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Dharma Talks given at Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Publicly available talks can be browsed here in the order indicated by the "Sort Order" selection. Talk titles and discriptions can also be searched by typing in a search word (or words) in the search box and clicking "Search Titles and Descriptions". With multiple words, only those talks containing all the given words are displayed.

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2025-07-14 Guided Forgiveness Practice 56:14
Tempel Smith
From a base of loving kindness and compassion we can consciously aim our heart's attention into a practice of Forgiveness.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Summer Lovingkindness Retreat

2025-07-12 Morning Instructions - Mettā (Loving Kindness) including Dear Friends 50:54
Tempel Smith
Extending loving kindness meditation from the primary practice of ourselves and a chosen easiest being, we can open at times to include any dear friend whom also easily come to mind. At this stage of practice we are inclining out mettā practice to rest where mettā is easiest. This would be any beings for whom it is easy to see the good in them, and we easily feel warmth.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Summer Lovingkindness Retreat

2025-07-10 1st Night - Why Come on a Loving Kindness retreat? 63:07
Tempel Smith
What is special about a 9-day Loving Kindness retreat? The form of Buddhist practice helps cultivate positive qualities of friendliness and kindness, it helps purify old habits of defensiveness and hostility, and it help cultivate samadhi (concentration).
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Summer Lovingkindness Retreat

2025-07-10 Metta as Connection 1:24:14
Grace Fisher
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thursday Morning Women’s Group

2025-07-09 Honoring Joanna Macy, Part 1 1:42:28
Heidi Bourne
Includes meditation, dharama talk & select aspects of group discussion
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2025-07-07 Talk: Bringing Our Practice to the Current Difficult Times: An Eightfold Path 66:51
Donald Rothberg
For the Buddha, practice was understood as involving three trainings, in wisdom, meditation, and ethics (sila). Ethics, typically under-emphasized in much of Western Buddhism, with sometimes clear negative consequences, had as its horizon helping others. The Buddha said: “Wander forth . . . for the welfare of the multitude, for the happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world.” The later emphasis on the bodhisattva develops this emphasis further. In this talk, we suggest a contemporary “Eightfold Path” for understanding and responding to the current difficult times in the society and world. It’s outlined in terms of three wisdom guidelines, two meditation guidelines, and three ethics guidelines. The talk is followed by discussion.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2025-07-07 Guided Meditation on the Two Main Forms of Buddhist Practice, Developing Concentration and Insight (Directed by the Core Wisdom Teaching) 39:28
Donald Rothberg
We begin with brief instructions for developing samadhi (“placing together” or “concentration”), followed by basic mindfulness instructions and then guidance for working with the feeling-tone of pleasant or unpleasant, when it appears in the moderate range. We are mindful of pleasant or unpleasant and look for grasping or pushing away in some form, guided by core wisdom teachings.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2025-07-03 Finding Our Inner Refuge 61:52
Grace Fisher
Begins with a 30m meditation and is followed by a Dharma talk. Group discussion has been omitted.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Thursday Morning Women’s Group

2025-07-02 Talk: The Big Picture 3: Introduction to Ethical Practice 63:19
Donald Rothberg
After a brief review of the first two talks in this series, we explore the nature of ethical practice, one of the three core inter-related areas of training for the Buddha, along with training in meditation and in wisdom. We see how ethical practice has often been understood historically as having a social dimension, both in the teachings of the Buddha and later, as in the edicts of King Ashoka. We also explore some of the ways that ethical practice has been marginalized in Western Buddhist practice, with significant consequences. Then we look at the commonality of ethical guidelines in cross-religious context, with Donald telling some personal stories. Finally, we outline several ways to carry out ethical practice and then open up to discussion.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

2025-07-02 Guided Meditation: Developing Concentration, Mindfulness, and Insight Practice Exploring Impermanence and Reactivity, with Reflection on Daily Life Practice at the End 39:10
Donald Rothberg
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday and Wednesday Talks

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