The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Dharma Talks given at Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
2012-10-03 Part 1: Wise Intention: the Compass of our Hearts 67:42
Tara Brach
One of the most powerful spiritual practices in the world is to reflect on your heart's deepest intention. These two talks look at the way that ego-based intentions perpetuate thoughts, feelings and actions that keep us imprisoned in feeling separate and limited. In contrast, remembering our deeper intentions call us home to the freedom of our true nature.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2012-09-26 Part 2: Embodied Spirit 1:19:36
Tara Brach
Our body--this changing field of sensation--is a portal into pure Being. These talks explore the resistance we have to embodied presence, the pathways that enable us to awaken through our bodies, and the blessings of realization that arise as we let go over and over into the aliveness of our senses. NOTE: Part 2 specifically addresses the challenge of arriving in embodied presence when we are facing traumatic fear, and other intense and difficult emotions.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2012-09-19 Part 1: Embodied Spirit 1:15:43
Tara Brach
Our body--this changing field of sensation--is a portal into pure Being. These talks explore the resistance we have to embodied presence, the pathways that enable us to awaken through our bodies, and the blessings of realization that arise as we let go over and over into the aliveness of our senses.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2012-09-12 The Freedom of Yes 1:24:10
Tara Brach
How do we accept ourselves or others when our actions are causing harm? Does acceptance mean passivity? Does it undermine our efforts towards change? This talk responds to these questions with a simple, illuminating and challenging principle about genuine transformation: Acceptance is the prerequisite of true healing and awakening. Only when we've paused to recognize and allow this moment's experience to be fully as it is, can we respond from our intelligence and compassion to prevent future suffering.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2012-09-05 Trance of the Unreal Other 1:22:49
Tara Brach
We are conditioned to perceive people as unreal others- two dimensional characters who lack sentience, vulnerability and goodness. This is often most insidious when we filter people through demeaning culturally driven stereotypes. This talk explores the suffering of living in a trance that separates us from others, and how our practices of mindfulness and compassion enable us to experience what Thoreau calls the "miracle" of seeing through another's eyes, if only for a moment.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2012-08-29 Intimacy with Our Inner Life 1:18:49
Tara Brach
Jung wrote that our suffering arises from the unseen, unfelt parts of our psyche. This talk explores ways we can establish a healing presence by recognizing and communicating with the parts of our being that we habitually ignore or judge.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2012-08-22 Part 2: 1000 Serious Moves 1:21:27
Tara Brach
We easily habituate to feeling stressed, leaning forward, trying to figure things out and get things done. The undercurrent is we are living reactively--resisting unpleasant experience, seeking out more comfort and ease--perpetually wanting life to be different than it is. In response to this confined way of living, the Buddha invites us to discover our innate capacity for happiness, the well-being that arises in full presence. These two talks explore the ways we get caught in the trance of reactivity and grimness, and the pathways to unconditioned happiness.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2012-08-15 Part 1: 1000 Serious Moves 1:26:15
Tara Brach
We easily habituate to feeling stressed, leaning forward, trying to figure things out and get things done. The undercurrent is we are living reactively--resisting unpleasant experience, seeking out more comfort and ease--perpetually wanting life to be different than it is. In response to this confined way of living, the Buddha invites us to discover our innate capacity for happiness, the well-being that arises in full presence. These two talks explore the ways we get caught in the trance of reactivity and grimness, and the pathways to unconditioned happiness.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2012-08-08 Real But Not True 1:18:24
Tara Brach
One of the most liberating realizations is that we don't have to believe our thoughts. In this talk we look at the suffering caused by limiting beliefs--"I am unworthy, unlovable, unsafe"--and the process by which we open into the full aliveness and potential of our being.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

2012-08-01 Back to the Garden 1:16:45
Tara Brach
The suffering of perceiving ourselves as separate selves expresses as fear, aggression, shame and a host of other afflictive emotions. This talk examines how, by taking refuge in the present moment, and taking refuge in love, we reconnect with our wholeness, and the timeless presence that is home. This inquiry includes a guided meditation on the power of prayer to carry us back to our natural belonging.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks

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