Retreats Archives - Tara Brach: Recent Episodes
Retreats Archives - Tara Brach
We have strong conditioning to identify as a separate self, and to feel all the fears and attachments that arise from not realizing our true belonging. This talk includes teachings and several experiential reflections that help us wake up from the trance of separation.
As we grow familiar with the awareness and love that is our shared true nature, we naturally live from that loving, and experience a growing freedom and joy. [Spring Retreat, April 2024 – Art of Living Retreat Center]
photo: Gary Hillesland
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Prayer is a communing with our enlarged being. This talk examines less conscious forms of prayer, and how we can evolve the power of our prayers by opening into the […]
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We evolve our consciousness by bringing a clear and kind attention to the tangles of suffering. This talk explores how the “second arrow” of self-judgment imprisons us in emotional reactivity, and the pathways of awakening awareness that reconnect us with our full human potential. (This talk was given at the 2016 IMCW fall retreat.)
photo: Jonathan Foust
The post The Wings of Awakening – Self-Honesty & Love (retreat talk) appeared first on Tara Brach.
Our True Nature – Emptiness Dancing (retreat talk) The most profound question in spiritual life is “who (or what) am I?” This talk explores ways of inquiring into the nature of awareness, and the blessings of embodying the realization of our radiant, empty essence. This audio talk was first offered at the 2011 IMCW Fall Weeklong Retreat, and it includes several guided reflections.
Photo: Janet
The post Emptiness Dancing: Inquiring into the Nature of Awareness (retreat talk) appeared first on Tara Brach.
We can’t truly open to the waves of life unless we recognize our Oceanness, the formless awareness that is our source. This meditation begins with awakening the senses and then invites us to discover the spacious presence in the background of all experience.
You might reflect on these words from the Tibetan tradition:
Utterly awake, senses wide open.
Utterly open, non-fixating awareness.
NOTE: This meditation was given on the 4th morning of the 2018 IMCW New Year’s Retreat. It’s especially enjoyed when the mind is a bit quieter.
Image: Australian Coast – Donna JS Russo
The post Meditation: Being the Ocean and Opening to the Waves (from retreat) (23:14 min.) appeared first on Tara Brach.
We can’t truly open to the waves of life unless we recognize our Oceanness, the formless awareness that is our source. This meditation begins with awakening the senses and then […]
The post Meditation: Being the Ocean and Opening to the Waves (retreat) (26:55 min.) appeared first on Tara Brach.
Only when we face our fears can we discover the freedom to love without holding back. This talk looks at how unprocessed fear contracts our body, heart and mind, and […]
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Taking in the Goodness: Rumi said, “Whenever some kindness comes to you, turn that way – toward the source of kindness.” This meditation guides us to look for the source of loving and to turn in that direction. It begins with a lovingkindness practice that spreads the image of a smile into the body, then continues with a practice of seeing the goodness of ourselves and others.
Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are.
Thomas Merton
En Français – Méditation: Recevoir-la-bonté**
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Living in a fear-based society fuels the trance of separation and unworthiness. This talk explores how we can bring an engaged compassionate presence to the suffering of this trance—in our […]
The post Repairing our Hearts – Healing with the RAIN of Compassion appeared first on Tara Brach.
Our capacity to live and love fully is entirely intertwined with how we relate to change and loss. These two talks are an invitation to look honestly, and without judgment, […]
The post Change, Loss and Timeless Love – Part 2 (Retreat Talk) appeared first on Tara Brach.
While meditation begins with purposeful collecting of attention, it leads to non-doing presence, to Being. In this guided practice, we arrive in presence through a body scan and attention to […]
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~ an Open Awareness Meditation ~ When our awareness is awake and open, we naturally respond to this changing life with warmth, tenderness and love. This practice helps us discover […]
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This heart meditation guides us in how to cultivate a deep quality of friendliness in relating to our inner life and each other. The gift of this practice is a […]
The post Guided Heart Meditation: Loving Kindness – Befriending our Lives (27:22 min.) appeared first on Tara Brach.
Our self-protective habits of resentment and blame block intimacy and connection with ourself and others. This short talk and meditation are an invitation to deepen our understanding of the suffering […]
The post Short Talk & Guided Heart Meditation: Releasing Blame (retreat) (41:39 min.) appeared first on Tara Brach.
We all encounter “demons” of fear, anger, hurt, craving and shame. This talk explores our key ways of resisting difficult emotions, and how “when the resistance is gone, the demons […]
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This guided session includes an overview of the primary components in meditation practices, and then guidance in awakening the senses, collecting the attention, and opening mindfully to changing experience (from […]
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This meditation explores the meaning of forgiveness and its role in healing and transformation. We then are guided in a forgiveness practice that helps us release the armoring of blame, […]
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