Presence and Compassion in a Violent World

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.    The post Meditation: A Relaxed, Open Presence (12:30 min.) appeared first on Tara Brach.

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.   https://www.tarabrach.com/from-head-to-heart-2025/

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   https://www.tarabrach.com/meditation-opening-to-the-mystery-2-2/

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.   https://www.tarabrach.com/embodied-presence-portal-to-the-sacred-part2/

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.