an egoic wants and fears, and they can arise from the wisdom of our heart that is calling us home. This talk explores the qualities that signify a liberating intention and how, by bringing presence to our current intention, we uncover the purity and power of our hearts true aspiration.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-07-02 Blessings of Soul Recognition 1:14:29
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We live under an enchantment that has us see ourselves and each other as separate egoic entities. This talk draws on an Arthurian legend and explores the pathways of presence that enable us to see past the mask - our own, others - and recognize the spirit that shines through these temporary incarnations.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-06-18 Awakening through Conscious Relationships 1:19:22
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Communicating our vulnerability and learning to listen - seeking to understand another’s experience - are the keys to discovering the truth of our connectedness. This talk explores the challenges and gifts of dedicating ourselves to becoming more real, present and open in our relationships.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2014-06-11 Freedom and Happiness in Daily Life 1:16:54
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How you live today is how you live your life. This talk explores different meditative practices and teachings that help us reconnect with and nurture presence in the midst of the array of daily stressors.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

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