Narayan Helen Liebenson's Dharma Talks
at Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center
Narayan Helen Liebenson
I try to help practitioners approach their meditation practice and their lives with compassion and wisdom. Bringing a loving attentiveness into each moment allows us to learn kindness rather than condemnation, and discernment rather than judgment.
I feel that it is essential not to make a split between the formal practice that happens on retreat and the informal practice that happens in daily life. At the core, formal practice and daily life practice are the same. In all arenas of life we can create the same dedication to wakefulness and sensitivity. The right place to practice meditation is wherever we are. The right time to practice is right now. And the right way to practice is to know what we are doing whenever we are doing it.
We can live each moment in a fresh way, free from expectations of how things should be and open to how things are whether we are sitting on the cushion, washing the dishes, or talking with a friend. With practice, we can discover a current of underlying joy and find that all of life is sacred.
Meditation practice is an offering to the world. When we meditate, we practice not only for ourselves, but for all beings. In meditation there is a gradual purification of heart. This purification allows us to trust ourselves and to respond spontaneously to others with compassion and insight.
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Select from Narayan Helen Liebenson's
93
talks
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VIEW ALL
1994-04-10
A Woman's Journey
2007-08-19
Acceptance And Transformation
2007-03-03
Acceptance and Transformation
2024-04-08
Accessing unconditional joy
1998-03-25
Attachment And Connection
2024-04-06
Boundless benevolence
2024-04-09
Boundless Benevolence in relationship to the difficult
1991-01-02
Caring For Oneself & Others
2002-01-04
Caring for Oneself and Others
2016-08-25
Chanting
2011-12-16
Closing Talk
2018-08-23
Closing Talk
2007-08-23
Compassion
2025-08-16
Contemplation and Action
1994-04-12
Contentment
2015-07-18
Don't know mind
2012-03-30
Evening Chanting
2017-04-01
Evening Chanting
2024-08-18
Guided Instructions: Feeling tone (Vedana)
2024-04-07
Guided meditation – boundless self and benefactor
1992-03-21
Guided Meditations
1991-04-12
Guided Metta
2004-08-28
Guided Metta Meditation
2004-08-22
Guided Metta Meditation: I
2004-08-24
Guided Metta Meditation: II
2004-08-26
Guided Metta Meditation: III
2004-08-27
Guided Metta Meditation: IV
2006-03-23
Heavenly Messengers
2005-08-17
Hungry Ghost Mind
2005-08-13
Illuminating The Path
1990-02-14
Impermanence
1991-04-09
Inner Resources
2005-04-16
Instructions - Sitting Practice 1
2005-04-17
Instructions - Sitting Practice 2
2003-08-23
Integrating The Practice
2018-12-10
Joy
2000-05-09
Living Fully In The Present; The Four Foundations Of Mindfulness - part 1
2000-05-11
Living Fully In The Present; The Four Foundations Of Mindfulness - part 2
2017-03-30
May I take care of myself happily.
2018-08-23
Metta - All Categories
2018-08-21
Metta (self, benefactor, friend, neutral person)
2018-08-19
Metta (self, benefactor)
2025-08-20
Metta for all aspects of being
1999-05-12
Metta Meditation
2022-08-24
Metta to all beings
2001-03-15
Mindfulness Of Speech
2024-08-20
Mindfulness of thoughts
2018-12-09
Morning Instructions
2019-08-24
Morning Instructions
1995-04-02
Morning Instructions # 2
2007-08-18
Opening Talk
2000-03-29
Opening To Dukkha Is Opening To Freedom
2004-08-23
Patience
2001-03-11
Patience And Expectation
1992-03-23
Pleasure, Pain, Joy
1990-02-16
Questions And Answers
2004-08-21
Remembering True Nature
2001-03-13
Renunciation
2002-08-13
Second Foundation Of Mindfulness - Awareness Of Pleasant, Unpleasant And Neutral
2000-03-09
Self Knowledge And Selflessness
1994-03-30
Shamatha And Vipassana
1991-03-08
Staying Home
1998-03-15
Studying The Self And Forgetting The Self
2013-05-21
Sustaining Open-Heartedness
1994-03-26
Taking Refuge
1999-05-09
The 7 Factors Of Awakening
2005-04-16
The 7 Factors Of Awakening
2003-08-17
The Art Of Wise Effort
1990-02-12
The Five Hindrances
2001-05-01
The Five Powers Of Mind
1999-05-13
The Freedom Of Equanimity
2007-08-21
The Hidden Treasures In The Hindrances
2001-03-28
The Middle Path And Freedom
2006-12-31
The One And The Many
2006-03-19
The Path Made Visible
2019-08-24
The Path Made Visible
2005-01-05
The Planning Mind - Life Teaches Us The Lessons Of Impermanence In Each Moment;…
1992-03-25
The Possibility Of Stopping
1989-03-03
The Practice Of Metta
2004-04-08
The Rhythm Of Change
2007-01-03
The Risk Of Mindfulness
2007-01-03
The Risk Of Mindfulness
2001-12-30
The Seven Factors Of Awakening
2003-08-19
Training The Heart
1994-07-03
Transforming Anger
2003-08-21
Waking Up In Relationship
1992-02-02
Weekend Retreat Closing
1992-01-13
Weekend Retreat Opening
1990-03-20
Welcoming All Experience
1991-03-04
What Effort Is And Is Not
1999-03-24
What Is Investigation?
2008-09-04
Wise Speech
1997-05-13
Working With Emotions
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Select one of Narayan Helen Liebenson's 19 retreats
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1995-04-01
7 Day Women's Retreat
1998-02-01
IMS Audio Files
2001-12-28
New Year's Retreat
2006-12-27
New Year's Retreat
2007-08-18
Your Life is Your Practice: Insight Meditation Retreat
2008-09-02
The Engaged Mystic: Meditation for Life
2011-12-09
Women in Meditation: Insight Meditation Retreat
2012-03-24
Women in Meditation: Insight Meditation Retreat
2015-07-11
Mindfulness, Insight, Liberation: Insight Meditation Retreat
2016-08-19
Your Life Is Your Practice: Insight Meditation Retreat
2017-03-26
Women in Meditation: Insight Meditation Retreat
2018-08-17
Your Life Is Your Practice: Insight Meditation Retreat
2018-12-07
Awakening : Insight Meditation Retreat for Experienced Students
2019-08-23
Your Life Is Your Practice: Insight Meditation Weekend
2022-08-18
Your Life Is Your Practice: Insight Meditation Retreat
2024-04-05
Women in Meditation
2024-08-15
Your Life Is Your Practice: Insight Meditation Retreat
2025-08-15
Your Life Is Your Practice: Insight Meditation Weekend – 25WNL
2025-08-18
Your Life Is Your Practice: Insight Meditation Retreat – 25NL