Talks: Reflections on the Path

What makes joy rare? How do we awaken this beautiful capacity to embrace life? In this talk we explore the obstacles to joy and the attitude and practices that free us to “love what is.”

“Enlightenment is intimacy with all things” teaches Zen Master Dogen. While we long for this intimacy, we are conditioned to avoid the vulnerability and fear that an intimate presence can arouse. This talk explores how our mindfulness and heart practices cultivate the capacity to be intimate with our sensations of aliveness, our emotions and the beings in our life.

Some contemporary evolutionary theories track our development from survival of the fittest to group selection whereby we have the capacity for cooperation and empathy. This talk explores how our meditation practice of attending and befriending consciously facilitates the unfolding of our full evolutionary potential. The talk includes a guided meditation that helps us widen the circles of belonging to include all beings.

Tsoknyi Rinpoche (in conversation with Tara Brach) – In talking about his new book, Tibetan teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche describes the layers of self that cover over our “essence love,” and the way that mindfulness reconnects us to our true nature.

One of the great sources of hope is the “quiet revolution” of mindfulness that is appearing in schools, hospitals, prisons, the military, corporate settings and the lives of millions of people around the world. In this talk, US Congressman Tim Ryan points to highlights of this revolution–which are reviewed in his compelling new book, A Mindful Nation. He shares about his own personal experience with mindfulness practice and his commitment to seeing the mindfulness and compassion at the center of our work for a better future.

Most of us have core fear beliefs that obscure our true nature and bind us in repeating patterns of painful emotions and behavior. This talk looks at the beliefs that limit us and the freedom that is possible when we investigate them with a kind, mindful awareness.

Our fear management strategies–versions of fight/flight– contract our body and mind, and separate us from others. As we learn to pause and contact the bodily fear with a gentle, mindful awareness, our sense of being enlarges. We rediscover our belonging to presence, love and life.

The ground of wise effort is our sincere intentionality toward presence, love and freedom. Yet our habit is to go into trance, and latch on to narrowed intentions of self-enhancement or defense. When this goes on for years, we feel disappointment in our lives, a sense of not being true to ourselves. Through guided reflections, we explore how–in spiritual practice and in relationships–we can connect with our deepest intention and live in a way that expresses our awakening heart and awareness.

This line from poet Galway Kinnell reminds us of the possibility of meeting our inner life with a loving, healing presence. When we do, we loosen the trance of unworthiness and reconnect with our intrinsic goodness. In turn, we can offer our blessings to others–serving as reminders of the awareness and love that can blossom in all beings.

We suffer when we forget who we are and get caught in a limited sense of self. This talk explores how we become identified with a sliver of what we are, and the pathway to remembering our wholeness. When we know we’re the ocean, we are free to relate to the waves with respect, compassion and love.

Drawing on a wonderful teaching story from the Upanishads, these two talks explore the role of forgiveness, inner fire and looking at our own minds, in finding freedom.

Drawing on a wonderful teaching story from the Upanishads, these two talks explore the role of forgiveness, inner fire and looking at our own minds, in finding freedom.