Natural Meditation Podcast

I’ve found it helpful to think of existence—the entire play of sounds and thoughts and bodies and trees—as the foreground of life, and awareness as the background. In the Zen tradition, the shift from focusing on the foreground of experience to resting in pure being is called “the backward step.” Whenever we step out of thought or emotional reactivity and remember the presence that is here, we are taking the backward step. If we wake from a confining story of who we are and reconnect with our essential awareness, we are taking the backward step. When our attention shifts from a narrow fixation on any object—sound, sensation, thought—and recognizes the awake space that holds everything, we are taking the backward step. We come to this realization when there is nowhere else to step. No anything. We have relaxed back into the immensity and silence of awareness itself. - Tara Brach

I’ve found it helpful to think of existence—the entire play of sounds and thoughts and bodies and trees—as the foreground of life, and awareness as the background. In the Zen tradition, the shift from focusing on the foreground of experience to resting in pure being is called “the backward step.” Whenever we step out of thought or emotional reactivity and remember the presence that is here, we are taking the backward step. If we wake from a confining story of who we are and reconnect with our essential awareness, we are taking the backward step. When our attention shifts from a narrow fixation on any object—sound, sensation, thought—and recognizes the awake space that holds everything, we are taking the backward step. We come to this realization when there is nowhere else to step. No anything. We have relaxed back into the immensity and silence of awareness itself. - Tara Brach

The three principal aspects of the path are emerging from dissatisfaction, opening your heart and dissolving limiting projections. This teaching is based on a short text by the great Tibetan Yogi and scholar Lama Tsong Khapa.

Using the Mantra "I love myself" is a healing practice which builds the foundation for genuine empathy and compassion. Without a sense of self-worth and friendship with your feelings, it is very likely that the teachings of Bodhicitta fall on barren ground.

Stephan Pende invites you to a journey through your experience. The emphasis is on discovering a loving curiosity with everything that arises. Whatever arises, love that!

There are many different objects possible in meditation. Stephan Pende explores different options and helps you to choose the meditation practice which is suitable for you.

Not only are the things outside ourselves empty of the solid, objective reality we project onto them, the same is true for our inner sense of self. We instinctively feel that we exist as something very real, definite, and substantial. We have no doubt about this real me and it seems absurd to think of it as just another hallucination. - Lama Yeshe

Explore effortlessness in meditation. Non-striving, non-controlling, non-interfering, and non-fixing. Explore how to relax your judgement about the content of awareness and rest as awareness.

Meditation is a time when you are not pressuring yourself to perform. You are resting very deeply and relaxing, yet you are paying attention in an easy manner. - Lorin Roche

Stephan Pende gives an introduction to the different meditation techniques in the Buddhist Tradition. He encourages to find your own meditation style by listening to your preferences and rhythms.

Whenever we practice meditation, it is important to try to refrain from criticizing ourselves about how we practice and what comes up in our practice. This would only be training in being hard on ourselves! I want to emphasize the importance of maintaining an atmosphere of unconditional friendliness when you practice and as you take your practice out into the world.

Guided meditation to work with challenging past and future situations. Tonglen is a practice which supports you in healing, forgiving, and letting go of painful situations where your patterns are triggered.

The Jesus story is a mirror that helps us to see ourselves more clearly. The primary function of mythic storytelling is to render life transparent to the underlying transcendence that shines through it. This is the power of storytelling. Storytelling invites us into a creative relationship with the story. - Adyashanti

Jesus symbolizes the spiritual mystery of each one of us and points us toward the radiance within that is available right now.

Dwelling deep within our heart, and within the hearts of all beings without exception, is an inexhaustible source of love and wisdom. And the ultimate purpose of all spiritual practices, whether they are called Buddhist or not, is to uncover and make contact with this essentially pure nature. - Lama Yeshe

The Buddha saw that we suffer because we distort reality. The cause of our stress and struggles are our projections, we are co-creators of the world we live in. What are these distortions and how can we dissolve them?

Before you listen to this track please listen to "Preparing the Ground for Bodhicitta 3".

As the further step in discovering Bodhicitta we find the capacity to care within us. We connect with the soft spot in our heart by connecting with the care and kindness we have received throughout our life.

Wherever you are on your journey, there is another wonderful truth called “Living the Fruit” or “Starting with the Result.” The fruits of well-being and the experience of joy, freedom, and love are available now, whatever your circumstance! - Jack Kornfield

Reframing how you see a difficult person can change you feel about him or her. This is the traditional guided meditation on the "enemy".