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Recorded Dharma


This page contains an archive of dharma talks by James Baraz and guest teachers at our Thursday evening meetings that you can play or download to your computer. You can also listen to many of the talks recorded at IMCB since mid-2007 on the Dharma Seed website; they also feature a longer description of the talks. On their Home page, click on Retreats and enter our retreat code: IMCByogis.

In addition to IMCB talks, the following menu contains links to recorded dharma offered by other closely-allied dharma centers and to instructions for playing, downloading, and burning CDs.

Scroll down or click on a topic for more information:

 
Chronological List of All Talks

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Series Talks by James Baraz

 

Breaking the Chains of Craving

This series is based on the Spring 2010 issue of The Inquiring Mind, which focuses on "Addiction." James offers practices between sessions, such as experimenting with letting go of a simple habit in order to see the conditioning and to experience the aliveness of the present moment. For example, not reading or watching TV while eating. Includes lively comments and discussion from the sangha. Part 4 features Kevin Griffin, author, teacher, and innovator in the field of addiction treatment, who guest-edited the Addiction issue of Inquiring Mind. Kevin's website

 

Verses on the Faith Mind by Seng-T'san (3rd Zen Patriarch of China)

This is a three part series on James' favorite piece of dharma wisdom: Verses on the Faith Mind by Sengstan, otherwise known as the 3rd Zen Patriarch of China. This is one of the best treatises on the non-dual approach to practice. A few choice lines:

“The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.”

"Stop talking and thinking, and there is nothing you will not be able to know."

"The burdensome practice of judging brings annoyance and weariness."
“To live in the realization is to be without anxiety about non-perfection.”

During this series, James reads through the text and discusses how we can apply it in our lives. You can read the text of this sutra here.

 

A Meditative Instruction: Relaxed, Interested, Kind Awareness

This is a three part series of talks on James’ basic meditation instructions: “Receive the moment with a relaxed, interested and kind awareness. Note: The Relaxed Awarenss talk was recorded at the February 2009 month-long retreat at Spirit Rock.

Emotional Awareness

The first talk is an introduction in preparation for part two with guest Paul Ekman, psychologist, leading expert on human emotions and facial expressions and co-author with the Dalai Lama on the recent book Emotional Awareness. In the second talk, Paul plays excerpts of his discussions with the Dalai Lama on forgiveness and compassion and lays out his current theory about the origins and nature of compassion.

Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life

James received teachings from the Dalai Lama in July 2008. This series is based on Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, one of the Dalai Lama’s central teachings. As the Dalai Lama says, "If I have any understanding of compassion and the practice of the Bodhisattva path, it is entirely on the basis of this text that I possess it." For those who want more information on this topic, James recommends the article: What Is a Bodhisattva?: The Evolution of a Buddhist Idea by Guy Armstrong. (If you need a free copy of Acrobat Reader to view the PDF, please download it here.)

 

Buddhadharma as a Path of Happiness

This series is an exploration of the principles that James Baraz presents in the Awakening Joy Course from a more traditional Buddhist perspective, which shows how these principles reveal Buddhadharma as a path of happiness.

Theravada Masters and Practices

Reflections on Power, Sex, and Money

Sattipatthana Sutta (Four foundations of Mindfulness) Mindfulness

Five Reflections Fear

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Individual talks by James Baraz

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Talks by Guest Teachers

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Miscellaneous Talks

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Instructions

You may either download these MP3 files and play them later, or you can play them directly from the website. To play a file, click a link and select Open. It may take time to download before starting. To save the file and play later, click a link and select Save.

To make a CD from one of these talks:
1. Right click on the file of interest.
2. Click on "Save target as..." and save the file on your computer.
3. Use a music program, like "Real Player" or "Windows Media Player", to "burn" the file you've downloaded to an audio CD.

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