Spiritual Audacity: The Lion's Roar of the Heart

When we remember our deep belonging to this world, a fierce and tender courage begins to move through us. In this talk, we’ll explore “spiritual audacity” as a sacred, embodied boldness—the lion’s roar of the awakened heart. Through personal and collective lenses, we’ll reflect on what it means to live true to our essence: grounded in love, guided by truth, and called to serve the freedom and healing of all beings.

Most people get depressed at times, and many suffer greatly from bouts of major depression. At the heart of the suffering is the experience of severed belonging—of being imprisoned in the pain of separation, unworthiness, unlovability and hopelessness. These two talks explore several meditation practices that reconnect us with our natural aliveness, openheartedness and awareness. They empower us to develop our inner resources, energize us to awaken, free us from rumination and remind us that we are not our depressive thoughts and feelings. The growing realization of the loving awareness that is our home heals the very roots of depression. In this talk, we’ll look at: - how depression and anxiety mirror our collective disconnection, and how mindful awareness can begin to heal both body and spirit. - how ungrieved loss turns into depression, and how opening to sorrow with compassion reconnects us to love and aliveness. - the “logjam” of depression, showing how small mindful shifts can restore flow, energy, and a sense of possibility. - how reconnecting with our heart’s deep intention awakens hope and invites a renewed capacity for presence and joy. - how meditation helps us move from ruminating thoughts to embodied presence, revealing the awareness that frees us.

No matter how far you’ve wandered, this heartspace – this awake tender awareness – is only a half-breath of remembrance away. This meditation awakens attention to the space of awareness…

Most people get depressed at times, and many suffer greatly from bouts of major depression. At the heart of the suffering is the experience of severed belonging—of being imprisoned in the pain of separation, unworthiness, unlovability and hopelessness. These two talks explore several meditation practices that reconnect us with our natural aliveness, openheartedness and awareness. They empower us to develop our inner resources, energize us to awaken, free us from rumination and remind us that we are not our depressive thoughts and feelings. The growing realization of the loving awareness that is our home heals the very roots of depression.

In the midst of difficulty we need access to our deepest wisdom and love. This guided meditation calls forth this loving presence by opening to the heart and spirit of whatever being in our life we most experience as calm, wise and compassionate.

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.