Talks: Reflections on the Path

“The intimacy that arises in listening and speaking truth is only possible if we can open to the vulnerability of our own hearts. Breathing in, contacting the life that is right here, is our first step. Once we have held ourselves with kindness, we can touch others in a vital and healing way.”

Donations

Please consider a donation of any size—your generosity allows us to offer these talks and meditations freely.

A Grateful, Giving, Happy Heart

A Grateful, Giving, Happy Heart

Gratitude is like breathing in - letting ourselves be touched by the goodness in others and in our world. Generosity is like breathing out - sensing our mutual belonging and offering our care. When we are awake and whole, breathing in and out happens naturally. But these...

read more
The Calling of These Times – Part 2

The Calling of These Times – Part 2

The Dalai Lama invites us to trust in the power of heart and awareness to awake through all circumstances. What does that look like in the midst of our current global crises? These two talks explore what these times are drawing forward in us individually and collectively, and...

read more

Free 40-Day Program

Mindfulness Daily

Create a life-changing meditation practice.

Ready to Nourish Your Practice?

Meditation with Tara Brach

Check out Tara’s “8 Essentials” Tipsheet

Winds of Homecoming: How Intention Frees Our Heart

Winds of Homecoming: How Intention Frees Our Heart

The Buddha taught that we live our lives on the tip of intention, it is the seed of our future. This talk explores the difference between “limbic” intentions driven by grasping or fear, and intentions that are the call of our awakening heart. You will learn how to identify and...

read more
Three Gateways to Peace and Freedom

Three Gateways to Peace and Freedom

Three Gateways to Peace and Freedom ~ This talk explores the three archetypal refuges of truth, love and awareness. We look at the outer and inner aspects of each refuge, and then through guided reflections and a Refuge Ritual, deepen our commitment to the pathways that awaken...

read more
Remembering and Choosing Loving Presence (retreat talk)

Remembering and Choosing Loving Presence (retreat talk)

We are conditioned to go into a limbic trance—an emotional reactivity to life within and around us—that keeps us identified with a limited, separate sense of self. This talk helps us to identify the flags of trance, and to bring a healing attention that frees us to live our...

read more
My Religion is Kindness – Part 2

My Religion is Kindness – Part 2

Authentic kindness must include the life within us. These two talks examine the movement from an armored to a free and loving heart. The first looks at how we can awaken from the trance of unworthiness and establish a genuinely caring relationship with our inner life. In the...

read more
My Religion is Kindness – Part 1

My Religion is Kindness – Part 1

My Religion is Kindness - Part 1 ~ Authentic kindness must include the life within us. These two talks examine the movement from an armored to a free and loving heart. The first looks at how we can awaken from the trance of unworthiness and establish a genuinely caring...

read more
Awakening from the Trance of Fear – Part 2

Awakening from the Trance of Fear – Part 2

While fear is a natural and intelligent emotion, when fear goes on overdrive, we are in a trance of fear that contracts our body, heart and mind. Our resistance to the direct experience of fear sustains the trance and leads to decisions and behaviors that harm ourselves and...

read more
Awakening from the Trance of Fear – Part 1

Awakening from the Trance of Fear – Part 1

While fear is a natural and intelligent emotion, when fear goes on overdrive, we are in a trance of fear that contracts our body, heart and mind. Our resistance to the direct experience of fear sustains the trance and leads to decisions and behaviors that harm ourselves and...

read more
A Grateful, Giving, Happy Heart

A Grateful, Giving, Happy Heart

Gratitude is like breathing in - letting ourselves be touched by the goodness in others and in our world. Generosity is like breathing out - sensing our mutual belonging and offering our care. When we are awake and whole, breathing in and out happens naturally. But these...

read more
The Gift of Silence: Quieting the Mind

The Gift of Silence: Quieting the Mind

Through all spiritual traditions, there is a valuing of silence and stillness. When the mind has quieted, it becomes possible to see into the truth of what we are. Yet quieting can turn into a battle with the process of the thinking mind. This talk explores practices that allow...

read more
Power of Prayer: From Longing to Belonging

Power of Prayer: From Longing to Belonging

When we bring a full presence to prayer, it becomes a powerful pathway of homecoming. This talk explores how prayer heals the pain of separation, and offers practical guidance in what poet John O’Donohue calls “unearthing our ancient belonging.” "What's it like if you bow your...

read more
Accessing Innate Wisdom

Accessing Innate Wisdom

Wisdom is an innate capacity, but often covered over by trance. This talk explores how we abandon ourselves as we busily seek ways to feel more worthy, lovable and safe. We then look at the pathway home, the radical non-doing and space of silence that allows wisdom and love to...

read more
Anger: Responding, Not Reacting

Anger: Responding, Not Reacting

Anger is natural, intelligent and necessary for surviving and flourishing. Yet when we are hooked by anger, it causes great personal and collective suffering. This talk explores how to transform patterns of reactivity by bringing a mindful and compassionate attention to the...

read more