Tea with Mara

“Get Into Wise Trouble”  is a Dharma talk and guided meditation on courageous, compassionate action. Inspired by a moment in Babel by R.F. Kuang, and grounded in the words of the late Congressman John Lewis—this talk explores the Buddhist path of standing up, speaking out, and disturbing harm with love. We talk about what wise trouble really looks like, how the Buddha and Thich Nhat Hanh modeled i...

"The Motherly Heart" is a Dharma Talk and brief guided meditation in honor of Mother's Day, that talks about the full spectrum of motherly love, and explores the difficulties that many experience on this holiday and how our practice can transform that suffering. I hope you will find value in this offering. Enjoy! https://www.reverendgeorgebeecher.com

"You Can't Take It With You" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on clinging/craving. Specifically inspired by a story in the news this week about the auction of "Buddha's Jewels" at Sotheby's Hong Kong. The story is packed with dharma questions, but what struck me is what was missing. In this talk we get into it. I would love to see your comment below on w...

"The Dharma of Star Wars" is my annual May 4th Star Wars Day Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha. We had BB-8 rolling around and chattering during our silent meditation space while sitting for this one, we discussed many correlations between the Dharma and Star Wars, informed by Matthew Bortolin's excellent dharma book and my own nerdery (and my bad voice acting). And if you were present for t...

"Take Five and Breathe" is a dharma talk on the unique timing signature of life. We want life to be in 4/4 time, but life is a jazz musician, and will throw in 5/4 time whenever it gets the urge. Luckily the Buddha taught us to flow with whatever quirky timing life threw at us. This talk invokes everything from Dave Brubeck to Sleep Token, from Tron Legacy to The Little John Beecher Orch...

"A Quiet Place to Practice" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on Chapter 30 of Old Path White Clouds, discussing the five precepts for lay-practitioners, and a story from the Jataka Tales. Primarily this talk points at how the first four precepts provide us with a quiet place (our mind) to practice, and how the fifth precept supports those like a foundation for that place. I h...

"We Listen And We Don't Judge" is a Dharma Talk and brief guided meditation that looks at how we can show up and support people when they are grieving or scared of losing a loved one. We talk often about death, and about fear of it, but I wanted to talk about how to support someone when they are the ones facing it. May you find something of value in this. https://bio.reverendgeorgebe...

"Water Rises Fire Burns"  is a Dharma talk from Two Hands Sangha exploring the themes of Chapters 26 and 27 from  Old Path White Clouds . This talk follows the transformation of Kassapa, a fire-worshipping ascetic whose meeting with the Buddha shifts his path entirely. We reflect on the power of presence, the fire of craving and ignorance, and the steady stream of insight that can rise w...

"Karma and Coffee" is a Dharma talk and guided meditation exploring how the Dharma shows up in the most unexpected places—like a "Cozy Fantasy" novel (called "Legends & Lattes" by Travis Baldree) about a coffee shop run by an orc. We reflect on wise livelihood, karma, equanimity, and the power of choosing peace over conflict, all through the lens of a surprisingly insightful little story. It’s...

“The Sangha Grows”  is a little different from our usual episodes—this one is actually two in one. In our local sangha, we’ve been exploring the Buddha’s life after his awakening, drawing primarily from Thich Nhat Hanh’s  Old Path White Clouds . This week, I read Chapter 24, continuing from where we left off last time. I had planned to read Chapter 25 as well, but then I remembered that I had alre...

"If It Ain't Broke..." is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation about learning to pause and reflect before leaping into action to fix something that may not need to be fixed. People tend to tweak and tinker in the effort to improve, and often they end up creating problems where there were none. Then we try to tinker our way back to stable footing. It rarely works out well. The Bu...

"Yasa and The Boodles" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on the story of Yasa who gives up his life of drunken debauchery to find peace in this lifetime with the Buddha's teachings. So what is a Boodle? Mostly just me mis-speaking which I was going to edit out, but I decided it was to silly and fun to cut. Or maybe "Yasa and The Boodles" is the name of my band. I...

“Forgetting to Remember” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation inspired by a conversation about those moments when the mind just won’t cooperate—when the harder we try to remember, focus, or figure something out, the more stuck we feel. This talk explores why that happens, what the Buddha had to say about clinging and effort, and how letting go—not giving up—can open the door to clarity. I...

"Relaxed Living Through Perfect Imperfection" is a Dharma Talk offered at Two Hands Sangha (and the title is a play on the Audi slogan which is explained in the talk) on the topic of the Four Brahma Viharas. Let's explore these four practices, and how they are both the path and the fruit of practice. I hope you enjoy this one! https://bio.reverendgeorgebeecher.com

"Not To But Through" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation inspired by a community member on how we aren't actually pushed and pulled by the past or present, but that it is we who are doing the pushing and pulling. This is what the Buddha was teaching when he spoke about craving. I hope you find something useful in this one! Enjoy! https://bio.reverendgeorgebeecher.com

"Big Wheel Keep On Turning" is a dharma talk that picks up where we left off last Sunday in Two Hands Sangha, after the Buddha's awakening, when he meets his five ascetic friends and delivers the first sermon Setting In Motion The Wheel of The Dhamma. I open with some references to CCR's song, because of course I did. I'm not sorry. I hope the fun we had helps to deliver the...

**Improved Promo Text** “Hand Me Down Habits” is a Dharma talk and guided meditation (32:00) exploring our generational habit energy; the conditioning and trauma we sometimes inherit—and unwittingly carry forward. The good news is, we can also learn to change these patterns and break the cycle. This heartfelt session offers insights and tools to recognize and transform inherited habit energies, op...

"In The Beninging" is a dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha which was an impromptu paraphrasing of the Buddha's origin story taking from sources such as Thich Nhat Hanh's "Old Path White Clouds", various sutras, and some creative license. I wanted to give a quick and dirty backstory of the Buddha for some new Sangha mates who might not be familiar. I hope you'll...

"The Risks and Rewards of Trust" is a dharma talk and guided meditation (31:21) addressing whether the risks of connection are worth the pain of broken trust. Trusting others can feel like a gamble. Some say keeping people at a distance is the safest way to avoid pain. Others believe trust is essential for connection. So where’s the middle path? In this talk, we explore detachment vs. no...

"Letting Go of Foreboding Joy" is a dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha that asks "How often do we find ourselves bracing for impact just when life is at its best?" That creeping sense that joy can’t last—that if we let ourselves fully feel happiness, something bad must be waiting around the corner. Join us as we unpack the practice of holding joy lightly, trusting the ebb...

“Five Kinds of Joy” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation (37:29) about something that doesn’t get nearly enough attention in Buddhist spaces— joy . It’s easy to think Buddhism is all about suffering, but the truth is, the Buddha wasn’t interested in suffering for suffering’s sake. He was interested in freedom —in uncovering happiness and learning how to sustain it. This talk explores how j...

"Inviting My Younger Self To Tea" is a Dharma talk inspired by the viral TikTok trend #metmyyoungerselfforcoffee (which itself was inspired by a beautiful poem by Jennie Cecelia ) and the Buddha’s teachings on impermanence. It’s about looking back with kindness, seeing how we’ve grown, and realizing that we are never as stuck as we think. Through self-reflection, a little nostalgia, and...

“Don’t Borrow Tomorrow’s Trouble”  is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha inspired by some quotes from Rebecca Yarros' wildly popular book Fourth Wing about staying present. It's about how our minds race ahead, worrying about what hasn’t happened or clinging to what has. Through  Fourth Wing , the Buddha’s teachings, and a little BookTok fun, we unpack how we get "taken in"...

"Facing Fear, Finding Refuge" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation (27:56) exploring how we meet today’s uncertainties head-on…while still finding solace in the present moment. This talk dives into why fear can actually be our teacher—showing us what matters most—and how refuge in mindfulness allows us to regroup, breathe, and remember life’s simple joys. Enjoy! https://bio.rever...

“Self Sabotage and Karma”  is a Dharma talk reflecting on how our unexamined actions (and inaction) create the conditions we find ourselves in—personally and collectively. This talk explores how blame, habit patterns, and ignorance of interdependence can keep us stuck, and how understanding karma can help us move toward skillful, compassionate engagement. Enjoy! https://bio.reverendgeorgebeecher.c...