Compassion in Times of Conflict—a Conversation with Tara, Paul Gilbert, and Rick Hanson
Tara Brach
In this talk, we explore how compassion can arise in the midst of conflict—within our lives and in the larger world. In a conversation with Paul Gilbert, moderated by Rick Hansen, we reflect on how our evolutionary conditioning—especially the brain’s threat system—fuels fear, shame, and the reflex to see others as “other.” Drawing on Buddhist psychology, we look at how a sense of separation and the stories of blame keep us caught in reactivity—and how we can begin to shift out of reactivity into presence, understanding, and care. This talk includes a guided reflection for working...
info_outline
Meditation: Widening Rings of Being (20:26 min.)
Tara Brach
If we can recognize thoughts as thoughts, it becomes possible to open from virtual to living reality. This meditation guides us in awakening the senses and discovering the freedom - the awake space of Being that is beyond the confines of thoughts. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music
info_outline
This Messy, Gorgeous Love—a Conversation with Tara and Devon and Nico Hase
Tara Brach
Tara is joined by two longtime friends and wonderful teachers, Devon and Nico Hase, to explore their recent book, This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership. This refreshingly real and relatable book offers guidance for anyone wanting to deepen love in their relationships. Drawing from their own lived experience—with humor, humility, and insight—Devon and Nico reveal how partnership can be both challenging and profoundly transformative. In this conversation, they explore what truly supports a deep and loving partnership: how to meet conflict and...
info_outline
Meditation: Embodying Loving Awareness (19:42 min.)
Tara Brach
Love is often abstract, and not fully alive. In this practice, with the supportive image and felt sense of a smile, we are guided to awaken loving in our body, mind and whole being. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music
info_outline
Your Awake Heart Is Calling You: Healing Separation and Returning to Loving Presence
Tara Brach
In this talk, we'll explore the deep evolutionary and spiritual currents that shape our lives—the pull of fear and separation, and the quiet, persistent call toward love, compassion, and belonging. Drawing on stories, reflections, and contemplative practices, this talk invites us to remember that caring is our true nature, even when it feels distant or obscured. Through mindful awareness and heart-centered practices, we begin to sense how our awakened heart calls us—through both the pain of disconnection and the longing for love. As we learn to turn toward our inner experience with...
info_outline
Meditation: Listening to our Heart (22:52 min)
Tara Brach
In this guided meditation, we are invited into a gentle, receptive presence—listening not only to sound, but to the living experience of our body and heart. Through mindful awareness of breath, sensation, and the changing flow of experience, we begin to soften into a deeper intimacy with life just as it is. As attention opens and relaxes, this practice supports us in meeting whatever arises—pleasant or difficult—with tenderness and compassion. We learn to listen beneath the surface, allowing the heart to reveal its longings, fears, and quiet wisdom. In this listening presence, there is...
info_outline
Love-Based Activism: A Conversation with Tara Brach and Mohsen Mahdawi - Part II
Tara Brach
In this conversation, Tara is joined by Mohsen Mahdawi—Palestinian refugee, Buddhist practitioner, and courageous voice for justice—whose life bridges worlds that are so often held apart. Growing up in a refugee camp and later emerging as a student leader and advocate for Palestinian dignity, Mohsen brings a rare integration of spiritual depth, clarity and dedication to societal transformation. Together they explore how inner awakening can ground fearless activism, what it means to stand for justice amid profound asymmetry of power, how to resist dehumanization in a polarized world,...
info_outline
Meditation: A Witnessing, Kind Presence (20:21 min)
Tara Brach
Starting with scanning through the body and awakening the senses, we then rest in presence, with the breath as a home base. The meditation invites an openness to whatever arises, and a gentle kind attention if we encounter physical or emotional pain. We end with a prayer that includes our own being and all beings. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music
info_outline
Love-Based Activism: A Conversation with Tara Brach and Mohsen Mahdawi - Part I
Tara Brach
In this conversation, Tara is joined by Mohsen Mahdawi—Palestinian refugee, Buddhist practitioner, and courageous voice for justice—whose life bridges worlds that are so often held apart. Growing up in a refugee camp and later emerging as a student leader and advocate for Palestinian dignity, Mohsen brings a rare integration of spiritual depth, clarity and dedication to societal transformation. Together they explore how inner awakening can ground fearless activism, what it means to stand for justice amid profound asymmetry of power, how to resist dehumanization in a polarized world,...
info_outline
Meditation: The Pathway of Deep Listening (21:16 min)
Tara Brach
Listening is an ideal template for awareness itself - it is naturally receptive, open and awake. This meditation invites a deep listening to and feeling our lives, and opens us to the realization of the flow of changing experience and the background awareness that is the source of our Being. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music
info_outlineWhile we can’t change our past, we have the capacity in this moment to remember our deepest intention and seed the future. Intention can become the compass of our heart, guiding and creating our life experience.
In these two talks we explore how we awaken mindfulness of intention and how, when we are caught in habits that create suffering, we can find our way home to the deep intention that heals and frees us. The two talks include reflections and practices that can bring the power of intention alive in your life.
Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music