Part 1: Universal Faces of Love

Part 1: Universal Faces of Love

Lovingkindness, or metta, is the first of the four divine abodes in buddhist teachings. This talk explores the habitual patterns of fears and wants that obscure this innate quality of heart and key ways that we awaken ourselves to its luminous presence.

Part 1: Universal Faces of Love

Awakening from Virtual Reality (Retreat Talk)

This talk examines how we get stuck in identifying as a separate, deficient self, and the way that a deep attention frees us from trance. QUOTE FROM THE TALK: “The invitation of the Path is that we can wake up out of our stories of limitation and blame. We can...
Alegría poco frecuente y preciada

Alegría poco frecuente y preciada

Cuando hablo con la gente acerca de cuánto experimentan la alegría, la mayoría dice, “No tanto”. La alegría no es un visitante frecuente, y cuando aparece, es fugaz. La alegría surge cuando estamos abiertos a la belleza y al sufrimiento inherentes a la vida. Como un...
Blog: It’s not what’s happening…it’s how you respond

Blog: It’s not what’s happening…it’s how you respond

One of my favorite stories took place a number of decades ago when the English had colonized India and they wanted to set up a golf course in Calcutta. Besides the fact that the English shouldn’t have been there in the first place, the golf course was not a...
Listening to the Song

Listening to the Song

NOTE: Tara was away this week, so asked that we post a favorite from the archives:
Listening with our full heart and attention is the gateway to understanding and love. This talk explores the challenges to deep listening, and offers ways of paying attention that awaken a healing listening presence.

Desplegando las Alas de la Aceptación

Desplegando las Alas de la Aceptación

Cuando nos vemos atrapados en el trance de no sentirnos válidos, no reconocemos claramente lo que está pasando dentro de nosotros, ni tampoco sentimos bondad hacia nosotros mismos. Nuestra auto-percepción está distorsionada y limitada, y nuestro corazón se siente...
Realizing Our Undefended and Awakened Heart (Retreat Talk)

Realizing Our Undefended and Awakened Heart (Retreat Talk)

It is our evolutionary and spiritual potential to release unnecessary habits of violating other tribes, individuals and unwanted parts of our own being. This talk explores three essential facets of the pathway to awakening: Leaving the fortress of aversive judgment,...
Blog: The Sacred Art of Listening – Nourishing Loving Relationships

Blog: The Sacred Art of Listening – Nourishing Loving Relationships

To listen is to lean in softly With a willingness to be changed By what we hear – Mark Nepo What happens when there’s a listening presence? When we’re fully in that listening presence, when there’s that pure quality of receptivity, we become presence itself. And...
Un Gesto de Amabilidad

Un Gesto de Amabilidad

La próxima vez que te encuentres de mal humor o en un momento de auto-crítica, tómate un momento para detenerte y pregúntate a ti mismo, “¿Cuál es mi actitud hacia mí mismo ahora? ¿Me estoy juzgando? ¿Me estoy tratando con conciencia, afecto, y respeto?” Normalmente,...
Part 1: Universal Faces of Love

Path of True Refuge

This talk explores the three archetypal gateways to liberation – awareness (Buddha), truth (Dharma) and love (Sangha). It includes guided reflections and a refuge ceremony that can help us discover the path “inside out” through daily life

NOTE: Stuart Rakoff’s blog is here:
http://stuspeaks.wordpress.com/