Tara Brach

2011-09-28 - Causing No Harm - The mindstates behind violence--anger and fear--are universal and natural. If they possess us and drive our actions, we suffer. If we learn to meet them with a mindful awareness--if we step out of judgment and angry reactivity--we serve our own freedom and the possibility of peace on earth as well. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.i...

2011-09-21 - Part 2 - Do You Make Regular Visits to Yourself? - These two classes cover the basic instructions for Buddhist mindfulness (vipassana or insight) meditation. The first class explores the attitude we bring to meditation that makes it rewarding, and the training that helps us in "coming back" from thoughts. The second class guides us in "being here," in cultivating a mindful awareness t...

2011-09-14 - Part 1 - Do You Make Regular Visits to Yourself? - These two classes cover the basic instructions for Buddhist mindfulness (vipassana or insight) meditation. The first class explores the attitude we bring to meditation that makes it rewarding, and the training that helps us in "coming back" from thoughts. The second class guides us in "being here," in cultivating a mindful awareness t...

2011-09-07 - Finding The Juice Inside of Fear - Learning to bring a mindful presence to fear is an intrinsic part of spiritual awakening. In this talk we look at the ways we get caught in the trance of fear, and how the two wings of presence--clear recognition and openheartedness--can free us. This process of facing unmet fears is necessary not only for our own healing, but for any possibility of...

2011-08-31 - Befriending Irene - Whether you face chronic anxiety or more violent storms of fear and anger, you can cultivate the wings of freedom--the mindfulness and compassion--that free you. This talk explores how the habit of being reactive causes us suffering and the ways these tools of meditation can be applied to the inner weather systems that most challenge us. Please support this podcast...

2011-08-24 - Wholehearted Living - What stops us from being wholehearted in our relationships and life? This talk explores the conditioning that keeps us from an engaged presence, and the key elements to manifesting heart and spirit in all that we do. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donation makes a difference! Thank you!

2007-09-26 - The Gift of Silence - 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 us to settle in a natural way, the presence which is silence itself, and the wisdom an...

2011-08-10 - Relating Wisely to Desire - Without desire, this world would not exist. While this universal energy is entirely natural, if we are not mindful of it, desire can become a narrowed fixation or addiction that creates deep suffering. This talk explores the ways we can pay attention that honor this energy without allowing it to cut us off from presence and possess us. Please support this p...

2011-08-03 - Learning to Respond, Not React - When life doesn't go our way, we often launch into a chain reaction of obsessive thinking, blaming and unpleasant emotions. This talk explores how we can use meditative practices to step out of reactive patterns and respond to life's challenges from our naturally wise heart. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org....

2011-07-27 - Part 2: The Mystery of Who We Are - Everything we cherish--love, creativity, wisdom, aliveness-- arises out of our capacity to arrive in Beingness. This talk explores the stress that leads us to cut off from our natural state of being, and two key pathways home. Included are guided meditations that explore the nature of our awareness, the essence of who we are. Please support this pod...

2011-07-20 - The Mystery of Who We Are - The Buddha taught that we suffer because we don't realize who we are. This talk explores two pathways of awakening from the insecurity and reactivity that arises from a narrow sense of self. Listeners are invited to investigate the nature of awareness through several guided reflections. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imc...

2011-07-06 - The Joy of Conscious Relationships (from 2007-09-19) - We live in a relational field, and as we develop the capacity for presence with others, we discover the truth of our connectedness. This discovery is experienced as love, and gives rise to genuine happiness and inner freedom. This talk explores the teachings and practices that nourish conscious relationships. Please support this p...

2011-07-06 - Flow and Presence - In the moments when we are truly happy, there is a sense of both aliveness and presence. This talk reflects on three key ways we remove ourselves from living presence; and offers guided reflections that can re-open us into the flow. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donation makes a difference! Thank you!

2011-06-29 - Compass of the Heart - Are you aware of the intentions that are shaping your thoughts, moods and life experience? This talk explores how mindfulness of intention allows us to open to our deepest heart's aspiration, and have that guide the unfolding of our lives. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donation makes a difference! Thank you!

2011-06-22 - Presence and Empowerment - In the moments we feel threatened, hurt or dissatisfied, we often flip into controlling mode--our body, heart and mind become contracted and we disconnect from presence. This talk explores how we can shift from controlling, to an empowering presence. When we do, our deepest wisdom and compassion begin to shape and guide our life. Please support this podcast...

2011-06-15 - Soul Recognition - Seeing Past the Mask - We each long to be true to ourselves--to live from the love, creativity and wisdom that is our essence. This talk explores how, by attending to three key domains, we train ourselves to see beyond ego conditioning. By deepening our attention, we can free ourselves and others to be who we truly are. Please support this podcast by donating at www...

2011-06-08 - The Art of Listening--Nourishing Loving Relationships - Deep listening is an essential ingredient in intimate, caring relationships. This talk reflects on the intentionality, presence and quest for understanding that create the grounds for a healing and loving listening attention. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donation makes a diffe...

2011-06-01 - Part 2: Stress and Meditation - When we are suffering from stress, we are paying attention to our world in a narrow and rigid way. Through meditations that cultivate a wakeful and open attention, we can dramatically transform the feelings of anxiety and aloneness that underlie all stress. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donation makes...

2011-05-25 - Part 1: Stress and Meditation - When we are suffering from stress, we are paying attention to our world in a narrow and rigid way. Through meditations that cultivate a wakeful and open attention, we can dramatically transform the feelings of anxiety and aloneness that underlie all stress. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donation makes...

2011-05-18 - Stepping Out of Time - We spend much of our life on our way somewhere else, driven by the sense that something is missing or wrong. This talk explores the suffering that arises from our addiction to busyness and "doing," and the healing, loving and wisdom that arise when we take refuge in presence. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your dona...

2011-05-11 - The Buddha's Spiritual Awakening: A Myth For Us All! - In this telling of the Buddha's story, we find archetypes that reveal a universal path of awakening and freedom. We explore how each of us has the potential to realize the loving and radiant awareness that is our source. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donation makes a difference!...

2011-05-01 - Remembering Love (from IMCW Spring Retreat) - The habit of self-judgment not only causes emotional pain, it creates a trance that obscures the purity and vastness of our Being. This talk explores how a wakeful and forgiving heart can heal and free us. Please support this podcast by donating at www.tarabrach.com or www.imcw.org. Your donation makes a difference! Thank you!

2011-04-27 - The Blessings of Embodied Awareness - One expression of our suffering is homelessness--feeling cut off from the presence and aliveness that is our source. This talk explores the existential and cultural forces that foster disconnection from our physical and energetic being, the practices that enable us to embrace our unlived life and the gifts of homecoming. Please support this podcas...

2011-04-20 - Part 2 -- Realizing True Well-being - Buddhist psychology and the Western oriented field of positive psychology agree: How we pay attention determines whether we live primarily in fear and judgment, or happiness and peace. This two part series explores the teachings, practices and attitudes that enable us to live a meaningful life with a heart that is "happy for no reason." Please sup...

2011-04-13 - Part 1 -- Realizing True Well-being - Buddhist psychology and the Western oriented field of positive psychology agree: How we pay attention determines whether we live primarily in fear and judgment, or happiness and peace. This two part series explores the teachings, practices and attitudes that enable us to live a meaningful life with a heart that is "happy for no reason." Please sup...