Mary Grace Orr's Dharma Talks
     at Spirit Rock Meditation Center 
    
              
              
 
            
    
        Mary Grace Orr  
 
    
        
            
             
               
                
                   
                
              
            
            
                
            
        
                            
      Lately, my own practice is moving more and more into the monastic world.  As I teach out of that nourishment, I find people hungry for the traditional, solid forms of the Dharma.  I see people's lives changing when they engage in these forms.  Certainly, as I deepen my own Sutta study, I find the traditional ideas so helpful it encourages me to delve further.
                                
          
            In this, I am learning how to ride the edge of a question, instead of reaching for answers.  When I let the question hang there, as a living presence, its very aliveness stimulates movement toward an answer, an opening.
Some key factors imprint my teaching.  The fact that I'm a purely Western-produced Dharma teacher, without the influence of Eastern traveling, and that I'm a middle-aged Western woman with a psychological background.  Also, my years in a Christian practice now translate into my engagement with such ideas as embodiment:  how do we take the practice and live it?  What is practical in the Dharma, a sort of Buddhist Householder Hints.
From my perspective, the world is in serious trouble.  We have separated ourselves from all other beings, and  in the process do a lot that keeps us from being present.  It is so urgent that we learn to be present and see what is true about our being here, that we live with kindness and compassion for all beings.  Vipassana supports these intentions and helps us all heal, no matter what the eventual outcome may be.
           
           
        
    
     
 
    
        
            
    --
    
            Select from Mary Grace Orr's
            84
            talks
    
     -- 
    VIEW ALL 
    
        2011-09-26
            32 Body Parts Meditation Group 4 
    
        2011-09-25
            32 Parts of the Body Meditation, Group 2 
    
        2016-09-23
            Afternoon Instructional Sit: Tears, Grease, Saliva, Mucous, Oil of Joints, Urine 
    
        2018-04-28
            Animal Stories (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 
    
        2016-09-20
            Beginning Mindfulness Instructions 
    
        2015-03-12
            Brahma Vihara Day 12 
    
        2015-03-04
            Brahma Vihara Day 4 
    
        2015-03-08
            Brahma Vihara Day 8  Metta 
    
        2014-03-17
            Brahma Vihara Practice 
    
        2014-03-14
            Brahma Viharas 
    
        2014-03-22
            Brahma Viharas 
    
        2013-05-05
            Building The Foundation 
    
        2009-11-17
            Curiosity, Confidence and Contentment 
    
        2018-04-29
            Day 2: Instructions -- Sit - Q&A (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 
    
        2011-09-26
            Day 3 Morning Instructions 
    
        2007-12-15
            Don't Get Caught! 
    
        2011-09-26
            Equanimity Practice  
    
        2015-05-11
            Equipment for the Journey: The 5 Faculties 
    
        2008-10-01
            Finding Refuge 
    
        2011-09-24
            First Day Morning Instructions 
    
        2020-04-12
            Five Faculties (Online Retreat at Spirit Rock) 
    
        2010-03-09
            Following Faith to Liberation 
    
        2015-09-16
            From Grumpiness to Gratitude 
    
        2013-09-20
            Guided "Big Sky" Meditation 
    
        2013-09-19
            Guided Meditation - Part 5: Bile, Phelgm, Pus, Blood, Sweat, Fat 
    
        2019-09-19
            Guided Meditation on Heart, Liver, Diaphragm, Spleen, Lungs (Retreat at Spirit … 
    
        2013-09-18
            Guided Meditation on the 32 BodyParts: Part 4 
    
        2018-09-20
            Guided Meditation, AM Day 3  - Heart, Liver , Diaphragm, Spleen, Lungs (Retreat… 
    
        2016-05-06
            Heart Surgery 
    
        2012-05-15
            How Does the Heart Let Go? 
    
        2013-09-19
            How To Have An Enlarged Heart 
    
        2016-09-22
            Instructional Practice: Heart, Liver, Diaphragm, Spleen, Lung 
    
        2016-09-24
            Instructional Practice: Mindfulness 
    
        2014-03-20
            Knowing Freedom 
    
        2010-03-16
            Knowledge and Vision of Things as They Are 
    
        2015-01-29
            Living Your Practice 
    
        2018-09-22
            Luminous Web (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 
    
        2018-05-03
            Maintaining Our Direction (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 
    
        2019-09-20
            Meditation on Tears, Grease, Saliva, Mucus, Oil of the Joints, Urine (Retreat a… 
    
        2011-09-27
            Meditation on the last group (6th) of the 32 Parts of the Body 
    
        2015-01-27
            Meeting Our Suffering
 
    
        2010-12-10
            Melting the Judgmental Heart 
    
        2015-03-07
            Metta Revisted 
    
        2011-09-27
            Morning Instructions 
    
        2011-09-29
            Morning Instructions 
    
        2015-03-02
            Morning Instructions Day 2 
    
        2015-03-08
            Morning Instructions Day 8 Back to Basics Foundations 103 
    
        2011-05-19
            No Self: the Heart's Joy 
    
        2009-11-19
            Opening the Doors of the Heart 
    
        2012-05-19
            Opening The Heart To Mystery 
    
        2015-05-16
            Opening to Life 
    
        2015-09-19
            Opening to Life 
    
        2016-09-24
            Path of Gratitude 
    
        2012-03-22
            Please Don't Know 
    
        2013-09-15
            Practice As Though Your Hair Was on Fire 
    
        2018-09-21
            Questions & Answers, 2nd part / AM Day 3 (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 
    
        2009-09-24
            Refuge from the Fires 
    
        2009-08-15
            Refuge:  The Three Cs 
    
        2012-03-15
            Returning to the Luminous Mind & Heart 
    
        2008-12-13
            Six Places To Rest The Mind 
    
        2013-09-17
            Stepping Out of Our Stories 
    
        2011-09-29
            Still Seeking Refuge: 6 Places to Rest the Mind and Heart 
    
        2009-08-19
            Tearing Down the House 
    
        2009-09-26
            Tearing Down the House 
    
        2018-09-21
            Tears, Grease, Saliva, Mucus, Oil of the Joints, Urine (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 
    
        2010-11-03
            Tending the garden of the heart and mind 
    
        2011-09-25
            Tending the Garden of the Heart and Mind 
    
        2008-10-03
            The Burdensome Practice Of Judging 
    
        2015-03-01
            The Four Noble Truths: Food for the journey 
    
        2016-05-03
            The Four Thoughts That Change the Mind 
    
        2010-03-23
            The Freedom of Truth 
    
        2010-12-08
            The Surprise of Unfolding 
    
        2020-04-17
            The Wholeness of Being (Online Retreat at Spirit Rock) 
    
        2011-12-16
            The Wise & Fearless Heart 
    
        2012-03-08
            The Wise and Fearless Heart 
    
        2019-09-18
            Trust in Our Practice (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 
    
        2019-09-21
            Unbearable Wholeness of Being (Retreat at Spirit Rock) 
    
        2011-12-14
            Unburdening Ourselves for the Journey 
    
        2014-03-27
            Waking Up is a Full Time Job 
    
        2012-03-02
            What has become clear to you since last we met? 
    
        2015-03-11
            What is Going On? 
    
        2016-09-21
            What's Your Itinerary?  Where are You Going? 
    
        2014-03-13
            When the Mind is Still 
    
        2014-03-06
            You Are Not Alone 
    
 
         
     
    
        
            
    --
        Select one of Mary Grace Orr's 30 retreats
     -- 
    
        2007-04-17
            Spirit Rock Vipassana Retreat 
    
        2007-12-12
            Insight Meditation Retreat  
    
        2008-09-30
            Standing Firm in That Which You Are: Mindfulness of the Body 
    
        2008-12-10
            Insight Meditation 
    
        2009-08-14
            Vajrapani 
    
        2009-09-23
            Standing firm in that which you are: Mindfulness of the body 
    
        2009-11-16
            Insight Meditation Retreat 
    
        2010-03-01
            March 2010 Month Long 
    
        2010-11-01
            Mindfulness of the Body 
    
        2010-12-07
            Insight Meditation Retreat 
    
        2011-05-15
            May Insight Meditation Retreat  
    
        2011-09-23
            Standing Firm in That Which You Are: Mindfulness of the Body 
    
        2011-12-13
            Insight Meditation Retreat 
    
        2012-03-01
            Insight Meditation Retreat, March Month Long 
    
        2012-05-13
            May Insight Retreat 
    
        2013-05-04
            May Insight Meditation Retreat 
    
        2013-09-14
            Finding Freedom in the Body: Mindfulness of the Body as a Gateway to Liberation 
    
        2014-03-01
            March Month Long Retreat 
    
        2015-01-25
            Developing Compassion: The Fruit of Our Practice 
    
        2015-02-28
            March Insight 1 Month Retreat 
    
        2015-03-12
            Introduction to Insight Meditation Class Series - Spring 2015 
    
        2015-05-10
            May Insight Meditation Retreat 
    
        2015-09-14
            Finding Freedom in the Body 
    
        2016-05-02
            "What the Dharma Offers as We Get Older: with Anna Douglas 
    
        2016-05-02
            Developing Compassion: The Fruit of our Practice 
    
        2016-09-19
            Finding Freedom in the Body: Mindfulness of the Body as a Gateway to Liberation  
    
        2018-04-27
            Living Awareness Through Insight Meditation 
    
        2018-09-17
            Finding Freedom in the Body 
    
        2019-09-16
            Finding Freedom in the Body 
    
        2020-04-11
            Living Awareness through Insight Meditation - Online