James Baraz's most recent Dharma talks (Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Closing talk with all teachers.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Although metta practice can seem dualistic (me sending love to others) it is really an anatta practice that reveals the selfless nature of reality. The love that connects us isn't owned by anyone.

This talk includes two guided meditations: 1) metta towards self and 2) seeing ourselves as part of a lineage of benefactors-the love and caring we receive from others passing through us to those we care about and support.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) The teaching of Anatta (not self) points to the fact that from the perspective of ultimate reality we are not separate entities to whom life happens. All the people in our life who’ve inspired and impacted us live through us even after they are gone. And we in turn impact the lives of many others and live through them. This talk includes a guided practice to understand anatta from this perspective—that the love we’ve received from others and pass on doesn’t belong to any of us.

James dedicated this talk to his father Arnold, who would have been 93 today; it begins with a moving reminiscence of their relationship.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) We each have our own unique journey. While there are as many different possibilities as there are people, we have a choice whether to go through life as a heavy assignment or as an extraordinary adventure of awakening. If we're fortunate enough to discover a spiritual path that supports the latter, we want to make the most of our opportunity.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) It’s very easy to get trapped in the web of “selfing” which is the one step from self-consciousness. How can we shift the focus so that our interactions with others opens us to true connection?

(Gaia House) There are precise and profound parallels between what Buddhism says about our individual predicament and our collective predicament today in relationship to the rest of the biosphere.

(Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) The Buddhist concept of Atammayata or "unconcoctibility" literally means "not made of that." The revered 20th Century master Ajahn Buddhadasa called this principle, "the last word and final sword of Buddhism."

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)