Spirit Rock Meditation Center: dharma talks and meditation instruction

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) This recording includes a brief talk followed by a guided meditation on The Arriving Sequence, which is an important way we establish sati (mindfulness) in the "Naturally Arising Practice Method," which was created by Phillip Moffitt. The Arriving Sequence cultivates grounded presence and includes: arriving in the present moment, becoming available to the felt sense in the present moment, aligning with our aspirations.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) This recording includes a short talk, ritual, and a guided meditation on "The Three Renunciations" practice, which includes renouncing judging, comparing, and fixing mind, as three ways we often resist present moment experience, with a kind attitude expressed through "as best we are able." This practice is part of the Naturally Arising practice method, created by Phillip Moffitt.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Meditation & Dharma Talk

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Diana and Donald each speak for about 20 minutes. Diana focuses especially on relational metta practice in daily life, including with parenting. Donald speaks of the aspiration, as the great Tibetan teacher Shabkar, emphasizes, on having one’s life and practice be one. He then focuses on the different dimensions of individual metta practice in daily life. The two talks are followed by a period of discussion.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) How can one get the benefit of practicing the Brahma Vihara - Sympathetic Joy. In this session, the practice of Sympathetic Joy will be described, and you will be guided through a Sympathetic Joy meditation practice.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) This talk explores the traditional benefits and scope of mettā practice, presenting loving-kindness as a force that steadies sleep, brightens the mind, supports concentration, and softens our relationships with human and non-human beings alike. Drawing on classical texts and modern teachers, it emphasizes beginning with what is possible—locating the goodwill already present and gently extending it outward. The practice culminates in the “all beings” category, cultivating an impartial heart free from indifference and ill will.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) This talk explores how mettā supports freedom from the “second arrow” of mental reactivity. Drawing on vivid teachings from the Buddha, it shows that ill-will harms the one who holds it and that kindness is an aspirational training pointing to the limitless capacity of the heart. The path is framed through the Satipaṭṭhāna: purification of mind, the surmounting of sorrow, and the end of dukkha. Central is the role of vedanā—the pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral tone that conditions craving and resistance. Most suffering arises not from experience itself but from the mind’s rejection of what is here. Mettā becomes a relational posture toward life, saying “yes” to each moment and softening identification with pain. By noticing greed, aversion, and delusion, we transform them into generosity, love, and wisdom. The impartial heart learns to meet all experience with balance, discovering ease even amid difficulty.