The Suffering Business
I always joke that I’m 'in the suffering business,' and business is booming.
It was an honor and privilege to support the graduates above in their study of "Guiding Meditation and Advanced Asana" at Kripalu Center.
I definitely get a warm, fuzzy feeling when I think of each of these devoted people creating a safe and sacred space for their students.
What defines 'the Kripalu approach' is that it's not about offering a scripted class, but about teaching from deep within to create a transformative experience. Many teachers are called to work in prisons, for children, the elderly, to under-privileged populations and to the GBLTQ community. As you can imagine, the language that reaches such diverse populations is fluid.
The heart and intent, though, is steady.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
The Most Important Thing
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores the power of intention and attention.
You’ll learn how clarifying your intentions can dramatically increase your capacity for happiness. You’ll also learn the importance of developing skillful means - honestly assessing whether or not what you are currently doing is moving toward what you most want.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Unleashing Your Inner Golden Retriever
Special AUDIO:
From the Insight Meditation Community of Washington's New Year's Retreat. This talk explores the transformative power of compassion.
You'll learn how to cultivate authentic friendliness in your meditation practice, how to distinguish between pain and suffering and how to heal the judging mind through the practice of forgiveness.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Retreating and Renewing
“The more you’ve got going on in your life, the more you need to be on retreat.”
Our year-end retreat provides much needed space to step back and let the moment unfold. It’s an honor to be serving these retreats and always a joy to reunite with our teaching team.
102 participants from far away as Sweden, South America, Canada, the west coast and all through the United States.
If you’re not familiar with the schedule, your day generally looks like this, all contained within the practice of social silence with the exception of two interviews with a teacher during the week
Qigong Practice Sitting Meditation Breakfast Walking Meditation Guided meditation with instructions and Q/A Walking Meditation Sitting Meditation Small Group Interviews (twice during the week) Walking Meditation Sitting Meditation Lunch and Rest Sitting Meditation Walking Meditation Sitting Meditation Yoga Guided Heart Meditation Walking Meditation Sitting Meditation Dinner and Rest Sitting Meditation Walking Meditation Dharma Talk Walking Meditation Sitting Meditation
Jonathan Foust, Pat Coffey, Hugh Byrne, Tara Brach, Ruth King
Bells announce the schedule shift and each day is the same routine, allowing you to relax into the unfolding experience.
There is a distinction between ‘doing the retreat’ and ‘letting the retreat do you.’ The practice is to trust the unfolding of each day. What happens in the silence and rest can be quite remarkable.
I led the yoga sessions, group interviews and met with individuals though the week.
My talk, entitled, tentatively entitled “Unleashing the Inner Golden Retriever,” was about the power of compassion as a tool for transformation.
I’ll have it up sometime soon.
If you can schedule a retreat sometime in 2015. It’s a wonderful investment of time and fortune.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
On Gratitude and Giving
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores what can happen when you investigate gratitude and giving.
You’ll learn how to incline your mind toward wholesome states by reflecting on gratitude and why generosity is such a foundational teaching in Buddhist psychology. You’ll explore as well your relationship to the ‘other side’ of generosity - your capacity to receive.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Five Breaths, Five Scenes
An idyllic late afternoon in the Berkshires Mountains of western Massachusetts. I’m down by the lake and noticed how as I was transfixed watching the light and colors, my breath slowed down dramatically.
This inspired me to try a little experiment. This short video offers five scenes of ten seconds each. Your practice is to breathe in slow and regular, inhaling to the count of four and exhaling for the count of four.
Notice what happens after five slow, deep breaths.
Soundtrack: A Touch of Grace with Jonathan Foust, Todd Norian and Pravina Wahler.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
On Equanimity
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores how you can cultivate the full expression of mindfulness practice: equanimity.
You'll learn about equanimity from the perspective of Buddhist psychology, practices to cultivate steadiness and clear-seeing and how to identify the 'near enemies' of this state - qualities of experience that are close to equanmity, but miss the mark.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
On Cultivating Joy
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores how you can increase your capacity for joy.
You'll learn about the characteristics of joy from the Buddhist perspective, the shadowside of joy as well as how to cultivate joy as a spiritual practice.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
A Year of Living Mindfully
After a hiatus of one year, I’m offering The Year of Living Mindfully again in 2015.
If you live in the DC area and would like to tap into a sustained focus on mindfulness and compassion with a group of like-minded practitioners, this might be a good thing.
Over 150 folks have participated over the last six years and many have found it to be pivotal in their journey. I’m excited to be offering this again.
You can read more about it here.
Applications are due January 29th.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
On Cultivating Compassion
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores how you can cultivate your capacity for compassion.
You'll learn how compassion must be balanced with wisdom and how you can incline your mind to more quickly move to this sense of 'seing self in other and other in self'.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Meditation - Breath, Body Scan and Resting in Presence
Special AUDIO:
The meditation begins with a few minutes of conscious, circular breathing to focus, calm and center the mind. (22 minutes)
You'll then move into a body scan meditation, systematically sensing from the inside.
From here, you can use an embodied 'anchor' (breath, sound or felt sense) with an invitation to intimately rest attention in the here and now.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
On Concentration, Mindfulness and Insight
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores how cultivating moment-to-moment, sustained attention is the doorway to transformation.
Concentration is the lens while mindfulness is the film or the chip that 'notices' what is there.
Concentration with deep relaxation can lead to not only profound states of awareness, but the arising of insight, allowing you to seeing deeply into the nature of reality.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
You Are Not What You Think
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores the nature of the thinking process and points to who you are beyond your thoughts.
You'll learn about how thoughts harden into beliefs and a formula for examining what you believe is true. You'll also learn how to shift your attention to who you are as awareness itself.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Five Weather Systems
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores how to work with the five mind states that make it impossible to be present.
You'll learn strategies for transforming your relationship with 1) aversion, 2) craving, 3) worry, 4) sloth and torpor and 5) doubt and self-criticism.
Drawing on real-life stories, this talk can help you more quickly recognize these states and find creative ways to access wisdom and compassion.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
On Feeling and Healing
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores what gets in the way of 'clear-seeing' and how you can work with the obstacles that naturaly arise when you pay attention to what is present.
You're learn about 'clear-seeing,' the practice of recognizing what is present.
Additionally, you'll learn about seeing what gets in the way of being free, seeing yourself through the transformational process and finally, seeing how you can incline the mind toward seeing the good in all things.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Over 200,000 Downloads!
This morning was in my usual technical flow after I give a talk.
Mike or Bob give me a usb thumb drive with the recorded talk. I pop it into GarageBand on my mac and do some minor editing. I trim the beginning and end, put on a musical intro and ending and adjust the sound levels.
I upload the mp3 files with copy to a website called “Libsyn” (liberated syndication). They host the talk and port it over to iTunes.
I was uploading the talk “On Feeling and Healing" from last night. On the control panel on Libsyn I noticed that since I started posting these talks, there have been over 200,000 downloads.
In the Buddhist tradition the teachings are offered freely. I love that technology helps make these talks and meditations available to those who are interested.
I have heard from people around the world with different comments. Sometimes there is an unexpected donation in my paypal account with some kind words.
Sample comments: "You are on the commute with me every day to work." "I have no real community around me and your talks help accompany me on my journey." "I don’t listen all the time, but when I’m going through a rough patch, your talks help calm me down and give me hope." and my favorite: "I’m so thankful for your talks on iTunes. Nothing else helps me fall asleep so deeply." I’m here to serve!
You can subscribe via iTunes ( http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?uo=4 )
or listen online ( http://jonathanfoust.libsyn.com/webpage )
or catch the audio on my youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHDVc7mqJEl3iIv901uKG-Q )
If you feel drawn, do add a comment or a rating on iTunes.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
One with Everything TV
November 20, we will be shooting the pilot for “One with Everything,” a show based on awareness, presence and transformation. Link: http://www.onewitheverything.tv
"Can a late-night talk show be enlightening and entertaining while also helping us to learn and transform ourselves? We’ll find out on the new show, One With Everything.
Join us for cinematic evenings of down-to-earth, candid interviews and experiences with comedians, neuroscientists, yogis and musicians – those who share in the basic belief that we are more than what we appear to be.
The show will also feature a spectacular house band, engaging audience participation, and special musical guests."
Your host (who will wear a better shirt for the taping.)
This venture is a mastermind of Matt Oestricher, incredibly talented musician and visionary. link: http://www.mattoestreicher.com/bio/
When Matt shared with me his vision and asked me if I would host, I told him I “had a great face for radio” and stalled for months. With his kind persistence, I've thrown myself in absolutely love everyone on the program and the whole unfolding process. We have an amazing band, producer and kind and creative folks excited to make this happen.
The house band working on a number.
Welcoming Dr. David Varga for an interview in our run-through. He’ll be doing the science segment. Link: http://contemplativeneurosciences.com/aboutme/home.html
With Bernadette Birney, yoga teacher. Link: http://bernadettebirney.com
Daryl Davis is a jazz musician who played in the south and befriended member of the Ku Klux Klan.
An absolutely amazing story and life.
Krishna Das is our musical guest. We go way back. Link: www.krishnadas.com
Last month we did a walk-through to get a sense of blocking and get some audience feedback.
November 20th we’ll be at the Bijou Theater in Bridgeport Connecticut. Link: http://thebijoutheatre.com
I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, but I’ve got to sign off and … get working on my monologue!
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
The Three Characteristics of Reality
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores how you can sensitize yourself to more quickly recognize the Three Characteristics of Reality and transform your relationship to stress and suffering.
You'll learn how these elemental qualities of existence pervade every moment and how, by seeing clearly into impermanence, your relationship to impermanence and how impermanence infuses your sense of self, you can hold your relationship to each moment with wisdom and compassion.
This talk is from the Fall 2014 Retreat with fellow teachers Anam Thubten, Tara Brach and Pat Coffey.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Back from the Fall Retreat
What a week with my fellow teachers at the IMCW Fall Retreat at Pearlstone Retreat Center. Adam Thubten, founder and spiritual director of the Dharmata Foundation shared his wonderful presence with us. The result was a blend of both Theravaden and Tibetan practices and teachings with both depth and laughter.
Pat Coffey, Anam Thubten, Tara Brach, Erin Erinselover and Jonathan Foust
The incomparable La Sarmiento and Janet Merrick supported the teachers and 97 full-time practitioners.
Anam was gifted with a Halloween hat on the last morning. He’s definitely a wizard.
Final sharing with Anam at the end of the retreat. He’s a true dharma brother.
In our final ceremony, La offered a song to the group, not knowing she was going to hit a big speed bump.
YouTube Link: http://youtu.be/s3PNnkZta2E
All the retreat talks will be up on dharmaseed. My talk, on the “Three Characteristics of Reality,” is HERE.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.