The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Dharma Talks given at Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
2022-08-03 Three Blessings in Spiritual Life – Part 1: Forgiveness 49:53
Tara Brach
This 3-part series explores three capacities we all have, that when cultivated, bring spiritual awakening and serve the healing of our world. Drawing on an ancient teaching story from India, we explore together the power of a forgiving heart, the inner fire that expresses as courage and dedication, and the inquiry of “who am I” that reveals our deepest nature.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

2022-07-27 Meditation: Befriending and Opening to Life 28:56
Tara Brach
This meditation establishes a gentle and caring presence through bringing the image and felt sense of a smile to various domains in the body. We deepen the intention to befriend and relax with whatever arises moment-to-moment, letting life be just as it is. We offer a brief lovingkindness reflection, sensing our heart and mind, and offering whatever wish most resonates to ourselves and others.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

2022-07-27 Awakening from the Landlocked Self 53:04
Tara Brach
The Buddha taught that our suffering arises from forgetting who we are. This talk explores the trance of identifying as Somebody, and the compassionate witnessing that allows us to discover the freedom of our natural being.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

2022-07-20 Meditation: The Breath – Portal to Presence 15:31
Tara Brach
The meditation starts with breathing mindfully to collect and calm the body and mind. Then we open our attention to include the changing flow in a spacious natural presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

2022-07-20 Homecoming to Your True Nature: Awakening Beyond the Separate, Fearful Self 60:38
Tara Brach
Most of us unconsciously identify as a separate, threatened, deficient self. This talk shines a light on this conditioning and explores the ways that mindfulness, compassion and self-inquiry reveal the freedom of our true nature.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

2022-07-13 Meditation: Resting in Wakeful Presence 19:09
Tara Brach
This meditation scans through the body – arriving in the foreground with sounds, feelings and sensations, like the surface waves of the sea coming and going. And in the background, experiencing an alert inner stillness – a vast presence from which all activity pours forth.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

2022-07-13 From Dragons to Schmoos – Meeting Life with Compassionate Presence 55:05
Tara Brach
The trance of unworthiness is sustained by our aversion to the dragons – the difficult emotions and related behaviors that are a deeply conditioned part of the human experience. In this talk we explore the awakening that is possible as we recognize our reactive patterns and, instead of judgment, offer a loving and healing presence.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

2022-07-06 Meditation: Cultivating a Gentle, Kind Attention 19:45
Tara Brach
This meditation calls on the image and felt sense of a smile as we scan through the body, and invites a receptive and caring presence, as we open our attention to the changing flow of life.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

2022-07-06 Navigating the Dark Ages 43:42
Tara Brach
How do we process and respond to increasing societal oppression and violence? What helps us transform the energies of fear, hatred and delusion? This talk offers ways we can draw on our spiritual path to steady our heart and engage with presence, wisdom and care.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

2022-06-29 Meditation: Letting Go 20:53
Tara Brach
One way of understanding meditation is a letting go of the habitual clenching of thoughts, the clenching that resists emotions and pulls away from aliveness itself. This meditation guides us in letting go, first through the body, and then practicing letting go of thoughts and relaxing and resting in the changing flow of experience. The blessing of letting go is a homecoming into the truth and wholeness of what we are, a realization of reality, and freedom.
Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC

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