How to Surf the Waves of Uncertainty, Part 1: Practices for Cultivating Steadiness [archive talk]

This talk explores listening as a radical act of compassion at moments of loss, when words often rush in to ease our own discomfort rather than meet another's pain. We examine how common responses to grief—reassurance, advice, spiritual framing, or positivity—can unintentionally distance us, and how the impulse to fix subtly reinforces separation. Drawing on mindfulness and embodied awareness, the talk invites a shift from doing something helpful to being with what is most tender and real.   You'll learn how to recognize the fixing reflex as it arises, listen from the body rather than the mind, and rest in not-knowing without withdrawing or collapsing. Through practical guidance and reflection, you'll discover how simple, grounded presence communicates safety, dignity, and care—offering a form of support that does not try to resolve grief, but allows it to unfold and be held with wisdom and compassion.

More on how to keep you keel in the water when navigating uncertainty.   You'll learn some practical strategies for finding 'refuge,' a place of presence, particularly accessing Wisdom - clear seeing, Compassion - a heart that can hold it all, Presence - the space of awareness itself, and Skillful Action - strategies for staying deeply present in the midst of change.

This talk explores how you might cultivate greater steadiness in turbulent times. You'll learn some practical tools for finding refuge in present-moment awareness, in cultivating Witness Consciousness and in watching the flow of phenomena with awake awareness and an open heart.

This talk explores wise intention as a living, moment-to-moment inquiry rather than a fixed decision or self-improvement project. Drawing from the Buddhist understanding of Right Intention, it reframes intention as an embodied process of noticing what genuinely supports clarity and ease, honestly recognizing what leads to contraction, and allowing the heart to recalibrate without judgment. The emphasis is on alignment over striving, and on learning directly from lived experience.   You'll learn how to evaluate your life and practice through clear cause-and-effect, recognize when effort is actually creating more struggle, and make mindful course corrections that are kind, practical, and sustainable. The talk offers simple reflections and practices to help you listen beneath habit and preference, so you can open to what most deeply calls and let wise intention guide your actions with greater trust, coherence, and care.

This talk explores the liberating power of clear seeing — vipassanā, or insight — the capacity to recognize things as they truly are rather than as we wish them to be. Through the practice of mindful attention, we begin to see through the illusions that shape our experience: the illusion that things are solid, that the self is fixed, that craving can bring satisfaction, and that suffering is personal. Each moment of genuine insight loosens the grip of confusion and reveals the luminous awareness that is already free.   You'll learn how insight unfolds through the deep investigation of perception, self, desire, and suffering; how mindfulness and compassion work together to transform pain into wisdom; and how to bring these realizations into the immediacy of daily life. Through stories, reflection, and direct practice, you'll discover how to live from the natural clarity that sees through delusion and rests in the heart of liberation.

This talk explores how to consciously direct the inner process of healing and release. Drawing on the classic teachings of Ho'oponopono, it introduces four phrases that guide your attention to: • Taking responsibility for your inner experience • Attuning to the process of release • Reflecting on gratitude and the opportunity to grow • Resting in loving awareness

This talk explores the heart of the Fourth Noble Eightfold Path factor—Right Action—as a living expression of mindfulness and compassion. We look at how ethical conduct arises not from rigid rule-following but from moment-to-moment awareness, attunement to the body's signals, and a sincere intention to do no harm. Through stories, classical teachings, humor, and direct reflection, we explore non-harming, integrity, embodied wisdom, and the courage it takes to act wisely in a complex world.   You'll learn how to sense alignment in your actions, recognize the body as your most honest ethical compass, and translate presence into choices that support clarity, kindness, and inner freedom. You'll explore practical exercises to listen more deeply, cultivate integrity, stay grounded in challenging situations, and bring compassionate, courageous action into your relationships, work, and daily life.

This talk explores how to apply the Golden Rule in the context of mindfulness practice.   You'll learn how this timeless guidance ties into the practice of compassion (Karuna), interconnectedness (Dependent Origination), loving kindness (Metta) and non-harming (Ahimsa).

This talk explores the radical simplicity and depth of awakening to the present moment. Drawing on early Buddhist teachings and modern somatic inquiry, we'll investigate the building blocks of experience — sensation, feeling tone, perception, and awareness — to understand how the mind creates "now" and how freedom is discovered in direct experience.   You'll learn how to discern between sensation and story, how to recognize the birth of reactivity, and how to rest in awareness itself. Through reflection, humor, and practical meditative guidance, you'll discover that the present moment is not a passing instant but an infinite field of awakening — waiting to be noticed.  

This talk explores the possibility of 'problems' as profound opportunities for growth and expansion.   You'll learn the importance of equanimity, cultivating convergent and divergent thinking and deep investigation into the nature of attachment and the nature of self.