For episode 245, we are continuing the Fireside Chat Series on the Metta Hour with guest Guy Armstrong.

This series features intimate conversations with longtime dharma teachers about the early days of their practice and the most impactful moments with their own teachers. Hosted by IMS Online, the fourth episode in this series. Guy Armstrong has been leading insight meditation retreats since 1984 in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. His training included living as a monk for a year in the Thai forest lineage. Guy is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council and a guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society and is the author of Emptiness: A Practical Guide for Meditators from Wisdom Books.

In this conversation, Sharon and Guy discuss:

• Guy’s first encounter with meditation
• How Sharon reached her first retreat
• The mystery of being drawn to practice
• The three characteristics of existence
• Guy’s introduction to Emptiness
• Mahasi Sayadaw noting technique
• Mental Noting Technique
• Insights of anattā (Emptiness)
• The path Guy has taken since 1976
• The importance of relaxation
• What advice Guy would give his younger self
• Goenka’s directive to sit two-hours a day
• Thai Buddhist monk Ajahn Buddhadasa
• The year that Guy was a monk in Thailand
• Burmese Theravāda monk, Pa Auk Sayadaw

The episode closes with some questions from the audience on Emptiness, Dzogchen practice, Tsoknyi Rinpoche Handshake practice, the spectrum of Emptiness, “where is mind,” and the Jhanas.

You can learn more about Guy’s work right here and get a copy of his book, Emptiness: A Practical Guide for Meditators, right here. Learn more about IMS Online right here. Listen to Guy’s first episode on the Metta Hour, Episode 90, right here from 2019.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 244 Valerie Mason-John makes their first appearance on the Metta Hour to speak about their new book, “First Aid Kit for the Mind: Breaking the Cycle of Habitual Behaviors”.

Valerie is a founding facilitator of Compassionate Inquiry and the author of eleven books, including the award-winning book, “Eight Step Recovery.” They are a co-founder of the training program, Mindfulness Based Addiction Recovery, and work as a public speaker in the field of Mindfulness for Addiction and Trauma.

In this conversation, Valerie and Sharon discuss:

• How lovingkindness saved Valerie’s life
• How Valerie became the “Bully Doctor”
• Valerie’s journey in recovery
• The importance of community in recovery
• Recovery Cafe
• Gabor Mate’s Compassionate Inquiry
• Thoughts are not facts
• First-Aid Kit for the Mind
• The breath is medicine
• What is still true? What can we rely on?
• Dharma: that which we can rely on
• Thich Naht Hanh’s influence on Valerie
• How to maintain mindfulness
• The role of Storytelling in Valerie’s work
• How story compounds addiction
• Playwriting and poetry as social justice

Valerie closes the conversation with a guided meditation LOVE from their new book, First Aid Kit for the Mind. Learn more about Valarie’s work on their website right here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 243, we are continuing the Fireside Chat Series on the Metta Hour with guest Tuere Sala.

This series features intimate conversations with longtime dharma teachers about the early days of their practice and the most impactful moments with their own teachers. Hosted by IMS Online, the third episode in this series. Tuere Sala is a Guiding Teacher at Seattle Insight Meditation Society and the founding teacher of the Capitol Hill Meditation Group. She is a retired prosecuting attorney who has practiced Vipassana meditation for over 30 years. Tuere has been teaching since 2010 and has a long history of assisting others in establishing and maintaining a daily practice. The conversation begins with a guided meditation from Tuere.

In this episode, Sharon and Tuere discuss:

• What drew Tuere to the Dharma
• Tuere’s work as a prosecutor
• Finding steadiness without fixing things
• How sangha supports practice
• Spiritual practice is not just about fixing what we don’t like
• Death is not a failure
• Suffering as poetry
• Sympathetic Joy
• How gratitude cultivates energy
• Tuere’s Christian faith
• The three refuges
• The effects of guilt in our lives
• Tuere’s challenges with compassion
• What Tuere’s practice looks like
• The Thai Forrest Tradition
• Sharon’s favorite Dharma quote

You can learn more about Tuere’s work on her website right here. Learn more about IMS Online right here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.