The Heart of Light Podcast

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2024.02.26

This is my dharma talk on February 26, 2024, about White Privilege. For white people, how does the challenge of seeing and unpacking our white privilege resemble many other challenges on the spiritual path? How does Buddhism help us to understand the harm caused by white privilege? How willing are we to embrace all the sacrifices necessary to love all beings?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2024.02.19

This is my dharma talk on February 19, 2024, about Living a Noble Life. What does it mean to move through the world in a noble way? What truly motivates our virtues and our efforts to do good in the world? Why does Buddhism describe the four central truths and the eightfold path as noble?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2024.02.12

This is my dharma talk on February 12, 2024, about Emptying and Emptiness. Why do the world's religious traditions all urge us to empty ourselves out? How does the deep spiritual logic of emptying ourselves run so counter to the stories about consumption and filling ourselves up that are so prevalent in this culture? What is meant by the Buddhist idea of emptiness? This talk fell on the Monday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

This is the quote sheet for the talk.

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2024.02.05

This is my dharma talk on February 5, 2024, about Radical Self-Responsibility. What does it mean to take deep responsibility for how we feel and for our emotional states? How do we embrace responsibility for our boundaries and for how others impact us? Why is it that we cannot find the rich satisfaction that we seek and that we intuitively know we deserve unless we make the decision to grow up fully in life?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2024.01.29

This is my dharma talk on January 29, 2024, about the Archetypal Feminine. How deeply and how well do we receive life? What is our relationship to flow? How do we understand our place in the interconnection of all things?  This talk fell during the week of the Celtic holiday of Imbolg.

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2024.01.22

This is my dharma talk on January 22, 2024, about the Buddhist path to facing difficulties. What is our attitude toward difficulties? Do we recognize the futility of playing the blame game? What would it look like to embrace deep responsibility in our lives?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

This is the blog article quoted in the talk.  

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2024.01.15

This is my dharma talk on January 15, 2024, about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. How just and fair are the “rules” that we follow and that we use to judge others, especially when we’re upset? In what ways are we merely lukewarm in our commitment to what we know is right? How much are we willing to embrace being extreme in the pursuit of what we know is for the highest good?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Letter from a Birmingham Jail full text

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2024.01.08

This is my dharma talk on January 8, 2024, about starting a meditation practice. What does it mean to commit to meditation? What are the predictable challenges to this commitment that we should expect? What does it mean to trust our capacity for growth?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2024.01.01

This is my dharma talk on January 1, 2024, about commitment. What are the tangible self-care practices, if any, that you practice every single day without fail?  Why do we expect rigorous commitment from romantic others, but can manifest nothing like that level of commitment toward ourselves?  How is commitment the doorway to our freedom?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.12.26

This is my dharma talk on December 26, 2023, about loving the outcast. What is our relationship to people we avoid and/or consider our enemies? What are the parts of life that we completely reject or avoid? Do we have the courage to give a bold YES to absolutely everything that we are, including the places we have long avoided or neglected?

This is the quote sheet for the talk.