Tara Brach returns to the Indie Spiritualist Podcast for a conversation around answering the call to share the gifts of mindfulness and meditation practice with others.
Tara Brach, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, internationally known meditation teacher and author of bestselling Radical Acceptance and True Refuge. In addition to Tara’s public teaching, she is active in bringing meditation into DC area schools, prisons and to underserved populations. Learn more at tarabrach.com.
Show Notes
Answering the Call (Opening) – Chris speaks with Tara about her most recent project with Jack Kornfield – a two-year mindfulness education program. Tara talks about what makes the program so unique and talks about taking a secular approach to mindfulness and meditation practice.
“We have rabbis and ministers and all sorts of people from different traditions that are coming to get a training and awareness through which they can deepen their experiential contact with their own faith.” – Tara Brach
Casting a Wider Net (19:20) – Tara and Chris talk about the current status of mindfulness and meditation in Western culture. They discuss the implications of reframing these traditional practices to meet modern sensibilities and reach a wider audience.
“What I have noticed is that even when people go into teaching with an intention that you might call shallow, they begin to learn to pay attention in a way that naturally wakes them up. I have a huge trust that true nature is in all of us and that true nature wants to wake up to itself.” – Tara Brach
A Curriculum of Compassion (30:40) – Imagine what things would look like if every child was exposed to teachings in mindfulness and compassion the same way they are taught other essential life skills. Tara and Chris talk about some of the reasons why these skills are not taught in the classroom and what kind of societal changes we might see if things changed.
“Bringing these skills into the schools is the hope of the future. The Dalai Lama once said that if every second grader was taught meditation, then there would be no war in the next generation.” – Tara Brach
For more on bringing more compassion into our daily lives, check out Tara’s conversation with Sharon Salsberg on Ep. 57 of the Metta Hour Podcast.
