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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Tara Brach's Dharma Talks
Tara Brach
A pervasive but often invisible source of suffering in our culture is self-aversion. We are a busy culture, and we move through our life feeling anxious and dissatisfied, but not fully conscious of how we neglect or judge our inner experience. We suffer from a lack of belonging: to our own bodies, to each other and to the earth. When we practice Buddhist meditation, we learn how to listen deeply and hold our life tenderly.
2009-06-10 Don't Know Mind 1:14:31
Thoughts, and more broadly, conceptual knowledge, cannot lead to the direct realization of truth, of reality. While thoughts are an essential part of surviving and thriving, spiritual awakening only becomes possible when we step out of the trance of thinking. This talk invites listeners into the radical openness and freedom of not-knowing.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-06-03 The Attitude that Perpetuates Suffering 1:10:46
Our conditioning is to conclude that "something is wrong" when we encounter difficulty. This way of relating to experience binds us in a trance--it locks in the identification with a separate, victimized, self; it leads to unwise action and it removes us from presence. This talk guides us in recognizing our often unconscious attitude towards what is happening, and arriving in the unconditional presence that is the source of love, wisdom and freedom.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-05-27 Celebrating Vesak: Oh Nobly Born 1:12:28
Vesak is the Buddhist holiday that celebrates the Buddha's birth, enlightment and death. What links these events is the radical and powerful message of all Buddhist teachings: We each have the potential to realize and live from and awakened heart and mind. This talk explores how the key mythological, psychological and spiritual junctures of the Buddha's life are entirely relevant to our own transformation.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-05-20 Three Gifts That Serve Freedom 56:43
There are three spiritual capacities that are essential for our freedom. The first, forgiveness, is the releasing of stories that this self, or another, is bad. It is an opening of the heart to include all parts of our own being and this world. The second, inner fire, is the energy of devotion to what most matters to us. The third, looking within to realize what we are, reveals the truth of reality itself. This talk uses an ancient Indian teaching tale and guided meditations to explore these core elements of spiritual liberation.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-05-13 Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield: An Evening of Questions and Responses 1:22:21
Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield: An Evening of Questions and Responses
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-04-29 Wise Investigation 1:11:37
This talk focuses on the use of inquiry and investigation in energizing a lucid, mindful presence. The interest and care that underlies wise investigation is essential in both healing difficult emotional tangles and in revealing the very nature of reality. Guided meditation included.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-04-22 Part 2 - Intention and Spiritual Freedom 1:17:19
While we can't change the past, it is our intention in this present moment that determines the unfolding of happiness and freedom in our life. When unconscious, our intentions are often shaped by craving and aversion. These two talks explore how we can become mindful of intention, and realize the depth and purity of our innate aspiration toward awakening and freedom.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-04-15 Part 1 - Intention and Spiritual Freedom 1:22:01
While we can't change the past, it is our intention in this present moment that determines the unfolding of happiness and freedom in our life. When unconscious, our intentions are often shaped by craving and aversion. These two talks explore how we can become mindful of intention, and realize the depth and purity of our innate aspiration toward awakening and freedom.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-04-08 Downwind from Flowers 1:14:08
This talk reflects on ways that we can attend to nature--our inner body, the natural world and our relatedness to each other. Through these domains we can discover the impermanent flow of life, a gateway to pure Beingness and the healing to wholeness that arises from love.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
2009-04-01 Awakening Through Conflict 1:20:40
The wisdom of the Buddha can guide us not only in discovering inner freedom, but in healing that which divides us from each other. While conflict is inevitable--we are wired toward flight and flight when our needs are not met--it is possible to have our patterns of interpersonal reactivity be the very grounds for awakening. This talk draws on the work of Non Violent Comunications (Marshal Rosenberg) and explores how mindful communications are an interpersonal meditation that gives rise to compassion and understanding.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

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