"A Gentle Strength" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha exploring what it really means to stay grounded and clear when emotions run high, especially when we feel protective of the people we love. Gentleness isn’t weakness. It’s steady, courageous presence. And it’s a strength we can all cultivate, one breath at a time. I hope you'll find this talk useful. Enjoy!
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“Nothing Truly Disappears” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation about loss. How we meet it, how we hold it, and how we continue on with love instead of collapse. We looked at the Buddha comforting his father at the end of his life and how presence, compassion, and the simple truth of continuation eased his fears, and how those same teachings can help us when grief touches our lives. Loss hurts because love was real. And because love was real…nothing is ever truly lost. We can have joy alongside (not in place of) sadness. This is a very important conversation on many levels. I hop you will find something useful within. Enjoy.
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"Intruder Alert!" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha about intrusive thoughts. Those strange, sudden, unwanted flashes the mind throws at us that can feel scary, shameful, or completely out of character. The Buddha understood this long before psychology named it. These thoughts aren’t signs of who we are, they’re simply impermanent, conditioned events that come and go on their own. When we meet them with awareness, curiosity, and compassion instead of fear, they lose their power. I hope you find this useful. Enjoy!
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"Preparing For The Holidays" is a Dharma talk and very brief meditation offered in MindfulnessVR on the topic of how we can start preparing ourselves now for the many ways that the holiday season can challenge us, so that we are not reacting, but responding skillfully. Seasonal Affective Disorder, family gatherings, and loneliness are just a few of the ways we get triggered in the season, but it doesn't have to be that way and The Buddha gave us the tools to meet those challenges. We had technical difficulties which didn't affect the recording, but also had some funny things happening. Pardon my chuckling during the guided meditation, as I was working with some very funny distraction. I hope you enjoy and I hope the holidays are kind to you!
"The Dharma of Delayed Gratification" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha that explores what happens when our desire for instant pleasure replaces our patience for lasting peace. We’ll look at why the fast way is actually the long way, how craving disguises itself as progress, and how to rediscover the slow joy of contentment that doesn’t need constant feeding. I hope this will help your life in some way. Enjoy!
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"Read The Room" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation offered for the MindfulnessVR community in VRChat. It's also a sort of love letter to the Buddha and to the Bookish community. A shameless mashup of the two worlds I spend nearly every waking moment immersed in. I was thinking about mood readers in the bookish community the other day and I decided that this was a way I could relate Upaya-Kosalla (Skillful Means) to people in a relatable way. So I hope you will find some fun and joy in this talk and perhaps indulge me a little as I sneak some plugs in for some books I love or for the communities I love. Enjoy!
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https://tomebooks.com/ref/keoki
“Turning Toward Winter” is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha about how, as the world cools and slows, we’re reminded that not every season is for blooming. This talk looks at what it means to practice winter, to rest without guilt, to honor darkness as teacher, and to tend the small lamp of wisdom that burns steady through change. We’ll explore the Buddha’s teaching on balance, effort, and community warmth and how to keep your light alive, as well as how to share it when the nights grow long.
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“The Demon God” is a surprise bonus Spooky Season Dharma talk about the so-called “Demon God Mara” from Buddhism. We all have our demons. The Demon God is a story about the night the Buddha faced his. Māra the demon god, (SPOILER ALERT) was his own mind! The mind that is filled with fear, craving, and doubt. It’s about the great battle that led to awakening, and the quiet truth that awareness is stronger than the storms of our mind. It’s about facing our doubting mind, and transforming that relationship from fear based to compassion. I hope you enjoy this epic story!
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“Slayer To Saint” is the last of our Spooky Season Dharma talks! We explore the story of Aṅgulimāla the man born “Harmless” who became feared as a serial killer, and then found his way back to harmlessness again. It’s a story of fear, obedience, and transformation. Of how a good student can lose his way trying to please the wrong teacher. And how even the most violent karma can ripen into peace when met with wisdom. This year, we looked at every part of his journey from his parents’ fears and his teacher’s betrayal to the Buddha’s compassion and that unforgettable line: “Bear it, Brahmin, bear it.” It’s not a story about punishment. It’s a story about what’s possible when we finally stop running. I hope you enjoy this powerful story!
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“Nothing To Fear” is a spooky season Dharma Talk on death. Most of us grow up thinking cemeteries are scary places full of ghosts, reminders of loss, and stories we’d rather not face. But the Buddha taught that when we look closely, what we find is honesty. When we truly understand impermanence, fear transforms into peace. We stop clinging to what we can’t keep, and stop fearing what we can’t avoid, and see death clearly, we learn how to live fully. I hope you find some comfort and wisdom in this talk. Enjoy!
“The Spookiest of All Ghosts” isn’t about haunted houses or things that go bump in the night. It’s about the restless hungers that haunt our own hearts and minds. The cravings, habits, and addictions that whisper “just one more.” Drawing on the Buddha’s teachings and Dr. Gabor Maté’s In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, we explored how to face those inner ghosts with compassion, not fear. And how to feed them wisely with mindfulness, connection, and love. I hope you enjoy the talk!
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"Outing Our Inner Demons" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on working with our less appealing, or shadow side aspects. It's not so hard to work with our good bits, but sometimes we push away and resist facing our darker side. This talk is all about how we can transform those fiendish imps into useful tools and teachers. A bit of Spooky Season fun with a serious topic! I hope you enjoy and find value in this talk!
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“Ghosts of the Mind” is a dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha to get in the spirit of Spooky Season!; the perfect time to talk about fear. Not the kind in haunted houses, but the kind that lives in our heads. The Buddha knew that most of the ghosts that haunt us come from the stories our minds tell when we don’t see clearly. The rope we mistake for a snake. The fear that turns a quiet night into something sinister. The thoughts that rattle like ghosts until we shine the light of mindfulness on them. When we see fear for what it is, just another passing mind state, the monsters vanish. What’s left is peace. Enjoy!
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“There You Are” is about the wandering mind, the doubts and distractions that convince us we “can’t meditate”, and why none of that has to stop us. Meditation isn’t about sitting perfectly still or holding perfect focus. It’s about learning to meet the mind with patience, and gently return… again and again. Every return is the practice. Every return is progress. Every return is enough. I hope you'll find some value in this talk. Enjoy!
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"Stop, See, Soften, Serve" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation about Wise Action. Actions tend to be greater than words, and this week’s talk is about making the Dharma visible through what we do. We explored Wise Action’s three threads of non-harming, not taking what isn’t freely given, and honoring intimacy and consent as well as how they braid with Wise Speech to make our lives safer to be around. The practice is simple: Stop. See. Soften. Serve. This talk seemed very timely for our group, and I hope you find it useful in your life. Enjoy!
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"Wise and Free" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on the topic of Wise Speech. We often celebrate the idea of free speech (the right to say what we want, when we want). But the Buddha taught something deeper: wise speech.
Wise speech isn’t about restriction, it’s about freedom. The kind that comes from words that heal instead of harm, and which connect instead of divide.
This talk explores how our words can bind us in regret or set us free in compassion. Just because speech is free doesn’t mean it’s wise, but wise speech will always be freeing.
"Pumpkinheads" is a Dharma talk and short guided meditation inspired by my daughter’s first job at a pumpkin patch and a graphic novel we read together to celebrate, PumpkinHeads. The story brought to mind what’s sometimes called the Vipassanā Romance.; that tendency we all have to create elaborate stories in our minds about people and situations long before we know the truth. We believe these stories, and when reality doesn’t match, we suffer the disappointment.
This talk explores why the mind does this, how it causes trouble, and how practice can help us see more clearly. My hope is that it offers something useful for you, and that you enjoy listening.
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"All I Wanted Was A Pepsi" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation about respecting and honoring our parents, even when we don't always agree with our parents. It's about how we can always practice respect, gratitude, and compassion. The Buddha taught that even if we carried our parents on our shoulders for a hundred years, we could never fully repay them. What he asked instead was that we repay them through patience, love, and wisdom. Honoring our parents doesn’t mean silencing ourselves, nor does it mean letting go of our integrity. It means walking the Middle Way. And asking ourselves, how can I practice love and respect when it’s difficult?
"Don't Fear The Reaping" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on the topic of karma. Karma isn’t punishment, reward, or judgment. It’s simply the seeds we plant with our intentions, words, and actions. The Buddha taught: “Whatever seed is sown, that is the fruit that will be reaped.” We only need to pay attention to what we’re planting in this moment. Hope this is helpful. Enjoy!
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“Bend, Not Break” is a dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on the topic of resilience in troubling times. We explored how true resilience isn’t about hardening ourselves or pretending to be untouchable, but about staying flexible, grounded, and compassionate in the middle of life’s storms. We also talked about the role of community and everyday kindness in keeping one another steady, so no one has to walk alone. Enjoy!
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