Letting Go, Letting Be and Surrendering to Presence (Retreat Talk)

This talk explores the power and peace found at the still point—the place of awareness untouched by the waves of thought and emotion. When we take the seat of the witness, we discover a dimension of consciousness that is both intimate and vast, both deeply embodied and profoundly free. Drawing on the Buddha's teachings on mindfulness and insight, this talk illuminates how awareness itself can become the refuge, how turning toward what arises with stillness and curiosity reveals the freedom that has always been here.   You'll learn how to recognize and rest in the witnessing presence that observes all experience without judgment or grasping. Through stories, reflection, and guided inquiry, you'll explore how to move from reactivity to stillness, from self-identification to awareness itself. You'll discover that when you bring compassionate attention to the body, mind, and heart, the turbulence of experience becomes the very path to awakening—the dance around the still point.

This talk explores the transformative power of tuning into the felt sense—the subtle, bodily knowing that lies beneath thought and emotion. Rooted in early Buddhist teachings and supported by contemporary somatic practices, the felt sense offers a direct path to presence, insight, and release. By connecting deeply with the body from the inside out, we ground our awareness in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and begin to directly experience the liberating truths of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self.   You'll learn how to recognize and trust the language of inner sensation, how the felt sense awakens the Five Spiritual Faculties—faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom—and how this embodied presence becomes a guide for wise action and compassionate insight. Through reflections, guided sensing, and practical tools, you'll discover how to stay close to what's real and alive, and how this intimacy with the body can lead to deep inner freedom.

This talk explores the simple yet profound practice of using the breath as an anchor for awareness. In a world where distraction and stress pull us in countless directions, the breath is always available as a doorway back into presence. Drawing from the Buddha's teachings on mindfulness of breathing and weaving in reflections from daily life, we'll look at how one conscious breath at a time can ground us, reveal our inner state, help us transform reactivity, and open us to freedom in the present moment.   You'll learn how to return to the breath as a reliable home base, how the breath mirrors both body and mind, and how conscious breathing can transform patterns of stress into calm awareness. We'll also explore how the breath reveals impermanence and points us toward liberation. With stories, teachings, and reflections, this talk will offer practical ways to deepen your practice and remind you that awakening is as close as your next breath.

This talk explores the second step of the Eightfold Path, Wise Intention—the heart's compass that points us toward freedom. Rooted in the Buddha's teachings, Wise Intention asks us to orient our lives around letting go of what doesn't serve, cultivating goodwill instead of ill will, and living with compassion that seeks to do no harm. Through stories, reflections, and practical examples, we'll look at how our inner intentions quietly but powerfully shape our choices, our relationships, and ultimately, our destiny.   You'll learn how to recognize the subtle intentions behind your daily actions, how to release clinging and cultivate generosity of spirit, and how to bring kindness and compassion into even the smallest moments of your life. With teachings drawn from Theravāda practice and contemporary experience, this talk offers both inspiration and practical tools for setting intentions that align with your deepest values and bring more freedom into your day-to-day life.

This talk explores the profound practice of coming home to the body—not as an object to fix or improve, but as sacred ground for awakening. Drawing on early Buddhist teachings and somatic insights, we'll reflect on what it means to honor the body as a temple of presence. Through stor25ies, reflections, and practical guidance, we'll explore how sensation itself can become a direct path to freedom.   You'll learn how to ground attention in the felt sense, meet difficult sensations with compassion, and uncover insight through embodied awareness. Whether you're dealing with physical discomfort, emotional turbulence, or simply longing to feel more alive, this talk offers a powerful invitation to inhabit your body with reverence and presence.

This talk explores how the Buddha's Eightfold Path offers a clear, practical guide to living with greater wisdom, compassion, and inner freedom in everyday life. We'll look at how each step on the path supports both personal transformation and the well-being of others.   Wise View, the first step, invites us to see life as it truly is—recognizing impermanence, the causes of suffering, and the possibility of liberation. It's about shifting from a narrow, self-centered perspective to a broader understanding that our thoughts, actions, and attitudes shape our experience.

This talk explores how to begin a mindfulness practice by starting exactly where you are. Rather than striving for a particular state or trying to "do it right," we look at how mindfulness arises through simple remembering—the act of returning to presence, again and again. We'll reflect on how the breath can become a reliable ally, how intention can quietly shape our experience, and how there's no wrong way to begin.   We'll explore four key themes: (1) how mindfulness is the practice of remembering presence, (2) the power of starting just as you are, without needing to fix or change anything, (3) how setting intention deepens and sustains your practice, and (4) the breath as a steady anchor in the midst of life's swirl. Through stories, guided reflection, and practical tools, you'll learn how to plant the seeds of a lifelong 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 the nature of 'true nature.'   You'll learn more about the nature of 'true nature,' what gets in the way of experiencing this primal quality of being and some doorways of practice that can bring you into an intimate, embodied sense of presence.

This talk explores the mechanics for entering the flow state.   You'll learn the role mindfulness plays in setting up the flows state, a review of triggers that can be helpful, how applying the principles of flow to meditation can deepen your practice and some cautions and concerns about the practice.