I Needed a Lifeline
Struggling with the transition from sitting to meditating, longing to feel part of a larger community, needing to understand how to put things I read into practice, wishing someone could see how hard I was trying, I knew I needed help. I was just barely treading water, and I was not about to let myself drown.
I found lots of options, but only one real answer. Truly a best kept secret:
Tara Brach, PhD
www.TaraBrach.com
Tara provides a weekly dharma talk/lesson, and a weekly meditation, free of charge, with no sponsor announcements or advertisements to interrupt the flow, and no app or subscription is required. Just Tara connecting with the community and teaching from her heart, based on her experience. She is real, relatable, and funny, bringing the reality of life’s struggles into perspective, yet infusing optimism and hope for the journey ahead. When I listen, I always feel like she is talking directly to me. Did I mention she is funny? In her talks, there is always a joke, bring not only humor and laughter, but a levity to the topic that you can instantly relate to. A far cry from some of the other options out there. Tara is the real person. From her website:
Tara Brach’s teachings blend Western psychology and Eastern spiritual practices, mindful attention to our inner life, and a full, compassionate engagement with our world. As an undergraduate at Clark University, Tara pursued a double major in psychology and political science.After college, she lived for ten years in an ashram—a spiritual community—where she practiced and taught both yoga and concentrative meditation. Over the following years, Tara earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Fielding Institute. She went on to complete a five-year Buddhist teacher training program at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. In 1998, Tara founded the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, DC (IMCW), which is now one of the largest and most dynamic non-residential meditation centers in the United States.
Tara, and the weekly on-line talks and meditations she provides, have been a mainstay, a lifeline, for me over the last three years. I have learned much from such a gracious, mindful, talented, and funny teacher and fellow human being. Namaste. —Robin
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