Presence and Compassion in a Violent World
Tara Brach
As our societies unravel in fear and reactivity, we are called to live from our most awake and wise heart. This talk and meditation was first offered to Satyam, a community of Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals devoted to creating a future of justice, safety, freedom, and dignity for all. It invites us to move beyond the conditioning of “bad-othering,” and to cultivate clarity, compassion, and the capacity to respond in ways that seed healing. In this talk, Tara explores: how the trance of “bad othering” fuels division and how compassion can free us from blame....
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Meditation: Resting in Knowing (22:11 min.)
Tara Brach
Behind the activity of thinking, and the ever-changing flow of sounds, sensations and feelings, there is a great and awake silence that holds all that unfolds. This space of awareness is our formless essence, and learning to open and rest into this alert, knowing vastness has the blessings of homecoming.
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From Head to Heart
Tara Brach
If we are suffering, we are believing an interpretation of reality that is limiting and untrue. At these times we are imprisoned in a painful looping of fear-driven thoughts and feelings. This talk explores the ways our practices of mindfulness, compassion and loving presence can guide us from addictive thinking to perceiving life with a wise heart. In this talk, Tara explores: how fear-based thoughts create suffering and keep us locked in cycles of insecurity and separation. * the pathway of moving from the prison of looping thoughts to the freedom of open-hearted presence. * Ihow...
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Meditation: Opening to the Mystery (17:34 min)
Tara Brach
This guided meditation includes a body scan and invites the receptivity and letting-go of whole body breathing. Once we have awakened the vitality and presence throughout the body, we have access to the formless dimension, the awareness that is our source. The meditation closes with “Walk Slowly”, from the poetry of Danna Faulds: “It only takes a reminder to breathe, a moment to be still, and just like that, something in me settles, softens, makes space for imperfection. The harsh voice of judgment drops to a whisper and I remember again that life isn’t a relay race; that we...
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Embodied Presence - Portal to the Sacred, Part 2
Tara Brach
This two part series explores how we regularly leave our body and skim life’s surface in a mental trance, and the ways we can train our attention to come home again. We look at working with physical and emotional pain, and the gifts of love, wisdom, creativity and aliveness that arise as we learn to fully inhabit these living forms and all our senses with awareness. In this talk, Tara explores: how embodied presence awakens love, creativity, and wisdom—inviting us to meet life’s moments with full attention and an open heart. the universal tendency to leave our bodies when...
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Meditation: Entering Heartspace with the “Smile-Down” (18:40 min.)
Tara Brach
The practice of visualizing and feeling a smile spreading through the body helps us access the natural tenderness and openness of our being. This meditation guides us in the smile-down, and then invites a full opening and resting in openhearted presence. We close by bringing that awake heart to an area of difficulty in our life. The post: appeared first on .
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Embodied Presence - Portal to the Sacred, Part 1
Tara Brach
This two part series explores how we regularly leave our body and skim life’s surface in a mental trance, and the ways we can train our attention to come home again. We look at working with physical and emotional pain, and the gifts of love, wisdom, creativity and aliveness that arise as we learn to fully inhabit these living forms and all our senses with awareness. In part 1, Tara explores: how embodied presence is the gateway to healing, love, and spiritual connection. the four common trances—obsessive thinking, judgment, distraction, and rushing—and how they block presence....
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Meditation: Being Here (20:53 min.)
Tara Brach
We miss many moments of this precious life drifting in a virtual thought world. This meditation helps us collect and calm ourselves with the breath; relax through our bodies; and then include the changing dance of sounds, sensations and feeling in open awareness. Our practice is to recognize the quality of Hereness, and when we drift, return again to this open presence, relaxing with the changing flow of life. https://www.tarabrach.com/meditation-being-here-2-2/
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Listening to the Song – Part 2
Tara Brach
Listening is more than a communications skill, it is a capacity that awakens our awareness. And given our current times, this capacity is essential if we are to navigate the great divides that separate us from our inner life and others. As we learn to listen inwardly, we begin to understand and care for the fears and vulnerability that ask for our attention. And as we listen to others, that same intimacy emerges. In this two-part series we examine the blocks to listening and the practices that cultivate this essential domain of human potential. Our focus is both on the transformational power...
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Meditation: The Silence that is Listening (21:32 min.)
Tara Brach
Listening to sound is opens up to the space of pure being. In this guided practice we begin by awakening through the body, and then explore listening to sounds and silence, and to inhabiting the receptive presence that is listening, awareness itself. The post appeared first on .
info_outlineListening is more than a communications skill, it is a capacity that awakens our awareness. And given our current times, this capacity is essential if we are to navigate the great divides that separate us from our inner life and others. As we learn to listen inwardly, we begin to understand and care for the fears and vulnerability that ask for our attention. And as we listen to others, that same intimacy emerges. In this two-part series we examine the blocks to listening and the practices that cultivate this essential domain of human potential. Our focus is both on the transformational power of listening in our personal lives, and also the necessity for deep listening if we are to bring healing to our wider society.
In this talk, Tara explores:
- how listening softens distance between hearts and invites deeper connection.
- “listening to the song” as a way to honor the essence beyond our roles and stories.
- common obstacles to presence—distraction, fear, and agendas that block true listening.
- how deep listening can help heal old wounds, allowing love and aliveness to flow more freely.
- listening with an undefended heart, willing to be changed by what we hear.