Tara Brach

In this rich and heartful conversation, I join two dear Buddhist monks — Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho — who are in the process of founding Clear Mountain Monastery, a new Buddhist community in the Seattle area. Their bright, warm spirit brings a lighthearted and sincere presence to our dialogue, making this exchange a true joy to share. Together, we explore many dimensions of the spiritual path — including my own journey of finding refuge during a dark time, the teachers who’ve inspired me, and the teachings that most deeply call to my heart. We also reflect on the practice of RAIN, the dance between directing attention and opening to what’s here, and how compassion and equanimity intertwine to support us in these challenging times. Along the way, we touch into the Pali word sanook — meaning fun or lightheartedness — which beautifully captures the spirit of our time together. May this conversation nourish your own trust in the path and remind you of the goodness and joy that are always here, waiting to be discovered. In this talk, we’ll look at: - how trusting our basic goodness becomes the foundation for intimacy, creativity, and awakening compassion in a suffering world. - Tara’s own journey through illness and fear, and how softening around pain opens the heart to freedom and love. - the power of the RAIN meditation to transform judgment and reactivity into mindful presence and self-acceptance. - how taking a sacred pause helps us step out of the virtual trance and re-enter embodied awareness and connection - trusting Buddha-nature — the radiant goodness that shines through all beings — as the ultimate refuge in an unraveling world. Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho are part of Clear Mountain Monastery Project, an aspiring Buddhist forest monastery in the Seattle area.  Website: https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ClearMountainMonastery 

This meditation scans the body and directly invites the awakening of key energy centers (chakras) in our body. We then rest in the openhearted awareness that includes this ever changing creative flow of aliveness. 

In an age of polarization, conspiracy thinking, and deepening mistrust, how can we cultivate a trust that is wise and healing –for our own heart and the world? This talk explores the personal and collective forces that foster mistrust, and through reflection and applied practices, we’ll explore how to nurture a trust in basic goodness and a felt sense of belonging, even in the most divided times.

In our everyday life we are conditioned to feel that life is happening to us, or that we are the doer. This meditation deconditions that self-centrality by bringing attention to the aliveness in our bodies, and then opening to receive the entire play of sounds, sensations and feelings in awareness.

Desire is intrinsic to all living forms – the urge to exist and flourish. It turns to suffering when, due to unmet needs, it contracts, intensifies and separates us from our full aliveness and awareness. These two talks guide us in awakening from this trance, and discovering how within desire is the longing that can carry us to true belonging.   In this talk, Tara explores: how the “wanting mind” pulls us away from presence and freedom. how unmet needs fuel craving and why substitutes never bring lasting joy. the suffering of identifying with desire and how mindfulness offers release. using the RAIN practice to recognize, allow, and soften the wanting mind. tracing back desire to discover love, belonging, and freedom already here.

This guided meditation invites you to gently come home to the aliveness of the body. Through mindful awareness, you’ll learn to soften tension, release mental agitation, and rest in the simplicity of presence. As you bring a compassionate attention to sensations, you discover a refuge that is always here—an embodied wholeness that allows you to meet life with greater ease and tenderness.

Desire is intrinsic to all living forms – the urge to exist and flourish. It turns to suffering when, due to unmet needs, it contracts, intensifies and separates us from our full aliveness and awareness. These two talks guide us in awakening from this trance, and discovering how within desire is the longing that can carry us to true belonging. In this talk, Tara explores:  - how the “wanting mind” pulls us away from presence and freedom. - how unmet needs fuel craving and why substitutes never bring lasting joy. - the suffering of identifying with desire and how mindfulness offers release. - using the RAIN practice to recognize, allow, and soften the wanting mind. - tracing back desire to discover love, belonging, and freedom already here.

When our hearts open to the life that is here, just as it is, we discover vast loving presence. This meditation engages the smile as we scan through and awaken to our body and senses. Then we practice meeting the changing flow of life with a full allowing, wakeful and open awareness.

In an age of polarization, conspiracy thinking, and deepening mistrust, how can we cultivate a trust that is wise and healing –for our own heart and the world? This talk explores the personal and collective forces that foster mistrust, and through reflection and applied practices, we’ll explore how to nurture a trust in basic goodness and a felt sense of belonging, even in the most divided times.

This brief practice calls on conscious breathing, relaxing, letting go and a touch of lovingkindness to nurture inner balance, harmony and ease. 

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. the practice of the U-turn—turning inward with kindness to transform anger, fear, and grief into care. the balance of a “strong back and soft front,” cultivating courage and tenderness in times of violence. how seeing the suffering beneath harmful actions allows us to meet others with wise compassion. how presence, RAIN practice, and shared belonging can guide us toward healing and peace.

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.

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 recognizing thoughts as “real but not true” opens the door to compassion and release. * three pathways—returning to presence, awakening the heart, and resting in awareness—that guide us from head to heart. * how mindfulness and loving awareness reconnect us with our wholeness and the joy of simply being.   The post From Head to Heart appeared first on 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 will all cross the finish line; that waking up to life is what we were born for. As many times as I forget, catch myself charging forward without even knowing where I’m going, that many times I can make the choice to stop, to breathe, and be, and walk slowly into the mystery.” ~ Danna Faulds   The post Meditation: Opening to the Mystery (17.33 min.) appeared first on 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 discomfort arises, and how returning to direct sensation reconnects us to aliveness. practical ways to stay present with physical and emotional pain, transforming “pain” into the changing flow of sensation. mindful strategies like pendulating between ease and discomfort, softening resistance, and “resting in love” to reduce suffering. how waking up in the body opens a portal to mystery, dissolving the small self and revealing our true nature as vast awareness.   The post Embodied Presence - Portal to the Sacred, Part 2 appeared first on 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: Meditation: Entering Heartspace with the “Smile-Down“ (18:40 min.) appeared first on 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. how disconnection from the body fuels suffering, while mindful awareness restores empathy and wholeness. practical ways to return to the body throughout daily life and expand our capacity for presence. how slowing down, reconnecting with nature, and sensing the body open us to the sacred mystery of life.   https://www.tarabrach.com/embodied-presence-portal-to-the-sacred-part1-2/ 

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/

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 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: listening as a spiritual path that heals wounds and deepens connection with ourselves and others. how to quiet the “dense forest” of thoughts to meet others with presence and care. practical ways to stay present—using anchors, pauses, and self-coaching in conversations. how compassionate listening helps others feel seen, restoring a sense of aliveness and belonging. listening as a bridge for reconciliation, revealing our shared humanity and capacity for healing.   https://www.tarabrach.com/listening-to-the-song-part2-2/

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 Meditation: The Silence That is Listening (21:32 min.) appeared first on Tara Brach.