Meditation: Living Presence - Experiencing Aliveness and Openheartedness

This talk explores how to see past the mask of personality and glimpse the sacred goodness shining through each person we meet. As we become mirrors of this goodness, we help one another trust the divine essence that connects us all.   Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This practice guides us to a receptive, kind presence by starting with listening, and moving through a body scan. We then rest in an open awareness, responding to whatever arises with a gentle attention.   Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

The portal to presence is awakening through the body from the inside out, and then opening to include sound in field of aliveness. This reveals  the awake space that everything's happening in; the space that lets everything be, just as it is. It's in that full allowing that we discover the center of now, that pure still presence that is the very source of our being. The meditation ends with an offering of prayer as that presence is experienced in the domain of the heart.   Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

While 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

While 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

In this guided meditation, we explore the power of intention—the quiet inner compass that reconnects us with our sincerity, our longing, and the truth of our own hearts. Through gentle breath awareness, a relaxing full-body scan, and an invitation to listen deeply inward, this practice helps us arrive in presence and remember what truly matters.   Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this week's talk, we explore the heart practice of generosity—a teaching at the very center of the Buddhist path and a medicine so deeply needed in our world.  Together, we reflect on the two patterns that shape our lives: the tightening of grasping—the sense of not enough—and the natural ease that arises when we open our hearts and offer our care. When we become more mindful of giving, even in small and spontaneous ways, we reconnect with our innate goodness and with the love that flows through all of life. And, as we let go of the habits that create separation and reflect on the goodness within and around us, we discover the joy of a generous heart.   Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This meditation is adapted from a meditation called "Open Focus." Let whatever comes spontaneously to your awareness to be there as you follow along with the questions, which begin with, "Can you imagine…?" (adapted from Open Focus Meditations led by Les Fehmi, Ph.D.)   Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

As anxiety, division, and digital distance numb our hearts, we risk losing our ability to truly feel the lives of others. In this talk, we'll explore how compassion arises when another becomes real to us — when we can imagine their inner world and sense our shared belonging. Through reflections, stories, and the Tibetan practice of tonglen, we'll learn how to transform suffering into care, and re-open the relational pathways that let us act from love.   Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Collecting, unifying and opening the mind, we begin with a listening attention, noticing sounds that are here. Relaxing open and letting sounds wash through. With the same receptivity to sounds, listen to and feel the aliveness of the body. Listening to the breath as if you're listening to the voice of a quiet loved one – really close in, tender attention – and including the background sounds. Not pushing away anything – a very open and relaxed, receptive attention.   Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music