The Heart of Light Podcast

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2020.06.15

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on June 15, 2020, about control.  How can we distinguish healthy forms of self-control from neurotic over-control? How does our attitude toward our own out-of-control elements shape how we respond to perceived out-of-control forces in the world?  How does affirming life and love require us to confront the roots of neurotic over-control?     

This is the quote sheet for the talk.  

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2020.06.08

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on June 8, 2020, about peace.  The pursuit of inner peace involves many apparent paradoxes.  At the same time, this ground of inner peace is the surest basis of bring peace into the world.  As always, Buddhism has a lot to say on this topic, including some things we rather would not hear.   

This is the quote sheet for the talk.

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2020.06.01

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on June 1, 2020, about extremism.  We live in extreme times—what advice does Buddhism, the Middle Way, have for relating to extremism? In what ways does Buddhism call us to extreme forms of compassion and of opening to the experience of Life?   

This is the quote sheet for the talk.  

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2020.05.25

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 25, 2020, about emptiness and fullness.  Ramadan ending in Eid, like Lent ending in Easter, is an image of a prolonged period of emptiness leading to fullness.  This deep archetypal truth appears throughout the world’s wisdom traditions, including in the Christian idea of kenosis and the Buddhism concept of sunyata.

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2020.05.18

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 18, 2020, about anger.  What is your relationship to anger?  How can you cultivate a healthy relationship to this potent form of life-energy, a relationship to anger that is healing to yourself and others?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2020.05.11

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 11, 2020, about freedom.  What is freedom in a Buddhist context?  How do popular misconceptions about freedom leave us less free?  How can we find true freedom?

This is the quote sheet for the talk.  

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2020.05.04

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on May 4, 2020, about inner strength.  When we are faced with challenges, how do we tap into our own reserves?  How do we find that inner ground of resilience and confidence that allows us to weather outward difficulties?  

This is the quote sheet for the talk.  

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2020.04.27

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 27, 2020, about cultivating a heart ready for anything.  How do we embrace loss and all our difficult emotions?  How do we make room in ourselves for all of us?  How do we open up so that we can be deeply touched by the raw vital beauty of life?   

This is the quote sheet for the talk.  

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2020.04.20

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 20, 2020, about patience.   Whether we shelter-in-place alone or with others, these times can try one’s patience.  What is patience?  What steps can we take to develop this often praised yet elusive virtue?  How does developing patience align us with our deepest nature?   

This is the quote sheet for the talk.  

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2020.04.13

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on April 13, 2020, about joy.   It’s a cliché that happiness comes from within, and our current conditions really challenge us to find the wellspring of joy within us.  What does Buddhism teach about connecting the essential joy that is the ground of our nature?  How do we move more toward that in the struggles of our daily life? 

This is the quote sheet for the talk.