Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley: dharma talks and meditation instruction

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) The Buddha taught that the two wings of awakening are wisdom and compassion. Compassion is much more than a concept, and it's more than a feeling. It's an understanding, a motivation, and an ever-growing collection of pragmatic responses to distress that we have available internally for ourselves and others.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) The Buddha taught that the two wings of awakening are wisdom and compassion. Compassion is much more than a concept, and it's more than a feeling. It's an understanding, a motivation, and an ever-growing collection of pragmatic responses to distress that we have available internally for ourselves and others.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) We all have teachers who've inspired us to see life in a new way. Who have been your inspirations? What have you learned from them? I thought I'd share some ways that instructions from two of my teachers--Ram Dass and HWL Poonja (Papaji)-- have shaped how I see the world and how I practice. The talk includes a recording of a significant dialogue from 1990...

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) The Buddha's teachings point to the need for clear understanding of our own minds and hearts, along with intention, compassion, and practice. As the adage goes, we must become the ones we seek while we work to change (or even consistently comfort) the world. To do that, we need to know what's going on for us internally and know how to wisely self-soothe w...

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Suffering is the Buddha's 1st Noble Truth. Sometimes it can feel like it's all too much, especially in these days of extreme unpredictability. Legitimate reactions of anger, confusion and discouragement can lead to feeling of hopelessness or resigned acceptance. How can we use the practice to not only skillfully hold those feelings, but to transform them...

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Seeing sacredness, not only around us, but focusing inside the one who is perceiving. This mind/body (YOU) that is interacting with the world around it. I use Ram Dass's practice of seeing beyond this mind/body by abiding in the perspective "I Am Loving Awareness". This is where the devotional and non-dual meet. To aid in this exploration James shares som...

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) With so much violence and insensitivity all around us, we can lose touch with our love for what is sacred. All that is required is a heightened sensitivity to tune into what is always around us.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) The Buddha said that "Hatred will never end by hatred, by love alone will it end". He also taught that we can exacerbate our suffering with the stories and beliefs we have going on in our minds. The remedies he shared to cope with suffering fall under the umbrella terms 'wisdom' and 'compassion'. Join Eve for a look at some specific teachings and practice...

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Most of us like to have some sense of security thinking planning ahead or knowing what to expect can help us be more at ease. But the real freedom comes from realizing we really don't know how things will unfold. Although that might seem unsettling, it can allow us to be more at ease with the fundamental unpredictability of life.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) A discussion of meditation techniques to evoke Equanimity

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Working with the Anapanasati Sutta in some depth. There are 16 steps in four tetrads that the Buddha lays out regarding how to practice this way. It is more than simply keeping one's attention on the experience of breathing. Some of the steps will likely surprise you. I thought it would be interesting to hear how the Buddha himself practiced using the bre...

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) The Buddha's third foundation of mindfulness - mindfulness of mind states - give us directions that allow us to see mental-emotional patterns clearly without negative judgment or identification. This approach to habits we often identify as "self" gives us a very helpful way to work difficult emotions. The motivation that the Buddha stated repeatedly for h...

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) The Buddha's second foundation of mindfulness - vedana in Pali or 'feeling tone' - is a powerful and often under-utilized teaching and practice that can help us work skillfully with difficult emotions. The motivation that the Buddha stated repeatedly for his teachings and practices was to find direct ways to end suffering. This intention applies as much t...

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) An exploration of emotions, and the Buddha's teaching on mindfulness as an antidote for working with them. The motivation that the Buddha stated repeatedly for his teachings and practices was to find direct ways to end suffering. This intention applies as much today as it did in his time almost 2,600 years ago.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) The Four Noble Truths were called "Dependent Origination, telegram-style" by Buddhist teacher Venerable Ayya Khema. Dependent Origination has also been called a 'mysterious rune'! We will take a look at this foundational teaching/insight and see if it has useful application for us in our pursuit of experiencing and offering well-being. The motivation that...

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) We will look at the general teaching and then apply it to the distress of anxiety. The foundational motivation that the Buddha stated repeatedly for his teachings and practices was to find direct ways to end suffering. This intention applies as much today as it did in his time almost 2,600 years ago.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Wise Speech. The foundational motivation that the Buddha stated repeatedly for his teachings and practices was to find direct ways to end suffering. This intention applies as much today as it did in his time almost 2,600 years ago.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) The foundational motivation that the Buddha stated repeatedly for his teachings and practices was to find direct ways to end suffering. This intention applies as much today as it did in his time almost 2,600 years ago.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) This talk looks at the first factor in the Buddha's Eightfold Noble Path: Wise Understanding. The foundational motivation that the Buddha stated repeatedly for his teachings and practices was to find direct ways to end suffering. This intention applies as much today as it did in his time almost 2,600 years ago.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Noble Truths 3 and 4 We will continue our exploration of the Four Noble Truths. The foundational motivation that the Buddha stated repeatedly for his teachings and practices was to find direct ways to end suffering. This intention applies as much today as it did in his time almost 2,600 years ago.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) This talk discusses the Four Noble Truths. The foundational motivation that the Buddha stated repeatedly for his teachings and practices was to find direct ways to end suffering. This intention applies as much today as it did in his time almost 2,600 years ago.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) This talk explores Bhava, one of the 12 links on the Wheel of Dependent Origination also called the "Wheel of Samsara." Bhava comes right after Craving and Grasping and is usually translated as "Becoming." Bhava or Becoming is something that that most of us find ourselves caught in. However, bringing kind awareness to this tendency can be a major support...

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) This talk explores the essential energy of Compassion, as illustrated by the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Kuan Yin.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) This talk includes reflections, practice, and a song pointing to the essential practices that support integrity. Known as "sila" in Pali, wise speech, action, and livelihood and the Five Things (precepts) both lead to and express awakening. Let's look at why and how.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) Reflections and practices pointing to the important insight into interconnection. The realization of "anatta" - no separate self - is foundational to the Buddhist teachings. It becomes available with mindfulness practice and is a part of both our own awakening and our ability to courageously act on behalf of Earth and her inhabitants.