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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Thanissara's Dharma Talks
Thanissara
Thanissara, from London, was a nun for 12 years in the tradition of Ajahn Chah and has taught internationally for over 30 years. She is co-founder of Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat, South Africa, Sacred Mountain Sangha, California, and Chattanooga Insight, Tennessee. She has an MA in Mindfulness Psychotherapy Practice from the Karuna Institute UK and is co-author of Listening to the Heart, A Contemplative Guide to Engaged Buddhism, author of Time To Stand Up, An Engaged Buddhist Manifesto for Our Earth, and several books of poetry. She is a member of the Teacher Council at Spirit Rock and co-guiding teacher of Sacred Mountain Sangha.
2009-01-26 I Have Faith in Nights 21:22
Encouragement to ‘bear the reality’ of suffering, to listen beneath the splits The holding of splits within this one heart Empathy rather than judgement The difficult practice of compassion
Dharmagiri Original Brightness Retreat
2009-01-23 The Heroic Human Heart 31:55
An abandoned old lady Bearing reality of being human With patience obstruction drop away Like walking into the mist The more the suffering, the more the bliss Indestructible Heart
Dharmagiri Original Brightness Retreat
2009-01-20 Emptying the Boulders of the Mind 43:10
Using the breath to steady the mind, to reflect on impermanence and to see ‘non ownership’ The boulder is not heavy if you don’t pick it up This is ‘how it is’ – methods to access the third noble truth Replacing reactivity with mindfulness – the flood stopper
Dharmagiri Original Brightness Retreat
2009-01-18 Suffering as Opportunity 37:19
The Buddha’s reluctance to teach The first turning of the Dhamma wheel The Four Noble truths and accompanying practices Contemplating desire – resolving dukkha – the primary split.
Dharmagiri Original Brightness Retreat
2009-01-18 The Centrality of Minfulness 37:16
Replacing reactivity of mind with mindfulness Mindfulness as container & as that which reveals & discerns what is Citta conditioned by perception & sankhara Healing the citta through mindful awareness Finding balanced energy as a support for mindfulness
Dharmagiri Original Brightness Retreat
2009-01-13 Fruit Arises According to the Dharma 33:21
Path Activity breaks up obstructions Beginners mind, patience, kindness This is how it is Working with how it is rather than how it should be The three streams of karma / energy Samadhi as healing
Dharmagiri Original Brightness Retreat
2009-01-13 Mara - The Ultimate Teacher 30:21
The challenge of dukkha. Without Mara, no Buddha. Path Activity illuminates the hindrances Without hindrance there’s no path That which knows desire and aversion is not desire & aversion ‘I Know You Mara’
Dharmagiri Original Brightness Retreat
2009-01-11 Gathered Attention Here and Now 35:27
Three supports for present moment attention Withdrawing the mind from longing and disappointment for the world Using the breath to steady attention
Dharmagiri Original Brightness Retreat
2008-11-09 The Paradigm Shift 56:32
with Eugene Cash, Thanissara
San Francisco Insight Meditation Community
2008-08-09 Introduction to Meditation 3:36:24
with Jack Kornfield, Pascal Auclair, Steve Armstrong, Thanissara

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