The Heart of Light Podcast

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.10.09

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on October 9, 2023, about deep belonging.  How do societal messages distort our understanding of belonging? How do we cultivate deep belonging within ourselves? How does our own belonging impact our ability to belong with others?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.10.02

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on October 2, 2023, about Chinese Bagua as a model of healing.  What is the therapeutic value of shock in the healing process? What is the role of gentleness and self-compassion in the healing process? What is required to integrate head-level insights deep into the body?

This is the slideshow used in the talk.  

This is the quote sheet for the talk.

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.09.25

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on September 25, 2023, about inner protection.  What does the First Noble Truth imply about many of the kinds of protection we seek? What is the role of good boundaries in protecting ourselves?  What is the true nature of inner protection?  This talk will fall on the Monday before the Christian holiday of Michaelmas.

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.09.18

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on September 18, 2023, about facing the unknown.  What is our relationship to the unknown? What stories or motions come up when we face the unknown? How do we relate to the unknown within ourselves? This talk fell on the Monday before the Autumnal Equinox.

This is the quote sheet for the talk.

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.09.11

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on September 11, 2023, about grief.  What is our relationship to grief? What is the cost of avoiding pain? What are the deeper layers of grief that we carry within us?

This is the quote sheet for the talk.

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.09.04

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on September 4, 2023, about nonattachment to outcome.  What is our relationship to the unknown? What is the source of our inner urgency? How do we cultivate a heart ready for anything?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.08.28

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on August 28, 2023, about Antiracist Work as a Yoga.  What are the characteristics of a yoga?  What does Resmaa Menakem call the six intelligences of the body? How do we live out the magnanimous love at the core of the antiracist message?  This talk fell on the 60th anniversary of Dr. King's “I Have a Dream” speech.

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.08.21

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on August 21, 2023, about rising to a challenge.  What is our relationship with risk? How well do we balance what we control with what we don’t?  How eager are we to rise to the challenge of whatever the next step of our growth demands?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.08.13

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on August 13, 2023, about stepping into our power.  What are the four principles of personal power? What are the paradoxes of moving toward our power? Why does moving toward our power activate our deepest fears?

This is the quote sheet for the talk. 

Mike’s Dharma Talk, 2023.08.06

This is my dharma talk from the East Bay Healing Collective on August 6, 2023, about what Jennifer Welwood calls the true ride.  What does it mean to be a grown-up adult? How deeply have we integrated the Buddhist teaching of impermanence? How does trying to avoid pain create even more pain?

This is the quote sheet for the talk.