Finding True Refuge: Meditations for Difficult Times

Insights and Practices for Finding Sanctuary in Any Circumstance

When the difficulties and losses of life feel overwhelming, is there someplace we can turn for the safety, nurturing, and peace that we long for? Most of us are strongly conditioned to react with fear and confusion, falling back on strategies of judgment, control, addictive behaviors, and anger. Yet there is another way. In any moment, no matter how lost we feel, we can take refuge in presence and love, teaches Tara Brach. On "Finding True Refuge," this renowned psychologist and meditation teacher offers you three sessions of spiritual teachings and practices for finding your way home to the inner sanctuary that is always available. Tara reveals how the three gateways of refuge truth, love, and awareness allow us to draw on our own deepest wisdom, and offers eight guided meditations that include: Mindful awareness cultivating a non-judging, present-centered attentionUsing the therapeutic RAIN process for releasing fear and healing through self-compassionLetting go of our desire for control and certaintyCultivating a forgiving heart for ourselves and others

When we seek comfort and relief from stress, Tara Brach teaches, we often unconsciously turn to false refuges such as material wealth, approval from others, or a preoccupation with the past and future. Yet by cultivating true refuge in this moment, we not only find reliable and trustworthy shelter from the storms of life, we also open ourselves up to fully experiencing joy and fulfillment. With "Finding True Refuge," Tara brings you essential practices for awakening to the aliveness within you, and discovering that you can love this life no matter what.

Course objectives: Examine spiritual teachings for finding your way home to the inner sanctuary that is always available, even when the difficulties and losses of life feel overwhelmingDiscuss how the three gateways of refuge truth, love, and awareness allow us to draw on our own deepest wisdomDiscern between false refuges such as material wealth, approval from others, or a preoccupation with the past and future; and the cultivation of true refuge in the moment, where there is reliable and trustworthy shelter from the storms of lifeUtilize eight guided meditations, essential practices for awakening to the aliveness within you, and discovering that you can love this life no matter what"