This talk explores the practice of Bare Attention and how suffering ceases in the experience of gratitude. You’ll learn about the distinction of the linear mind and the intuitive mind, the practice Bare Attention and a technique for opening to gratitude as a way of shifting the mind to a more fluid and intuitive state.

This talk explores how to deconstruct beliefs. You’ll learn about the origin of thoughts and beliefs, the art of interrupting the stream of thinking, the art of deconstructing beliefs and the importance, when you do this work, to err on the side of safety and self-care.

This talk explores the power of noting or labeling your inner experience. You’ll learn how you can cut through discursive thinking by training your attention to the sense fields, but also what it means to ‘take the seat of the witness’ and note or label what is happening inside.

This talk explores how to cut through the trance of thinking. You’ll learn how turning toward awareness itself reveals how much you rely on thinking and some practical strategies using embodied awareness for ‘remembering’ who and what you truly are.

This talk explores how you can open to greater insight and wisdom in your life. You’ll learn about the characteristics of a wise person, what gets in the way of wisdom, the anatomy of intuition and insight and the natural flowering of compassion when you see clearly into the nature of reality.

This talk explores the power of paying attention on purpose as well as the power of non-judging awareness. You’ll learn about how getting control of your concentration can make a huge difference in your life as well as what happens when you turn attention to awareness itself. This talk includes a number of practical, experiential reflections.

This talk explores how you can cultivate lasting happiness. You'll learn how to avoid the biggest trap in seeking happiness and how you can cultivate happiness both externally - through wise and skillful action - as well as internally - by how you pay attention.    

This talk reveals the best technique for awakening heart and mind.   You’ll learn about techniques that awaken your capacity for sustained present-moment awareness, techniques for cultivating awareness of change, techniques for purifying the heart and techniques for opening to the mystery.  And at the end, the best technique of all.

This talk explores what I think of as the “Frank Sinatra Sutta.”   You’ll learn the importance in meditation - and life - of willful doing combined with conscious being.  The result of this balance is ‘knowing,’ the arising of insight into the nature of reality itself.  

This archive talk explores how your perception of stress and suffering in the world is a mirror your inner world. You’ll learn how, by reflecting on the core teachings of suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering and the path that leads to the cessation of suffering, you can change yourself. And by changing yourself, you can truly change the world.

This talk explores why, after 52 years of practice, I still meditate. You’ll learn about the science behind meditation, what all great traditions say about the practice, the power of empirical evidence and the potency of the intention to live in authentic cooperation with reality.

We’re back! We had so much fun last time we are doing another.   Here’s the second installment of practice questions with Tara Brach and Jonathan Foust. 

Jonathan interviews his wife, Tara Brach, regarding common practice questions and weighs in on a few himself.

This talk explores how to increase your capacity for joy and wholesome states.   You’ll learn about the nature of Joy, what gets in the way of the experience and how to cultivate more and more positive and fulfilling qualities of presence.

This talk explores the near-enemy of love:  Attachment. You’ll learn about the nature of attachment and attachment styles in relationship as well as keys to healing what holds you back from loving fully.

This talk explores how to free yourself from feeling like an imposter. You’ll learn the power of self-awareness, the importance of investigating inner states and how to break out of the box of the doubting mind.  You’ll also explore ways you can reframe your experience and turn attention to sincerity, service and the possibility of a life of authenticity and overflow.

Soon after retiring, Tracy Budd, who had a strong meditation practice, embarked on an exploration of meditating for four hours a day following the Elephant Path and the teachings of Culadasa. In this interview we explore what happened over the course the year, the breakthroughs, the breakdowns, the insights and what he learned about doing intensive practice at home. You’ll find this interview inspiring, particularly if you have ever had fantasies of putting everything aside and doing...

We continue our exploration on moving from Fear to clear-seeing. You’ll explore a few protocols that have helped me enormously in shifting from feeling caught to feeling empowered again.   Fear can serve as an early-warning detection system and when explored mindfully, can point the way toward more skillful means.   I reference The Sedona Method, the work of Tim Ferris  and the work of Byron Katie.

This talk explores how to move from Fear to Clear-Seeing and new possibilities.   You’ll learn how unresolved fear restricts the possibilities in your life and how you can turn toward fear through cognitive processes as well as somatic inquiry.   When you shift from “How do I get rid of this?” to “What can I learn from this?” you may start to feel new possibilities.

This talk explores how you can transform your relationship with your inner critic.   You’ll learn the origins of negativity bias, how that critical voice forms in your early development and how the miracle of self-awareness can lead to a life guided by wise discrimination.   This is an 'encore' session from the Monday night class at the Unitarian Universtalist Church in Arlgington, VA

This talk explores how you might transform your deepest wounds into sacred gifts. You’ll learn how stress and suffering are inevitable and how, when you deeply examine your wounds, you can unveil the gifts they offer.  We’ll explore the concept of the wounded healer and how being transparent with your wounds can bring you into deeper intimacy with the world around you.   I mentioned the book Feeding Your Demons by Tsultrume Allione and the Enneagram, a powerful model for transformation.

This talk explores the mechanics of healing (and how I’m healing a bone fracture.) You’ll learn how critical it is to make room for all your reactions and how to ask yourself an important question that can make room for feeling whole.  You’ll explore the art of ‘having tea with your demons,’ three steps in a healing meditation and ultimately, how to open to the quantum field for feeling more whole.

This talk explores the nature of happiness. You’ll learn how happiness truly is ‘here and now,’ how important it is to actively explore what is between you and feeling happy, how happiness is a reflection of your true nature and a model or assessing your happiness level. This talk is from 2019, offered live at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington in Arlington, VA.

This talk explores four sutras offered by the Buddha on how to awaken your heart and mind.   You’ll learn the importance of cultivating a lifelong aspiration to awaken, to actively cultivate spiritual friendships, to be open and kind and to take time away from the complexity of life to see ever more clearly into the nature of reality. This talk is inspired by an article in Tricycle Magazine, summer 2022, by Dale S. Wright entitled “Four Ideals to Guide Your Practice.”

This talk explores how to draw on compassion when in pain.   You’ll learn how compassion must be balanced with wisdom (tough love) and a powerful technique for opening the frame of compassion that can dramatically shift your personal experience of pain.  Finally, we’ll explore the impact of opening the heart to the suffering of others and how that can influence and cultivate the heart.