Tara Brach

Part 3: Joy - blossoms in the moments our hearts open boundlessly to reality, to the 10,000 joys and sorrows. This series reflects on four primary expressions of an awake, wise heart: lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. In each talk we explore the habitual patterning that blocks our full realization of these innate capacities, and the understandings and practices that nurture their unfolding. In this talk, Tara explores: • How the "if-only" mind keeps us leaning forward, chasing happiness in the future, rather than discovering the aliveness and freedom available right here, right now • How the trance of "something is wrong" contracts our hearts, and the deep, compassionate presence that can free us to love life just as it is. • The power of mindful presence—how pausing, softening, and truly receiving this moment allows joy to naturally arise. • How gladdening the mind—through gratitude, love, and wonder—can shift our set point for happiness and awaken a deep trust in the unfolding of life. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This meditation scans through the body, and awakens attention to the open, inclusive awareness that all life arises in. We then explore experiencing that openness in the region of the heart, saying yes to life and including whatever is here with unconditional presence. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This guided meditation invites you into the living presence that is always here—an awake awareness that can hold the changing waves of sensation, emotion, and thought with tenderness and ease. As we soften into the moment, we discover a natural peace and loving awareness that is not separate from life, but intimately connected with all beings. Whether you are new to meditation or deepening an established mindfulness practice, this reflection can support healing, emotional balance, inner peace, and spiritual awakening. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Compassion – the tender resonance of heart – awakens as we allow ourselves to be touched by our shared vulnerability. This series reflects on four primary expressions of an awake, wise heart: lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. In each talk we explore the habitual patterning that blocks our full realization of these innate capacities, and the understandings and practices that nurture their unfolding. In this talk, Tara explores ✨the all-inclusive nature of compassion in awakening our hearts and embracing all beings with care and presence. ✨ how evolutionary conditioning limits compassion, yet reveals our brain's natural wiring for empathy and connection. ✨ the common blocks to compassion, like fear, stress, and busyness, which pull us into a trance of disconnection. ✨ the essential role of self-compassion and kindness toward ourselves in deepening our ability to care for others. ✨ how to make compassion a lasting trait, by fully feeling and savoring moments of care so they shape who we are. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Discover the essence of lovingkindness in this first talk of Tara's series, "Present Heart: The Universal Expressions of Love." This series delves into four primary qualities of an awake, wise heart: lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. In Part 1, Tara explores the nature of lovingkindness — how it can be blocked by our habitual patterns, and how we can nurture and fully realize this innate capacity through mindful practices and understanding. What You'll Learn: ▪️Understanding the nature of lovingkindness and its role in spiritual growth ▪️Recognizing the habitual patterns that block the expression of love ▪️Learning practical techniques to cultivate and deepen lovingkindness ▪️Insights on how lovingkindness can transform your relationship with yourself and others Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This meditation guides us to awaken to our senses through scanning through the body and then listening to sounds. When distracted by thoughts we relax open again and again, learning to rest in the formless awareness that includes sounds, sensations and all passing experience. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In the midst of a world that often feels like it's coming apart, what does it mean to truly flourish? Drawing on his new book Born to Flourish, Richard Davidson joins Tara Brach to explore the science and practice of well-being—how awareness, connection, insight, and purpose can be cultivated, and how flourishing may extend beyond the individual into a more compassionate, connected world. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This guided meditation offers a pathway to quieting our mind and calming anxiety. We begin with long deep breathing, and with the breath, engage the image of a smile and relax through the body. Then we practice resting in relaxed awareness, allowing waves of thoughts, feelings and sensations to come and go. The meditation ends with a beautiful verse from poet Philip Booth. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Most of us value honesty yet are not aware of how regularly we avoid facing what's difficult inside us, and how we are less than truthful with others. This talk explores the practice of radical self-honesty as the grounds of being more honest with others, and bringing more love and freedom to our lives. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Vipassana, also known as insight meditation, is training in bringing a clear mindful attention to our moment to moment experience. We begin by relaxing through the body and then resting attention with the breath - or some other sensory anchor - and allowing the mind to settle. Then we open to whatever is predominant or calling our attention - sensations, emotions, sounds - meeting each arising experience with a clear, kind attention. The gift of this process is discovering balance in the midst of the changing flow, and gaining deep insight into the nature of reality. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this talk, we explore how compassion can arise in the midst of conflict—within our lives and in the larger world. In a conversation with Paul Gilbert, moderated by Rick Hansen, we reflect on how our evolutionary conditioning—especially the brain's threat system—fuels fear, shame, and the reflex to see others as "other." Drawing on Buddhist psychology, we look at how a sense of separation and the stories of blame keep us caught in reactivity—and how we can begin to shift out of reactivity into presence, understanding, and care. This talk includes a guided reflection for working with conflict, helping us contact the vulnerability beneath anger, reopen the heart, and widen the circle of belonging. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

If we can recognize thoughts as thoughts, it becomes possible to open from virtual to living reality. This meditation guides us in awakening the senses and discovering the freedom - the awake space of Being that is beyond the confines of thoughts. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Tara is joined by two longtime friends and wonderful teachers, Devon and Nico Hase, to explore their recent book, This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership. This refreshingly real and relatable book offers guidance for anyone wanting to deepen love in their relationships. Drawing from their own lived experience—with humor, humility, and insight—Devon and Nico reveal how partnership can be both challenging and profoundly transformative. In this conversation, they explore what truly supports a deep and loving partnership: how to meet conflict and reactivity, how practice comes alive in everyday moments, how to bring mindful presence into sexuality, and how reflecting on impermanence can deepen intimacy. While centered on intimate partners, the teachings speak to the whole field of our relationships. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Love is often abstract, and not fully alive. In this practice, with the supportive image and felt sense of a smile, we are guided to awaken loving in our body, mind and whole being. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this talk, we'll explore the deep evolutionary and spiritual currents that shape our lives—the pull of fear and separation, and the quiet, persistent call toward love, compassion, and belonging. Drawing on stories, reflections, and contemplative practices, this talk invites us to remember that caring is our true nature, even when it feels distant or obscured. Through mindful awareness and heart-centered practices, we begin to sense how our awakened heart calls us—through both the pain of disconnection and the longing for love. As we learn to turn toward our inner experience with kindness, we naturally widen our circles of compassion and deepen our capacity to meet others with presence and care. In this talk, Tara explores: ✨ How compassion is the foundation of human connection and collective healing ✨ The two forces within us: fear-based reactivity and the call of the awakened heart ✨ Why "caring about caring" is itself a doorway to love and transformation ✨ Practices for turning toward vulnerability and deepening empathy (including Tonglen) ✨ How widening our circles of compassion can help heal both personal and global suffering Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

True listening arouses an open receptive presence that can be truly healing. This meditation awakens a listening presence; first bringing that receptive awareness to sensations and sounds, and then offering that presence to the tenderness and vulnerability of our heart. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this conversation, Tara is joined by Mohsen Mahdawi—Palestinian refugee, Buddhist practitioner, and courageous voice for justice—whose life bridges worlds that are so often held apart. Growing up in a refugee camp and later emerging as a student leader and advocate for Palestinian dignity, Mohsen brings a rare integration of spiritual depth, clarity and dedication to societal transformation. Together they explore how inner awakening can ground fearless activism, what it means to stand for justice amid profound asymmetry of power, how to resist dehumanization in a polarized world, and whether a spiritually rooted movement for collective liberation is quietly emerging in our time. This dialogue is an invitation to reimagine activism as an expression of love, belonging, and courageous presence. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Starting with scanning through the body and awakening the senses, we then rest in presence, with the breath as a home base. The meditation invites an openness to whatever arises, and a gentle kind attention if we encounter physical or emotional pain. We end with a prayer that includes our own being and all beings. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this conversation, Tara is joined by Mohsen Mahdawi—Palestinian refugee, Buddhist practitioner, and courageous voice for justice—whose life bridges worlds that are so often held apart. Growing up in a refugee camp and later emerging as a student leader and advocate for Palestinian dignity, Mohsen brings a rare integration of spiritual depth, clarity and dedication to societal transformation. Together they explore how inner awakening can ground fearless activism, what it means to stand for justice amid profound asymmetry of power, how to resist dehumanization in a polarized world, and whether a spiritually rooted movement for collective liberation is quietly emerging in our time. This dialogue is an invitation to reimagine activism as an expression of love, belonging, and courageous presence. Learn more about Mohsen's work at: http://www.mohsen-mahdawi.com Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Listening is an ideal template for awareness itself - it is naturally receptive, open and awake. This meditation invites a deep listening to and feeling our lives, and opens us to the realization of the flow of changing experience and the background awareness that is the source of our Being. Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music