Gil Fronsdal explores the heart of Buddhist tradition by blending mindfulness with the transformative power of compassion and loving kindness.

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On this episode of the BHNN Guest Podcast, Gil gives a dharma talk on:

• Discovering how love is foundational in Buddhist tradition and spiritual practice
• Exploring the two wings of Buddhism: balancing compassion and wisdom
• Understanding why compassion is essential in both practice and realization
• Learning how mindfulness can become fixated on the goal of enlightenment
• Shifting focus from attaining enlightenment to embodying compassion
• Gil’s journey of softening the heart and embracing inner suffering
• Insights from the Buddha on cultivating loving kindness in daily life
• Healing inner conflict by embracing the parts of ourselves we often reject
• Practicing meeting every experience with radical compassion and presence
• Letting compassion bloom as a natural expression of inner peace
• Recognizing shared suffering and connecting with others as equals
• Discovering how the dharma reveals itself through all aspects of life.
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Today's recording was originally published on Dharmaseed.org

About Gil Fronsdal:

Gil Fronsdal is the co-teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California; he has been teaching since 1990. He has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1989 began training with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. Gil teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is part of its Teachers Council. Gil was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He currently serves on the SF Zen Center Elders’ Council. In 2011 he founded IMC’s Insight Retreat Center. He is the author of The Issue at Hand, essays on mindfulness practice; A Monastery Within; a book on the five hindrances called Unhindered; and the translator of The Dhammapada, published by Shambhala Publications. You may listen to Gil’s talks on Audio Dharma.

“People will say, 'Oh she realized a really deep enlightenment'. But how often do you hear someone say 'oh I got compassioned' or 'that person, he reached the fourth stage of compassion, he was fully compassioned'? I think we all need more compassion than enlightenment—if we want to separate the two. If we don't separate the two, then compassion has to be an integral part of it." – Gil Fronsdal 

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