Heather Sundberg has taught insight meditation since 1999 and completed the Spirit Rock/IMS Teacher Training. Beginning her own meditation practice in her late teens, for the last 25 years, Heather has studied with senior teachers in the Insight Meditation (Vipassana) and Tibetan (Vajrayana) traditions and has sat 1-3 months of retreat a year for almost 20 years. She was the Spirit Rock Family & Teen Program Teacher & Manager for a decade. Between 2010- 2015 she spent a cumulative one-year in study, practice, and pilgrimage in Asia. Since 2011, she has been a Teacher at Mountain Stream Meditation Center and sister communities in the Sierra Foothills, and also teaches nationally, especially at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Her teaching emphasizes embodiment, compassion and practical wisdom.
"Funny, poignant, practical - this Talk explores Six Qualities of Equanimity; the Near Misses, and how to live with these qualities in the foreground of our hearts and lives.
Equanimity is the Spacious (1) Balance (2) of the Non Reactive (3) mind-heart, grounded in Wisdom (4), with supports a deep Caring (5) , and leads to an Appropriate Response (6).
The Divine Abodes of loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity are the places of the awakened heart. Practicing to cultivate these four abodes helps us to access these wonderful and transformative qualities of the open heart.
The talk opens with a story about Ajahn Pasanno and an introduction to the metaphor of the 5 Spiritual Faculties as a team of 5 Horses pulling "The Cart of Self". The rest of the talk explores the relationship between the 5 Faculties and the 4 Divine Abodes (metta, compassion, joy, equanimity)
This innovative talk describes the process and advanced practice of Integrating our Insights, including types of insight, what the mind does immediately after an insight, teasing apart the clinging & the natural impulse to integrate insight, how to test the insight, how to include & purify 'the clinging that remains', and learning to live the insight.
In this talk Heather shares some of her personal connection with the Thai Forest Tradition, followed by offering a map of practice from the tradition.
Sati (Mindfulness) - MahaSati (Pure Awareness) - SatiPanna (Mindfulness- Wisdom) - PannaVimudhi (Wisdom Leading to Release).
This talk explores Compassion through the following aspects:
Cultivation Aspects: How to Practice and the Near Misses
Wisdom Aspects: The Three Characteristics (change, suffering, not self)
Fruition Aspects: Stories from ancient and modern meditators and activists
Dedicated in memory of Ruth Denison, the Talk explores traditional and innovative applications of the First Foundation of Mindfulness, including
Calming the Bodily Formations and nervous system, the wisdom aspects of mindfulness of the body, and mindfulness in all the postures and activities.
- How metta is a practice of intention and concentration
- How to work with metta difficulties and cycles of purification
- How to develop authentic metta phrases
- Introduction of the metta muses (categories)
Filled with anecdotes, singing and practical advice, this talk covers the second half of the Metta Sutta, including Metta for All Beings, the Difficult Person, How to Cherish Beings By not Holding to Fixed Views
Drawing from various commentaries and translations of the Metta Sutta, the talk explores this important teaching from the perspective of practice and how to live it in our lives. Explores the qualities of Trust, Wise Speech, Humility, Contentment, Peace and Integrity.
