Four Ideals to Guide Your Practice

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 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 embrace impermanence.   You'll learn about the inevitability of change and how understanding your reactivity and biases can help you access a quality of awareness that can help you move from reactivity to wisdom, compassion, creativity and enthusiasm.

This talk explores how to amplify self-awareness and see more clearly into what is true.   You'll learn how you tend to get locked into certain perspectives and explore a profound "technology" for deconstructing thoughts and beliefs. Asking the right questions can point your attention beyond the lens of your perspective to see with greater clarity what is true.

This talk explores the power of somatic inquiry.   You'll learn how awareness of the body can be a means for steadying the mind as well as developing your capacity to be the non-judging observer. You'll learn how you can develop your awareness of the "felt sense" inside as a powerful tuning fork for intuitive inquiry.

This talk explores the power of stepping back and hitting the reset button in your life.   You'll learn about what can happen when you remember the results you are driving toward and the power of pausing and ruthlessly taking stock as to how you actually doing.   When you consciously disengage from the busyness of your life and immerse yourself in presence you can refresh your sense of what is most important to you and move forward informed by creativity and infinite possibility.

This talk explores one of the most essential—and liberating—skills on the spiritual path: the willingness to begin again. Inspired by S. N. Goenka's simple instruction to "start again," we'll look beyond returning to the present moment and explore how each new beginning also invites us to remember what matters most. Drawing on the experience of moving across the country, letting go of what no longer belongs, and discovering that every ending is also a beginning, this talk offers a fresh perspective on the practice of starting over—not only during life's major transitions, but in the countless moments of everyday life.   You'll learn how to re-arrive with awareness, reconnect with your deepest intention, recognize what no longer serves your future, and cultivate the courage to begin again with wisdom rather than self-judgment. Whether you're navigating a significant life change or simply finding your way through the ordinary challenges of daily living, you'll discover that starting over isn't a sign that you've failed—it's the very heart of awakening.

This talk explores the tenth of the ten perfections.   You'll learn how you cannot make steadiness and serenity happen, but can create the conditions that allow this inner state to arise. When you remember the fundamental quality of reality, you can more easily open to embrace your true nature.

The talk explores the power of loving kindness. You'll learn how to be more of a well-wisher to all, some techniques to more effectively express kindness in the world and a reflection on what might happen in your life if you were to be more adept at responding to challenges with an open heart.