I discovered meditation after yoga in my healing journey. I stumbled upon some guided meditations that helped me get out of my mind-space of shame and blame and the endless cycling of my thoughts.
Over the years I have connected virtually with a number of mindfulness meditation teachers – oh the beauty of the internet and podcasts and videos!
I am grateful, particularly now with the social distancing, to have access to people of wisdom, generosity, and compassion that I can learn from and that can help me keep my heart inspired and my mind settled.
Tara Brach is a truly gifted teacher. I discovered her a couple of years ago when a friend mentioned how much she got from listening to Tara’s teachings. I am so glad I decided to take a listen!
This week’s talk was particularly poignant in that it was speaking to “Toxic Shame,” self-aversion, and being at war with ourselves.
If we are at war with ourselves, we truly cannot open our hearts to the rest of life.
Tara includes humor and true stories to make her points and to lead us into a deeper understanding.
She uses the story of a solid gold Buddha that was covered with plaster for years in East Asia to protect it from invading armies. No one remembered that underneath that plaster was the largest golden statue in that part of the world.
We cover over our innate purity to protect us as we through the stressors of life…the suffering comes when we take ourselves to be the coverings, different defenses, parts of our personality, our emotional reactions, or beliefs. We take the coverings to be who we are and we forget the gold.
Take a listen and learn how to trust and live from the gold and love yourself into healing. May this be of some benefit in your healing journal – remember the gold!
