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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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2013-08-21 Part 1: Relating to the Fearsome Deities 1:25:01
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Our relationship to fear shapes our life experience. If we are unconscious, and reflexively try to manage fear, our identity takes the shape of the body of fear. If instead we learn to attend and befriend fear, we discover the freedom of our awakened heart.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-08-07 True Belonging 1:20:43
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We all have a longing to belong. When pursued at the egoic level--often through our good-personhood projects--there may be temporary satisfaction but our sense of separation is ultimately reinforced. In contrast, bringing mindfulness and compassion to whatever is arising dissolves the sense of separation and reveals the basic goodness of our own loving presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-07-26 Introducción a la Meditación Parte 1: El Arte y Ciencia de la Meditación (translation from 2010-10-13) 1:24:22
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La primera sesión define la meditación y describe las enseñanzas budistas que le dan contexto al camino de la practica. Exploramos las dos formas básicas de meditación - concentración y conciencia plena - y luego nos enfocamos en el entrenamiento de conciencia plena: trayendo atención de conciencia plena a la respiración y sensaciones corporales. Las meditaciones guiadas incluyen el establecimiento de una intención y la pausa sagrada; aprendiendo a "regresar" usando la respiración como un ancla; y "estando aquí" con una presencia encarnada.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-07-24 Three Gestures of Love 1:22:25
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If we inquire "what is between me and presence" we usually find we've been caught inside a limiting story of self, contracted by wants and fears. This talk explores a simple yet powerful way of arousing loving presence and dissolving the narrow identification that keeps us from inhabiting our awakened heartmind.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-07-17 Absolute Cooperation With the Inevitable 1:22:59
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This talk addresses common misunderstandings about acceptance (allowing, "letting be") and explores the challenges and blessings of opening to the raw emotions that we habitually avoid.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-07-03 Part 2: Hope and the Spiritual Path 1:24:38
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In this talk we further define the nature of mature or spiritual hope as part of a trinity that includes trust and love, and explore what blocks its unfolding. We then review how different people have "hit bottom" and found their way to the energy, receptivity and openness of hope.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-06-26 Part 1: Hope and the Spiritual Path 1:23:19
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This talk looks at the difference between egoic hopes and fears, and the quality of hopefulness ("holy hope") that is an essential dimension in spiritual experience. We reflect on the three components of hope that serve awakening: Aspiration, Trust and Dedication of energy.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-06-03 Being to Being- True Refuge in Relationship 69:22
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When we are stressed, our way of relating to each other is ego to ego. This talk explores the understandings and practices that enable us to embody "nameste": Honoring the sacred that lives through all beings.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center :  Monday and Wednesday Talks
2013-05-29 Practicing Meditation: "Getting Out Of Your Own Way" 1:16:31
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The depth and vitality of a meditation practice depends on our sincerity, and an attitude of curiosity and friendliness. With this as the grounds, our practice will cultivate the clear seeing and openheartedness that expresses our deepest nature. This talk covers basic ingredients in a meditation practice, and includes a half hour of questions and responses.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-05-22 Being to Being - Loving Beyond the Trance 1:22:52
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We have strong conditioning to relate to each other from a sense of separateness--persona to persona. This talk looks at what traps us in egoic relating and how several simple yet powerful reflections can open us to pure, unconditioned loving.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-05-15 Releasing the Barriers to Unconditional Love 1:23:24
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We long for love and habitually armor our hearts. This talk explores the aggression and clinging that protect our wound of feeling unlovable, and the ways that mindfulness can dissolve our defenses and reveal our inner refuge of pure loving presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-05-08 Remembering Being 1:14:51
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Our fear-based doings block us from realizing the formless dimension of our Being, and living from that source of wisdom and love. This talk explores the habitual control strategies that keep us from presence; and the role of mindfulness and lovingkindness in reconnecting with the ground of Being.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-04-28 Loving Ourselves 59:03
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The greatest truths we forget, and one of them is that if we don't love the life that is right here--what we perceive as self--we are unable to embrace our world. This talk explores the suffering of turning on ourselves and the deep freedom that arises when we commit to relating to our inner life with loving presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2013 IMCW Spring Retreat: Intimacy With Life
2013-04-27 Guided Heart Meditation - Forgiveness 30:03
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2013 IMCW Spring Retreat: Intimacy With Life
2013-04-27 Morning Instructions 19:16
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Morning Instructions - with RAIN, standing and walking explanation
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2013 IMCW Spring Retreat: Intimacy With Life
2013-04-27 Morning Guided Meditation 39:19
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2013 IMCW Spring Retreat: Intimacy With Life
2013-04-24 Letting Go Into Living and Dying 1:19:51
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Our capacity to live and love fully is directly related to our acceptance of change and loss. This talk explores how we avoid the pain of loss, ways of practicing that open us to this changing world, and the gifts of letting go into the flow.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-04-17 Entering the Mystery 1:19:10
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John O'Donahue writes, "We are so busy managing our lives, we forget this great mystery we are involved in." This talk looks at the ways we pull away from the mystery and the path of "beginners mind" that enables us to encounter this living world with freshness, courage and wonder.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-04-10 Heavenly Messengers 1:25:22
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Tara interviews Frank Ostaseski, founder of Zen Hospice, on a contemplative approach to death and dying.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-04-03 Part 3: Three Gifts - Looking in the Mirror 69:51
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The third gift on the journey of awakening is the mirror. In this talk we explore how to look back into our own minds and discover the timeless, radiant presence that is our essence. It is this realization of our Beingness that enables us to live these lives with wisdom, love and wonder.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-03-27 Part 2: Three Blessings - Inner Fire 1:11:06
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Each of us has the longing to manifest our full potential--to realize and live from loving, awake awareness. This longing is our inner fire, and when conscious and vibrant, it energizes the spiritual path. In this talk we reflect on how fear obscures and redirects our inner fire, and how practices of presence and wise reflection awaken the power and purity of our longing.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-03-20 Self Compassion (retreat talk) 0:00
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We can only find love and peace in this life if we are able to hold our inner life with compassion. This talk explores the subtle and therefore often unseen ways that we turn on ourselves, and the pathways to a forgiving heart.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-03-13 Part 1: Three Blessings of Awakening Consciousness 69:39
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Part 1: In this two part series we explore the evolution of consciousness through the lens of three key capacities: A forgiving heart, inner fire (conscious aspiration toward freedom) and self-inquiry.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-02-27 The Fires of Loss 60:52
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We all encounter the great losses of our own health and life, and of cherished others. We are conditioned to resist opening to the rawness and grief that comes with loss. This talk describes the refuge of presence in the face of loss, and the gift of timeless love that arises as we make peace with the reality of this living, dying world. [NOTE: Tara was traveling this week, so offering a well-loved talk from 2010.]
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-02-20 Beyond the Interpreted World 1:20:51
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Hildegard of Bingen writes, "An interpreted world is not a Home." This talk explores the suffering that arises from believing in an interpreted reality, and the love, aliveness and freedom that becomes accessible as we challenge beliefs and awaken into living presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-02-13 The Wings of a Liberating Presence 1:17:07
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No matter what is happening in our lives, if we relate to our experience with mindful recognition and an allowing presence, it becomes a portal to freedom. In this talk we explore how the cultivation of these wings of presence awakens us from the identification with an egoic self, and reveals the awareness and love that is our true nature.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-02-06 Embodying True Refuge - Serving and Savoring Life 1:31:18
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This talk traces the story of the Buddha's awakening, and reflects on four key archetypal elements that are relevant for each of us as we come home to our true nature. There is a particular emphasis on how these elements enable us to encounter challenges in relationships and find our way to openhearted presence. Includes music honoring the launch of Tara's new book, True Refuge: vocal by La Sarmiento and Guru Ganesha with his Kirtan band.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-01-30 Remembering What Matters 1:25:28
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Our conscious aspiration toward awakening is what energizes the spiritual path. This talk reviews the main characteristic of a vital aspiration, the conditioning that obscures our deepest intentions and offers guided reflections to connect us with what most matters.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-01-19 Encountering the Shadow Deities 62:57
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When we forget who we are, we are living in a trance that is characterized by suffering. This talk explores the genesis of this trance, and the transformation that is possible as we bring forgiveness and mindful presence to the afflictive emotions that naturally arise.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2013 IMCW Women's Retreat: The Heart of Buddhist Meditation
2013-01-18 Mindfulness Meditation 26:45
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2013 IMCW Women's Retreat: The Heart of Buddhist Meditation
2013-01-16 Stepping Out of the Cave 1:15:58
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If we are suffering it is because we are believing something that is not true. This talk explores the genesis of our core beliefs and the investigation, mindfulness and compassion that can release their grip.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-01-09 The Barriers to Loving Presence 1:15:18
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You might reflect on someone important to you, and ask: "What is between me and loving fully?" Notice what happens. This talk explores the ways we create separations from others, and the power of inquiry and presence to awaken an unconditionally loving heart.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2013-01-02 Finding True Refuge 1:31:30
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This talk explores the three classic gateways to peace and freedom and includes a living ritual that invites us to bring a conscious, sincere dedication to our awakening on the spiritual path.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2012-12-31 Guided Meditation: Awakening Compassion - Tonglen 29:52
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW New Year's Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2012-12-30 Guided Meditation: The Freedom of a Forgiving Heart 36:00
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW New Year's Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2012-12-30 Morning Meditation and Instruction 41:58
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW New Year's Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2012-12-29 The God Whom I Love is Inside 59:15
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Our suffering arises from unlived life--the fears and loneliness and hurt that we have been unable to digest and include in our heart. This talk explores our conditioning to become dis-embodied and the blessings of spiritual realization that arise as we inhabit our aliveness fully.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW New Year's Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2012-12-28 Instruction: Walking Practice 7:46
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW New Year's Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2012-12-28 Instruction/Question/Response 11:09
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW New Year's Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2012-12-28 Morning Instruction in Meditation 29:48
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW New Year's Retreat: Awakening the Heart of Compassion
2012-12-19 Turning Toward the Light 1:12:34
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This solstice talk explores how, in the face of darkness - unconsciousness, ignorance, violence - we can call on the light that is within us. The two pathways are to courageously look directly into the places of suffering, and to include in our gaze, the intrinsic goodness in all beings, in life.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2012-12-12 Forgiving Our Way to Freedom 1:11:13
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Living with chronic blame or resentment is a trance that confines us to a limited fragment of what we are. This talk looks at the ways this trance is fueled and the process by which we release the armoring around our hearts.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2012-12-05 A Forgiving Heart - Embracing our Inner Life 1:15:43
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Self-aggression, whether it's low key blame or deep condemnation, prevents us from intimacy with others and discovering the truth and wholeness of our Being. This talk explores how we can release self-blame, and free ourselves to access our natural warmth and creativity in responding to our world.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2012-11-21 Gratitude & Generosity: Markings of Inner Freedom 1:28:48
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Those who are genuinely happy, are also naturally grateful for life and generous in living. This Thanksgiving Eve talk explores key ways we block the arising of gratitude and generosity, and practices of mindful presence and direct cultivation that awaken these expressions of the liberated heart.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2012-11-14 Hands Off the Controls 1:16:18
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We are deeply conditioned to respond to impermanence and inevitable loss by trying to control our experience. Our egoic reactivity prevents us from responding wisely to our life, and living the moments fully. This talk looks at how we can let go of controlling, open to the groundlessness we run from, and reconnect with the deep intelligence and love that flows through our being.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2012-11-07 Practical Dharma for Stressful Times 1:20:31
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When we are caught in a stress reaction, we are in a trance that cuts us off from our creativity, full intelligence and capacity to be loving. This talk explores the flags of the stress-trance and three meditative strategies for shifting from fight/flight to attend/befriend. (at end is a cut from "Love the One You're With" by Steven Stills)
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2012-11-02 Closing - Question/Response - all teachers 46:43
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW Fall Residential Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2012-10-29 Guided Meditation: A Forgiving Heart 29:07
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW Fall Residential Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2012-10-29 Guided Heart Meditation: Forgiveness Practice 29:07
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW Fall Residential Retreat: Intimacy with Life
2012-10-28 Morning Question/Response 13:46
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC :  2012 IMCW Fall Residential Retreat: Intimacy with Life

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