One Heart One Mind

In this episode, Thomas invites his very first meditation teacher, David Timpson, to share about his meditation practice, his medical practice, and the profound power of the intentions of our heart. The conversation is a beautiful window into how mindfulness can transform us over the decades. Prepare to be inspired!

We take a quantum leap on the spiritual path when we learn to really trust our basic goodness. The challenge: layer after layer  of socialization, education, and shame tend to obscure our connection to this goodness. What can we do? Listen to today's episode for insights and practices to "return to innocence."

We're back! Thank you for joining us for a brand new season. Thomas kicks off the festivities with a close reading of a timeless text from the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. In this episode you can learn to relax your inner control freak (okay, for some of us it's more like an outer control freak) and let go more fully  into the natural  ebb and flow of life.

Welcome to the season finale, Mindfulness Plussers! In the midst of hurricane force winds and blackouts across Salt Lake Valley, Thomas offers a deep view on parenting. Ultimately, when we're totally present, we raise Creation itself.

Have you ever had the experience of trying to meditate, only to find yourself constantly frustrated that you're endlessly distracted? Have no fear! Thomas offers a simple, proven remedy to turn this deficit into a great strength. Your practice will never be the same. Also, join us for our home retreat, Sep. 12th: https://lowerlightswisdom.org/ upcomingevents/home-retreat-a- day-of-sacred-living

Suzuki Roshi said it well to his students: "Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement." What delightful play! Let's dive into this paradox together. If we are only aware of the Relative, our practice becomes pressurized and grim. But if we get stuck in the Absolute, well, in Zen terms, we start to stink. Where is the Middle Way? Also, join us for our home retr...

What we sometimes refer to as "the path", that is, the process of transformation, has been expressed in different ways in the Wisdom traditions throughout history. We can learn a great deal from the similarities—and differences—in these formulations that seem to be pointing to very similar territory. Listen in as Thomas compares snippets from St. Teresa's "Interior Castle" and Master Guo An Shi Yu...

In this practice, there are two currents always at play: that of Transcendence, that which moves beyond all form, and Immanence, that which embraces all form. In Hinduism, these principles are deified as Shiva (Transcendence) and Shakti (Immanence).  In the end, these currents are not two—they are different movements of the same Divine Reality. Listen in today's episode to the story of Ramana Maha...

It's time for another extended guided meditation on Mindfulness+! Thomas shares a quote from the famous physicist, Erwin Schrödinger, and invites listeners to participate in the great Mystery that mystics and sages across the ages have invited us into: What is the self? Who is aware? What is it that is aware in this very moment of the words on this screen? Come fill your heart in this exploration....

Mindfulness practices teaches us to relate to the discomforts of life in a dramatically new way. Conventionally, all we want to do as biological organisms is to get comfortable and stay comfortable. But when we look closely, we realize that pain is not just something we can learn to tolerate, it is a kind of grace, opening us up to a world beyond suffering.

We're in the dog days of summer in Salt Lake City. Thomas shares a modern mindfulness parable on a broken air conditioner and working with discomfort. He guides listeners in becoming experts at diagnosing the suffering in their own body-mind. In the end, it is never one's "own" body-mind. Any suffering we alleviate in "ourselves" is an alleviation of suffering for all beings everywhere in all worl...

We live in a day and age where high quality teachings are available to anyone who is interested in the path of meditation. And yet, there remains something unique, even "rare" about the opportunity to meet and be inspired by a living master in the flesh. In this episode Thomas invites you to deepen your appreciation of the precious seed that is planted when we have such an encounter. In turn, you...

In human life, we naturally confront the question again and again, "What do I do now? Where do I go next?" Or more broadly, "what do I do with my life?" Thomas draws from the deep well of Zen in this episode to take on these often bewildering questions. From a Zen perspective, the solution is so simple, we tend to look right past it.

These last 12 days, Thomas has been staring a lot at his son and contemplating newborn consciousness. Which is lucky for you! In this episode, Thomas leads an extended guided meditation, inviting you back into primordial, formless presence, aka the experience of a newborn baby. In fact, we all have the capacity to rest in this open field of formless awareness—we simply forget! We hope you'll enjoy...

Do you have a sense of what it means to "listen from the ear of the Heart?" When we do listen from this new place within ourselves, the results can be dramatic. Listen as Thomas recounts a recent encounter with the Imaginal Realm—what Cynthia Bourgeault calls the "realm of cosmic assistance."

What would it mean to see things as they truly are? Is it even possible to do so? Thomas draws from an ancient Buddhist verse to explore this Mystery in this episode. The Prajnaparamita Sutra describes the "Wisdom Mother" continuing to "instruct her enlightened children about the true nature of What is." Take a breath, relax the body, open the Heart, and explore this practice of "Perfect Wisdom" w...

In a previous episode, Thomas said that "the Dharma is all about second chances." In this episode, he goes into much greater detail. Namely, he asks how we can learn to bring a greater degree of mindfulness to the most difficult experiences of our lives. For anybody serious about decreasing their own suffering and that of others, this practice is an invaluable tool!

"Duende", a term coined by the Spanish poet, Lorca, describes the power of art to whisk us away into a world of "invisibles." In this episode, Thomas mixes poetry and Dharma to invite you into a new realm full of magic and mystery. Is "duende" really a thing? Try on this practice and decide for yourself!

Appropriateness—an admittedly unsexy term, but with very sexy implications! Appropriateness has everything to do with showing up freshly in each moment of life and doing something we've never done before because we've never encountered precisely this same moment. As our mindfulness practice deepens, we respond to the moment less from our habituated programs of the past and more from a place where...

What could it mean to see the "World in a Grain of Sand", or to live "Eternity in an hour"? In this extended meditation, Thomas points out the "Ground of Being", a classic territory in contemplative practice.

The soul's need is overwhelming. There are no lengths it would not go to to get the sustenance it needs to flourish. In these days of quarantine, take a moment—take many moments—to come back to yourself and be honest about what really drives you. What really feeds you. Then risk it. Watch these ibexes for inspiration .

In these Covid times, we have all lost things that we didn't plan to lose. Many of us probably spend more energy than we'd like fearing further loss. In this episode, acquaint yourself with the fear that surrounds the experience of loss and learn to include it more fully in the wholeness (and holiness) of your life.

Life is full of second chances. The Dharma is all about second chances. Just now, if you didn't meet the last moment with full presence and full awareness, life will offer you the next moment to get it right. It's as if Reality itself is not content until you fully receive the "Great Gesture", right now. Always right NOW.

It's World Autism Month! In honor of all of our neurodiverse loved ones, Thomas shares a story of a dharma teaching from his brother, Joseph, who is on the autistic spectrum. Join us in this episode for a practice inspired by one of the many superpowers that people with autism have to offer to the world. Also, if you have any leads on helping Joseph make new and meaningful connections, please emai...

In these times of quarantine, it can be easy to get bogged down in one care, one concern, one worry after another. When we enter that "mind" of fretting, there is no end to our troubles. How about cashing in all of the cares in the world for one single care? Would you do it? Would it even be possible to stop worrying and let something else within us tend to all of our cares? Come and see!