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Dharma Talks
given at Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2023-03-23
The Shift of Practice from “Doing” to “Being”
54:51
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James Baraz
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While it’s true that it takes effort to come back to the present moment each time the mind wanders, the most profound practice is when we let go of all effort and simply rest in the awareness that’s always here. This shift from “doing” to the complete relaxation of “non-doing” or simply “Being” is what the Tibetans call the deep and subtle practice of “Non-Meditation”.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2023-03-02
The Cosmic Game of Hide and Seek
53:25
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James Baraz
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A classical text from Kashmir Shaivism entitled "Realization of Our True Heart" or Pratyabijñāhṛdaya, describes in a few lines how we and everything in physical form is simply an expression of Divine Play of the universe –what in Hinduism is called the lila or dance of consciousness. This talk explores one perspective of the Mystery, that which cannot be named.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2023-02-09
Living Kindness
56:03
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Kevin Griffin
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Kevin Griffin explores the Metta Sutta, the Buddha's words on Loving-Kindness. How can we actually live this teaching in an embodied way? Kevin's new book is Living Kindness: Metta Practice for the Whole of Our Lives. From Publisher’s Weekly: “The lucid analysis of Buddhist texts and the jargon-free examination of metta make this an ideal primer on a core element of Buddhist thought and practice."
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2023-01-26
Why Intensive Practice
54:25
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James Baraz
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Going through the process of sitting in silence over a long period of time is a unique and profound experience. What happens on a month-long retreat and why do people do it? Though it is not possible for everyone to get away for that length of time or have the desire to do it, the principles shared can be applied to shorter retreats as well
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2023-01-12
Motivation from the Heart: The Place of Devotion in our Practice
53:50
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James Baraz
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Devotion is not a topic often spoken of in our Buddhist community. Yet it plays a significant role in monastic communities and Tibetan practices. The Buddha spoke of Saddha, one's heartfelt connection to practice as one of the Five Spiritual Faculties and Powers. Devotion can be a major source of inspiration which can fuel our practice. How can we access it and have it moisten and bring juice to our practice - even for those not naturally inclined that way.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2023-01-05
"The Stress Prescription"
59:35
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Elissa Epel and James Baraz
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James and guest Elissa Epel, talk about her new book The Stress Prescription. Elissa is a long-time practitioner, highly-respected researcher and Professor and Vice Chair of UCSF's Department of Psychiatry. Here is James' book endorsement:
“I love this book! Backed by solid scientific research, Elissa Epel’s engaging, user-friendly, down-to-earth style is at once practical, convincing, and motivating. This is more than just another stress-reduction book—The Stress Prescription makes you feel like you’ve gotten the secret keys to ease and contentment. I enthusiastically recommend it!”
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-11-17
Confidence and Humility: It's Not about Me
51:07
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James Baraz
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The Buddhist writer Wei Wu Wei wrote: "True humility is the absence of anyone to be proud." We are often humbled by life. How we handle it can either lead to defeat or profound growth. We explore how being humbled can deepen our capacity to open to all of our experience and strengthen our confidence and trust as we align ourselves with something greater than ourselves.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-10-20
Anything Can Happen at Anytime:
Holding Loss with a Tender Heart
53:46
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James Baraz
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Our Dharma community is processing sad news this week that has sent a shock wave through the sangha. One of our respected teachers who led movement at many Spirit Rock retreats and mentored many students in the practice took her life after a long bout with health issues that affected her mental well-being. A truism of the law of impermanence is that "anything can happen at any time." I want to use this event as an opportunity to explore how the practice can help support us when a sudden major loss happens.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-10-06
From Heartbreak to Compassionate Action
55:06
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James Baraz
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Kaye Cleave is a sangha member and film producer of the award-winning movie Catherine's Kindergarten. Catherine’s Kindergarten is the story of Kaye's emotional journey to confront her grief after the death of her only child, juxtaposed with her physical journey to a Nepalese mountain village to open a school in memory of her daughter. It is a truly moving experience. I'm proud to be part of Kaye's journey and in the film. Kaye will share some of her story of how the practice helped her process her grief and transform it into compassionate action. We share a clip of the movie and discuss the process of how we can turn heartbreak into meaning.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-09-08
Refuge in the Buddha Within
55:07
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James Baraz
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This talk explores the deeper meaning of "Taking Refuge in the Buddha." This is not simply honoring or being inspired by the historical figure who lived 2,500 years ago. Until we see the Buddha right inside of us we are missing the point of what that teacher was trying to have us awaken to. We will look at various teachings that point to discovering the Buddha within.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-07-14
The Five Hindrances
62:19
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Mei Elliott
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This talk provides an overview of the Five Hindrances, afflictive mental states that obscure our inner wisdom. It covers how to practice with the hindrances by engaging mindfulness, curiosity and kindness, as well as how to apply antidotes. Mei Elliott is currently the director of San Francisco Zen Center’s City Center temple, where she lives and practices.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-06-23
Self-Friendliness: What it isn't and is, why and how we can practice
55:37
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Eve Decker
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The Buddha said – "...and how does one abide with one's heart imbued with loving kindness? Just as one would feel friendliness on encountering a dearly beloved friend, so does one extend loving kindness to oneself and all creatures." Do you feel friendliness toward yourself in a consistent way? If not, why not? And what are some effective practices to deepen self-friendliness and the positive effect that has on all areas of life, including happiness, health, and relationships?
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-06-12
The Five Daily Reflections
52:53
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James Baraz
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A follow up to a recent talk that focused on death and dying. This talk explores the other four of the Five Daily Reflections (also known as the Five Remembrances): aging, illness, loss and karma. It includes practices and discussion on how we can include them regularly in our Dharma practice, which the Buddha highly recommended.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-06-09
5 Methods to Work with Troublesome Thoughts:
MN #20: Vitakkasanthana Sutta
49:43
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James Baraz
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The Buddha gave a teaching on five different methods he recommended to work with disturbing thoughts. When we are mindful of the thinking process it's possible to see thoughts simply as mental fabrications. However, when we get caught in them and the body gets activated, we spin out in the story and are caught in a negative emotional response. We become identified with those mental formations and can more easily get lost. When that happens, the Buddha offers these five strategies as skillful techniques to deal with the confused mind.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-05-26
Songs and Poems to Support Practice
56:10
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Eve Decker
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There is great value in memorizing wisdom teachings. It gives the mind access to support when a teacher, spiritual friend, or book isn't readily available. One easy and fun way to log wise teachings into long term memory is through songs and poems with messages of mindfulness, lovingkindness, compassion and more. Eve shares several that came up supportively on her recent two week retreat; and you are warmly welcome to bring a practice-supporting poem or song as well.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-05-19
The Problem with Resisting Reality: The Possibility of Real Freedom
52:21
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James Baraz
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As much as we would like things to be a certain way, we have limited control over the way things are. Even though that may be apparent to all Dharma students who have some practice under their belt, the mind still gets caught in the habit of attachment to things being a certain way. This week we will explore what gets in the way, how we can open to the way things really are and the radical shift that can occur within us when we see through this self-created prison.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-04-21
Gratitude for Our Home: Celebrating Earth Day
51:34
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James Baraz
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This Earth Day week we share an evening of gratitude and celebration for our natural world. When we get in touch with our love for something we are more motivated to care for it. Rather than going into the dire situation that most of us are all too familiar with, we can get connected with the beauty of the world that is our home We share a clip on the natural world and the experience of gratitude, which starts with an adorable little girl talking about the wonder of exploring nature instead of watching a screen followed by Brother David Steindl-Rast on gratitude. Although it is audio only you can still here the magic in the words. To see the video here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpkEvBtyL7M
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-04-14
Maranasati: Practice with Death and Dying
50:31
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James Baraz
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The Buddha suggested reflecting regularly on five aspects of life called the Five Reflections (also called the Five Remembrances). This talk focuses on what he called "the most supreme of all meditations": mindfulness of death or maranasati. Although contemplation of one's death might seem unsettling or scary, when undertaken as a conscious practice it can be extremely enlivening and even liberating.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-04-07
Clear Comprehension: The Buddha's Teaching on Four Different Elements of Practice
48:53
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James Baraz
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This talk explores the topic of Clear Comprehension (sampajañña in Pali) a powerful Dharma teaching on four different aspects of practice. In the Satipatthana Sutta the Discourse on the Four Foundation of Mindfulness, with regard to each foundation, the Buddha says the following: "Here, bhikkhus (practitioners), a bhikkhu (practitioner) lives contemplating the body in the body, ardent, clearly comprehending and mindful, having overcome, in this world, covetousness and grief..."
Clear comprehension means more than just having bare attention. Understanding and applying these four facets of Clear Comprehension can support a real deepening of our Dharma practice.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-03-31
Motivate Ourselves with Compassion
Learn and Practice with the Power of Compassion
49:32
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Eve Decker
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Compassion is a central Buddhist teaching and practice. It is meant to be applied to all aspects of life, including our inner life. Many of us learned to motivate ourselves with critical inner language and tone. This creates an inner atmosphere where difficult emotions arise more easily. We can utilize compassion instead - and lift the well-being our whole inner life, while still motivating ourselves. The talk explores the difference between criticism and compassion in self-motivation, and how to use compassion as our guide rather than criticism.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-03-24
Creating Your Own Lovingkindness Phrases
53:40
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Eve Decker
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Lovingkindness meditation, or 'metta' (ancient Pali word for loving-kindness or friendliness), is a way of training the mind to be more loving and compassionate. The value of this is immense - a warmer, friendlier inner life and more skillful choices in the world. Technically, lovingkindness meditation uses phrases - language - as the vehicle of meditation. Buddhism provides traditional phrases that many people love, and we don't have to be limited by those phrases if they don't speak to us or if we want to try adding more personalized words.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-03-10
The Dharma of Good Leadership
57:27
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James Baraz
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When a leader has the welfare of the people as a priority the country prospers. When a leader cares only for themselves the country declines. This talk explores the Buddha's teaching on the qualities that make a good leader, the influence a leader has on the people and the story of an actual leader who underwent a transformation from a feared merciless ruler to one of great wisdom and compassion. We discuss how these teachings apply to our contemporary world.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-03-03
Sad Heart, Breaking Heart:
Working with the Invasion of Ukraine
58:10
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James Baraz
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The news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is particularly sad and disturbing Although there are conflicts like this happening around the world, an unprovoked invasion from one of the strongest military countries in the world into a European country that could feasibly escalate into another world war is deeply unsettling. We explore as a community how our practice can help us hold all the feelings that may be arising. Includes a 7 minute clip of Joanna Macy explaining her Spiral from her "Work that Reconnects."
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-02-10
The Practice of Letting Go
37:06
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Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith
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Ramona Oritz-Smith offers a talk on the nekkhamma, one of the ten paramis or perfections. Nekkhamma is usually translated as renunciation. However, the Buddha taught that practicing the nekkhamma is not a deprivation but rather brings great happiness when one experiences the freedom that comes from simplifying and letting go of our attachments. Ramona has been taking this on as a practice for the last two years and is happy to share what she's learned and invites us to explore this for ourselves.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-01-27
Remembering Thich Nhat Hanh
51:02
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James Baraz
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The great Vietnamese Master, Thich Nhat Hanh, passed away on January 22nd at the age of 95. Thay, as he was known to his students, was one of the most influential Buddhist masters in modern times.We spend the evening exploring his teachings and honoring his spirit. A short clip of him teaching is included as part of the evening.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-01-20
Equanimity with Uncertainty: Finding Balance in Difficult Times
51:13
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James Baraz
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Equanimity or Upekkha is a highly valued quality in Buddhist teachings. It is one of the Four Divine Abodes, one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, one of the Ten Perfections and on a number of other lists. When highly developed it is the precursor to the experience of awakening. But what is equanimity? How can we cultivate it in our meditation practice? Even more, how can we access it in our daily life, especially in times like these with so much uncertainty, fear and sadness over the suffering in the world? We will explore various aspects of equanimity that can be pragmatically applied to our life off the cushion.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-12-30
New Year's Gathering: Letting Go and Moving On
51:53
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James Baraz
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As the year comes to an end, we mark and celebrate this transition point by reflecting on where we are in our lives and consciously get in touch with our vision for the coming year. The Buddha talked about the power of having Wise Intention and "Clear Comprehension of Purpose" to keep us facing in the right direction. As a community we can support each other through reflecting on what we've learned in 2021 and share a ritual to call forth our vision for the coming year.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-12-02
Women’s Bodies: How mindfulness and compassion can help us heal
the effects of toxic messaging
57:48
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Eve Decker
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There is an unintentional but unfortunate blend in mainstream culture of patriarchy (“a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property”) and consumerism (“the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods. The need to sell things.”) This combination has led to decades of massive cultural messaging around “ideal” female bodies that are both childlike and sexualized. Eve Decker takes a look at how this messaging affects our thinking minds and how Buddhist practices can help us heal.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-11-11
Letting Your Heartbreak Open to Active Hope
53:05
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James Baraz
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How can we keep open and stay engaged when our hearts are breaking and we just want to shut down? How can we cultivate a "no-matter-what commitment" as Terry Patten teaches? How can we develop "Active Hope" as Joanna Macy calls it. That is the topic of this week's exploration. The talk includes a powerful 20-minute conversation between Joanna Macy and Thanissara that took place a month before this recording.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-11-04
Showing Up for Reality with Humility and Grace:
Terry Patten's Last Teaching
50:16
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James Baraz
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Beloved Philosopher, Teacher and Sacred Activist Terry Patten sadly passed away a few days before this talk. His last book, A New Republic of the Heart, is an inspiring teaching on how to face the global crises we are in. As he went through his own final journey he shared how one can face death with courage, wonder, grace and trust. It was a blueprint for how to meet the pain and sorrow of the world with those same qualities. This talk includes a powerful, clear, deeply moving clip excerpt of Terry's last teaching a week before he passed plus some of his teachings that have touched so many.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-10-28
Am I Enough?
53:06
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James Baraz
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A great Zen treatise says that someone truly enlightened is "without anxiety about non-perfection." It's no wonder that, with such impossible standards that most people hold themselves to, they always seem to fall short. How is it that others can so easily see our goodness while we're often the last ones to see our "True Nature"? The talk includes a short excerpt of Ram Dass sharing his primary practice to remember who we really are.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-10-07
Emptiness and the Big Perspective
50:29
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James Baraz
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The Heart Sutra teaching famously states: "Form is Emptiness Emptiness is Form." This liberating perspective is the gateway to understanding the inter-connectedness of all phenomena and the spaciousness and freedom that comes from seeing our place in the bigger scheme of things. The talk includes a recording of Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweikart's moving account of the profound shift he experienced upon seeing the Earth from outer space.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-09-30
Right Livelihood: Exploring Work as part of our Spiritual Path
54:17
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Della Z Duncan
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Della Duncan, a Renegade Economist, Right Livelihood Coach, and the host of the Upstream Podcast whose work is deeply inspired by Buddhist Economics explores the “Right Livelihood” virtue of the Buddah’s Eightfold Noble Path, both philosophically as well as practically in our own lives. For a supplement to the conversation, here is an article Della co-wrote on the subject with Mark Phillips, “Cultivating Right Livelihood: Work as a Spiritual Path and a Vehicle for Economics Systems Change.”
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-09-16
Anything Can Happen at Anytime: Working with Uncertainty
49:16
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James Baraz
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We explore the topic of dealing with uncertainty. Although we never know what lies ahead, at this time the feeling of uncertainty is highlighted in a more acute way globally than ever before. What will happen next with the virus and its variants? Will people get vaccinated or will the anti-vax information continue to influence people's choices? What about climate disruption? Will we collectively wake up to the reality in time to keep from heading over the cliff of self-destruction? What does the Dharma offer us to wisely work with this unknown reality?
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-08-26
Dharma Songs: Listen to and Sing the Dharma
53:09
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Eve Decker
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Eve Decker and her mom, Eleanor Decker offer songs that convey dharma themes. Eve's mom, Eleanor, has been singing all her life, brought her kids up singing, and co-leads the Valley of the Moon Threshold Choir.Threshold Choirs are predominantly women and sing at the bedsides of the dying. Eve has been writing songs on dharma themes and collecting dharma-themed songs, for many years. Come sing your dharma!
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-07-29
Different Lenses, Different Realities
46:36
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James Baraz
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When people ask, "How are you?" it depends on what lens we're looking at life through. The personal lens evokes a very different response than the societal one. This talk explores how we can hold different realities in our minds and hearts at the same time. Also the compassion that comes from understanding that each person has their own reality that makes sense to them.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-07-15
Accessing Your Triggers for Insight
51:41
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James Baraz
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Have you ever had a profound meditation experience and tried with frustration to recreate it?This is a common experience for many practitioners. Just as trauma can be triggered in our body and mind, the same is possible with positive experiences that we've gone through. This talk explores how this works and how we can access those profound moments and the wisdom that they've awakened in us.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-07-08
Fierce Self-Compassion: When Compassion Meets Action: Protect, Provide, Motivate
55:35
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Eve Decker
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Eve gives a talk based on a book just released by Kristen Neff titled Fierce Self Compassion. Though the book is written for women, all genders can benefit from the teachings and practices on bringing the energy of care into strong action, both solo and collective. If we hope to transform our suffering and suffering in the world, we must act. Eve explores some of the concepts and practices, born in Buddhist teachings and articulated in this excellent new book.
Eve refers to a link to test how self-compassionate you are:
https://self-compassion.org/test-how-self-compassionate-you-are/
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-06-10
Mindful Self Compassion: A powerful Tool for Positive Transformation
56:10
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Eve Decker
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"Mindful Self Compassion" was developed from Buddhist teachings by Christopher K. Germer, PhD, and Kristin Neff, PhD. MSC combines the skills of mindfulness and self-compassion, providing a powerful tool for emotional resilience. Mindfulness is the first step in emotional healing—being able to turn toward and acknowledge our difficult thoughts and feelings (such as inadequacy, sadness, anger, confusion) with a spirit of openness and curiosity. Self-compassion involves responding to these difficult thoughts and feelings with kindness, sympathy and understanding so that we soothe and comfort ourselves when we’re hurting.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-06-03
Divisiveness in the Buddha's Community: The Quarrel at Kosambi
52:18
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James Baraz
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One of the greatest challenges today in the US is divisiveness within the country. However, the Buddha faced the same problem right within his community! The Quarrel at Kosambi tells the story of his sangha dealing with a bitter argument that almost created a schism in the sangha. And the Buddha had a very difficult time trying to bring peace between the two factions. We will discuss this story and the lessons we can learn that can be applied in today's time.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-05-27
Not Seeing Dukkha is Dukkha
51:30
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James Baraz
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This talk is based on a teaching from Joseph Goldstein: "Not seeing dukkha is dukkha." It's humbling to realize that we are creating much of our suffering. But it's through clearly seeing this that we also create the possibility of truly waking up. We can change our whole relationship to seeing how we get caught by old habits and thought patterns from self-judgment to compassion and liberation.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-03-28
Befriending Ourselves Daylong
4:26:41
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James Baraz,
Eve Decker
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When we develop a basic kindness towards ourselves we not only learn to accept the difficult parts, but in the process embrace our humanity and see more clearly the beauty that's inside. As we do that we allow our goodness and True Nature to shine through. This becomes a gift to everyone we meet, a healing energy that awakens the goodness in others as well.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-03-18
Honeyball Sutta: The Buddha's Teaching on Papanća
56:36
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James Baraz
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Have you ever wondered how your mind can move from one thought to getting lost in a complex story without you knowing how you got there? The Buddha describes this process in his Honeyball Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya #19) where he explains the phenomenon of papanća or proliferation of thought. The more we understand this porcess and work with it as practice, the less we get caught up in the stories the mind creates.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-02-25
Gratitude
52:46
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James Baraz
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In the Mangala Sutta, the Discourse on Blessings, the Buddha teaches: "To be content and grateful is a blessing supreme." Gratitude is a particularly potent ally in awakening true happiness because it helps expand the mind as well as the heart. With a grateful heart we have a larger container and more space to hold the difficulties we encounter. When we pause to notice what we usually take for granted a new world of possibilities opens up. It's as if we've changed the station instead of being stuck on our own little "drama channel."
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2021-01-28
Anatta and Self-Forgiveness
49:00
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James Baraz
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Do you ever give yourself a hard time if you've made an embarrassing mistake or have done something you regret? This talk explores how we can truly forgive ourselves with a thorough understanding of the Buddha's teaching on the selfless nature of who we are, otherwise known as Anatta, the selfless nature of experience.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2020-12-03
Three Pillars of Dharma
52:14
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James Baraz
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This is a continuation of the theme of the process of purification that leads to awakening. An exploration of what Joseph Goldstein calls "Three Pillars of Dharma." These are three spheres that we can cultivate which lead to supportive conditions for us to practice and then realize the fruits of practice. Includes Eve Decker offers a song on the theme.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2020-11-19
Transformation is Possible
50:20
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James Baraz
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When we start the spiritual journey we see that our mind is filled with unskillful habits of thought, colored by attachment, aversion and confusion. The Buddha described the process of purification that enables us to purify and transform first our outward conduct, then our thoughts and finally our subtle spiritual aspirations. This purification process leads ultimately to full awakening. The talk includes the Buddha's teaching of how this process works through the simile of the "Refinement of Mind."
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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