The Heart of Light Podcast

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 29, 2023, about enthusiasm.  What is the difference between enthusiasm and excitement? How hungry are we for truth and growth? What is the critical role of accepting feedback in spiritual life?  This talk was the fourth in a series of six talks on the Paramitas in the Mahayana tradition. This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the I-Revolution at East Bay Healing Collective on May 28, 2023, about memory.  How do we work with the stories we tell ourselves?  What kind of commitment do we have with ourselves? What does it mean to “remember” the part of us that is eternal?   This is the quote sheet for the talk.   

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 22, 2023, about patience.  What does patience have to do with expectations and capacity?   What is the “near enemy” of patience? How do we cultivate equanimity and presence? This talk was the third in a series of six talks on the Paramitas in the Mahayana tradition. This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 15, 2023, about discipline.  How do we cultivate discipline? What is the connection between discipline and self-love? What are the subtle differences between self-discipline and the paramita of discipline? This talk was the second in a series of six talks on the Paramitas in the Mahayana tradition. This is the quote sheet for the t...

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 8, 2023, about generosity.  When is giving true generosity? What are the connections between generosity and vulnerability? What are the many forms of generosity in everyday life? This talk was the first in a series of six talks on the Paramitas in the Mahayana tradition. This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 1, 2023, about the Jungian idea of the Shadow.  How does pretend otherness differ from true otherness?  How do we work with the deeply held patterns of permission that bind us? What is so frightening about stepping into our authentic power? This talk fell on the Celtic holiday of Beltaine.  This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 24, 2023, about the meaning of life.  How does living in the head prevent us from having richly meaningful experiences? How deep is our ability to connect? What is the role of inner silence in contacting what is most meaningful? This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 17, 2023, about humility.  How does the wounding of toxic shame pervert our understanding of humility? How can we joyfully embrace letting go of ego’s many self-glorifying attachments? How is healthy humility deeply grounded in self-love? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the I-Revolution at East Bay Healing Collective on April 16, 2023, about emotional sovereignty.  How are healthy boundaries a gift to ourselves & others? What does it mean to cultivate a warrior’s discipline? What are the challenges and rewards of embracing deep self-responsibility? This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 10, 2023, about recognizing the Sacred.  How is taking anything for granted a poison in in spiritual life? Are we alive to the way that beauty can move us? Do we allow out heart to be touched by all the love around us? This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 3, 2023, about the Last Supper discourse.  What is the role of humility & humiliation in spiritual  life?  What ideal of love furthers our unfolding? How do we move closer to the interconnection that is our primary reality? This talk fell on the Monday of Holy Week. This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on March 27, 2023, about transformative healing.  How do we work with the core pain of shame & self-hatred? What are the paradoxes of healing? How do we trust in the possibility of healing our life? This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on March 20, 2023, about inner renewal.  How do we contact the vivid freshness of life? How do we honor what is emerging in those close to us? How do we keep up with the edge in us that is fearless about growth? This talk fell on the Vernal Equinox. This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on March 13, 2023, about the first chakra.  What is our relationship to belonging? How do we work  with toxic shame? How do we arrive fully in our bodies and in our lives? This was the last in a series of three talks on the first three chakras.   This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on March 6, 2023, about the second chakra.  What is our relationship to patterns of holding & release?  What is our relationship with pleasure and addictions? How do we relate to those aspects of the world and to those aspects of ourselves that are in uncontrollable flow? This will be the second in a series of three talks on the first thr...

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on February 27, 2023, about the third chakra.  What are healthy boundaries and why are they rare in our culture?  How do we strengthen our boundaries? What does it mean to cultivate one’s own power? This was the first in a series of three talks on the first three chakras. This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on February 20, 2023, about discipline, one of the paramitas of the Buddhas.  Why is self-discipline so hard in modern times?  What are the potential pitfalls of cultivating discipline? How do we craft a discipline that affirms and nurtures all of who we are? This is the quote sheet for the talk.

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on February 13, 2023, about mysticism in everyday life.  What is irreducible about ordinary sense experience? How does silence reveal the radiance of the world? How do we approach the intimate mystery beneath our own deepest vulnerability?  This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on February 6, 2023, about antiracism & Buddhism.  How does antiracist work dovetail with Buddha dharma? How do we unpack the racism held in our bodies? How do we embody love & compassion in a healing & integrative way? This talk fell on the first Monday of Black History month.  This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on January 30, 2023, about desires vs. real needs.  How do we distinguish authentic needs from imagined fantasized needs? How well do we distinguish between enough and too much? How do we simplify our needs? This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on January 16, 2023, about the sacrifice of love.  How deeply do you give? In what ways are you prepared to risk yourself in love? How do we cultivate the capacity to step into the more profound levels of letting go? This talk fell on the evening of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. This is the quote sheet for the talk.   

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on January 9, 2023, about believing in oneself.  What would it mean to have faith in oneself? How would we live if we really trusted ourselves and our intuitions?  How do we cultivate greater self-trust and self-fidelity? This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on January 2, 2023, about confinement and choice.  What true choices do we have in relating to outer unpleasant constraints? How do we relate to our own inner stuckness? What is the paradoxical wisdom of transformation that opens the door to a whole new experience? This is the quote sheet for the talk.   

This is a dharma talk on December 27, 2022, about unique vs. special.  What are the profound ways we are unique? What are some of the traps around seeing ourselves or our lives as special? What is the relation of humility to these ideas? This talk fell on the Christian feast of St, John, Apostle & Evangelist.    Here is the quote sheet for the talk.    

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on December 19, 2022, about resilience.  How do we cultivate resilience? How do we push past ego’s imagined limits? How do we cultivate faith in our core wisdom & strength? This talk fell on the first day of Hanukkah and a couple days before the winter solstice. This is the quote sheet for the talk.