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Buddhist
The Wisdom Podcast
Tara Brach: Radical Compassion episode / season 1
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On this episode of the Wisdom Podcast, host Daniel Aitken speaks with Tara Brach, renowned meditation teacher, psychologist, and author of several bestselling books, including Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of R.A.I.N ; True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart ; and Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha. These books and others can be purchased through Taras website and on Amazon. Tara is known for her pioneering work integrating Western psychology with Eastern spiritual traditions. She is also the founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington. In this moving discussion, Tara talks about her dedication to social activism and how it fueled her interest in meditation from a young age. She explains the tension she experienced after attending social activism rallies, which were often characterized by aggression and an us/them mentality, versus the peaceful, unified mind/body feeling she experienced while practicing yoga. Following a yoga class one evening, she realized, this [peaceful feeling] was what I really cherished and needed and also what the world really needed. This pivotal moment catalyzed her shift from radical politics to radical inquiry into the nature of awareness and compassion, with a focus on the capacity of certain practices, like yoga and meditation, to be used as tools to solve the very issues social activists confront. Tara also recounts the experience of living in an ashram for twelve years, which laid the groundwork for several Buddhist meditation practices she would later discover, such as jhana practice, vipassana , and Dzogchen. Tara compares the benefits of each of these, and discusses how each has deeply informed the development of her own unique practices, especially those focused on self-compassion. She goes on to explain in detail the RAIN method of meditation , which she teaches and follows regularly. Finally, Daniel and Tara discuss radical compassion and what it means for compassion to be an all-inclusive, active, and embodied expression in the world. Tara considers how we can shine a light of awareness on both our personal and political biases, and furthermore, how we might cultivate this aspiration despite millennia of conditioning. Listeners can find additional resources and information related to the topics Tara covers, including Buddhist social activism and vipassana meditation , on Wisdoms website. The post Tara Brach: Radical Compassion appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.
Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7 Season 8 Season 9 Season 10 Season 11 Season 12 Season 13 Season 14 Season 15 Season 16 Season 17 Season 18 Season 19 Season 20 Season 21 Season 22 Season 23 Season 24 Season 25 Season 26 Season 27 Season 28 Season 29 Season 30 Season 31 Season 32 Season 33 Season 34 Season 35 Season 36 Season 37 Season 38 Season 39 Season 40 Season 41 Season 42 Season 43 Season 44 Season 45 Season 46 Season 47 Season 48 Season 49 Season 50 Season 51 Season 52 Season 53 Season 54 Season 55 Season 56 Season 57 Season 58 Season 59 Season 60 Season 61 Season 62 Season 63 Season 64 Season 65 Season 66 Season 67 Season 68 Season 69 Season 70 Season 71 Season 72 Season 73 Season 74 Season 75 Season 76 Season 77 Season 78 Season 79 Season 80 Season 81 Season 82 Season 83 Season 84 Season 85 Season 86 Season 87 Season 88 Season 89 Season 90 Season 91 Season 92 Season 93 Season 94 Season 95 Season 96 Season 97 Season 98 Season 99 Season 100 Season 101 Season 102 Season 103 Season 104 Season 105 Season 106 Season 107 Season 108 Season 109 Season 110 Season 111 Season 112 Season 113 Season 114 Season 115 Season 116 Season 117 Season 118 Season 119 Season 120 Season 121 Season 122 Season 123 Season 124 Season 125 Season 126 Season 127 Season 128 Season 129 Season 130 Season 131 Season 132 Season 133 Season 134 Season 135 Season 136 Season 137 Season 138 Season 139 Season 140 Season 141 Season 142 Season 143 Season 144 Season 145 Season 146 Season 147 Season 148 Season 149 Season 150 Season 151 Season 152 Season 153 Season 154 Season 155 Season 156 Season 157 Season 158 Season 159 Season 160 Season 161 Season 162 Season 163 Season 164 Season 165 Season 166 Season 167 Season 168 Season 169 Season 170 Season 171 Season 172 Season 173 Season 174
episodes
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: The Nalanda Approach (#243)
Venerable Bhikkhu Anlayo: The Perfection of Wisdom (#242)
H. E. Gyalwa Dokhampa: The Restful Mind (#240)
Thupten Jinpa: Illuminating the Intent – An Encore Presentation (#236)
Venerable Robina Courtin: Discovering Your True Nature (#234)
Elijah Ary: The First Western Geluk Tulku
Bhikkhu Bodhi: Translating the Buddha
H. H. the Karmapa: Vegetarianism, Online Education, and Nuns’ Ordination
Ven. Thubten Chodron: An American Buddhist Abbess
Jamyang Rinchen 1: Translating for the Dalai Lama
Jamyang Rinchen 2: My Guru, the Dalai Lama
Deborah Schoeberlein David: The Meaning of Living Mindfully
Stephen Batchelor: After Buddhism
Jeffrey Hopkins: The Life of a Buddhist Scholar
Elsie Walker: The Dalai Lama and the Presidents Bush
Robert Thurman: A Life in Buddhism
Lama Alan Wallace: Dzogchen and the Science of Mind
C.W. Huntington and Francisca Cho: Emptiness and Fiction
Pascal Auclair: Living Buddhism from the Heart
Jet Li: Beyond Life and Death (#229)
Brendan Barca and Pema Sherpa: The Daily Buddhist (#220)
Jeffrey Hopkins: In Remembrance: The Life of a Buddhist Scholar (#190)
Anne C. Klein: Being Human and a Buddha Too (#174)
Lama Alan Wallace: Meditation for Balanced Living
Alan Wallace: Solitude and Resilience (#118)
Chris Ives: Meditations on the Trail (#115)
Bhikkhu Bodhi: The Buddha on Social Harmony
Alan Wallace: Dzogchen and the Science of Mind
Christina Feldman: Meditation as Cultivation
Shaila Catherine: Mastering the Jhnas
Gerry Stribling: Buddhism for Dudes
Sharon Salzberg: Faith and Doubt
Steve Armstrong: Insight Meditation in America
Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen: Drikung Teachings
Joseph Goldstein: Bringing the Dharma from the Masters to the West
H.E. the 7th Ling Rinpoche: The Training of a Tulku
Jay Garfield: Engaging Buddhist Philosophy
Koshin Paley Ellison: Zen and the Art of Caregiving
Mingyur Rinpoche: Stories of Wandering and Awakening
Bhikkhu Anlayo: The Satipatthana Sutta
Guy Newland: A Buddhist Grief Observed
David Nichtern: Awakening from the Daydream
Geshema Kelsang Wangmo: Becoming the First Female Geshe
Kamala Masters: Dhamma in Daily Life
Malcolm Smith: Translating Dzogchen Texts
Jan Westerhoff: Ngrjuna and Madhyamaka
Barbara Bonner: Reimagining Courage and Generosity
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche: In Praise of Spiritual Teachers
H. E. the 12th Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche: The History of the Zurmang Kagyu Tradition
Kathleen Dowling Singh: Grace and Awakening
Joanne Cacciatore: Bearing the Unbearable
Alan Wallace: Meditation for Balanced Living
Harold Talbott: Remembering Thomas Merton’s Encounters with the Dalai Lama
Josh Korda: Honoring Transparency and Disclosure
Andy Rotman: The Divine Stories of Early Buddhism
Marcus Perman: Translation and Transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West
Ross Bolleter: The Intimacy of Zen Koan Practice
Sharon Salzberg: Loving-Kindness: More than Just a Concentration Practice
Janet Gyatso: Tibetan Buddhism, Animal Ethics and Compassion
Sumi Loundon Kim: Mindfulness for the Whole Family
Karl Brunnhlzl: Stories of Translation and Transformation
Leonard van der Kuijp: Discovering Tibet with a Leading Scholar
Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Foundations for the Flourishing of Dharma in the West
Bhante Gunaratana: A Special Teaching on Mindfulness
Sonam Thakchoe: In the Laboratory of Meditation
Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche: Lineage and Transmission in the Nyingma Tradition
Karen Derris: A Professor and Her Students Engage H. H. the Karmapa
Dungse Jampal Norbu: A New Generation of American Buddhists
H. H. the Sakya Trichen: Learning from the Lives of Great Masters
Malcolm Smith: The Seventeen Tantras of the Great Perfection
Lama Tsultrim Allione: Path of the Sacred Feminine
Richard Salomon: Early Buddhism in Ancient Gandhra
Ani Choying Drolma: A Voice for Nepalese Buddhist Nuns
Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel: On Faith and Dependent Arising
Thupten Jinpa: Translating for His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Christopher Ives: Zen, Ethics, and the Wildness of Nature
Bhikkhu Anlayo: Rebirth in Early Buddhism
H. E. Dza Kilung Rinpoche: Jigme Lingpa and the Longchen Nyingtik Tradition
David Nichtern: Mantra and the Power of Pure Sound
Geshe Tashi Tsering: From Monk to Abbot at Sera Mey Monastery
Mark Van Buren: Actual Happiness
Charles Hallisey: Reimagining Buddhist Scripture
H. H. Karmapa: Vegetarianism, Online Education and Nuns Ordination
Narayan Helen Liebenson: The Immediacy of Freedom
Barry Magid: Psychologically Minded Zen
Robert Thurman: The Practice of Deity Yoga
Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche: Prioritizing Aspirations Along the Path
Ajahn Brahm: Letting Go, Stillness, and Vanishing
Ajahn Brahm and Shaila Catherine: Dialogue on the Deep States of Samadhi
Alejandro Chaoul: The Bn Tradition and the Art of Tibetan Yoga
H. H. the Sakya Trizin: Preservation of the Dharma and the Sakya Tradition
John Dunne: Dharmakrti, Perception, and Cognitive Science
Shohaku Okumura Roshi: Stories from Modern Zen Masters
Graham Coleman: Preserving Tibetan Culture in the Digital Age
Koshin Paley Ellison: How to Forgive
Cyrus Stearns: Translating for the Great Sakya Masters
Larry Rosenberg: Early Pioneer of Buddhism in the West
Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche: Spiritual Heir to a Tibetan Master
Norman Fischer: A Poet’s Path to Awakening
Gil Fronsdal: The Wisdom of Many Traditions
John Dunne: Dharmakrti, Conceptuality, and Antidotes for Distorted Thinking (#96)
Evan Thompson: The Conversation Between Buddhism and Science (#97)
Venerable Robina Courtin: Understanding the Buddhas Teachings for Ourselves
Daniel Goleman: The Mind and Meditation
Alejandro Chaoul: Body, Breath, and Mind in Tibetan Yoga (#99)
Malcolm Smith: Translating The Tantra Without Syllables and The Blazing Lamp Tantra
Anne C. Klein: Finding Wholeness in the Dzogchen Path (#104)
John Brehm: The Dharma of Poetry (#106)
Toni Bernhard: Self-Compassion and the First Noble Truth (#98)
Jessica Pimentel: Tibetan Buddhism, Creativity, and the Work of the Imagination (#95)
His Holiness the Dalai Lama: Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics (#100)
Roger Jackson: Mahmudr in the Geluk and Kagy Traditions (#94)
Michael Mendizza: Conversations with Samdhong Rinpoche and J. Krishnamurti
Malcolm Smith: Translating the Tantras (#108)
David Nichtern: Buddhist Wisdom for Realizing Your Creative Vision (#101)
Mark Van Buren: Your Life Is Meditation (#107)
John Tarrant Roshi: Koans, Uncertainty, and Insight (#103)
Thupten Jinpa: Illuminating the Intent (#109)
Venerable Thubten Chodron: In Praise of Great Compassion (#102)
Michael Imperioli: Acting, Success, and the Buddhist Path (#105)
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche: Peaceful Heart: The Buddhist Practice of Patience (#110)
Leo Babauta: Zen Habits (#111)
Sarah Harding: Dharma Journeys of Practice & Translation (#112)
Thupten Jinpa: Inspiration for Practice and Study (#113)
Lama Migmar Tseten: The Play of Mahamudra (#114)
Christopher Ives: Meditations on the Trail (#115)
Rima Fujita: Illustrating the Dalai Lamas Life (#116)
Donald S. Lopez Jr. : Encounters with Great Texts and Great Lamas (#117)
Donald Lopez: Encounters with Great Texts and Great Lamas (#117)
Lama Alan Wallace: Solitude and Resilience (#118)
Ven. Sangye Khadro: How to Meditate (#119)
Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche: Lineage, Renunciation, and Engaged Buddhism (#120)
Guy Armstrong: Illuminating Emptiness (#121)
Vesna Wallace: Exploring the Kalachakra Tantra (#122)
Robert Thurman: Mind, Self, and Reality (#123)
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: Dharma for Difficult Times (#124)
Koshin Paley Ellison: Making All of Life a Place of Practice (#125)
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo: Emptiness, Dzogchen, and Women in Buddhism (#126)
David Nichtern: Unsheathing the Sword of Prajna (#127)
Achariya Doug Qapel Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei: Journeying Across Traditions (#128)
Karl Brunnhlzl: Milarepa’s Kungfu (#129)
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche: 84000 App Launch Celebration (#130)
Pamela Weiss: Real Health, Real Freedom, and Fierce Feminine Buddhism (#131)
Alexander Berzin: Dharma for Everyone (#132)
Ven. Bhikkhu Anlayo and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: Early Buddhism and Dzogchen (#133)
H. H. the 42nd Sakya Trizin, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, & B. Alan Wallace in Conversation (#134)
Alejandro Chaoul on Body Buddhism (#135)
Daniel A. Hirshberg: Nyingma Lore and Lineage (#136)
Venerable Robina and Venerable Chokyi: Liberation Prison Project (#137)
Shaila Catherine: Beyond Distraction (#138)
Matthew Kapstein: The Reluctant Professor (#139)
Mahmudr: A Practical Guide (#140)
Rabkar Wangchuk: Mystery of Life (#141)
Henry Shukman: Radical Simplicity (#142)
Ven. Anlayo: Early Buddhist Oral Tradition (#143)
Karma Trinlay Rinpoche: Life as a Tulku (#144)
Heidi I. Kppl: Roots of Duality (#145)
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: Recognizing Awareness (#146)
Klaus-Dieter Mathes: Mahamudra and Shentong (#147)
Malcolm Smith: Dzogchen, Sakya, and Translation (#148)
James B. Apple: Stairway to Atia (#149)
Thupten Jinpa: Tsongkhapas Madhyamaka (#151)
Thupten Jinpa: Tsongkhapas Mdhyamaka (#151)
Mark Siderits: Buddhism as Philosophy (#152)
Geshe YongDong: Calm Breath, Calm Mind (#153)
Khandro Kunzang Dechen Chodron: Immersion in the Ngagpa Tradition (#154)
Koshin Paley Ellison: Untangled (#155)
Robert Thurman & Susan A. Landesman: The Tr Tantra (#156)
Cortland Dahl: Meditation and Neuroscience (#157)
Shaila Catherine: Beyond Distraction (#158)
His Eminence the 12th Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche: Mahmudr (#159)
Karl Brunnhlzl: Sounds of Innate Freedom (#160)
Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi: Reading the Buddhas Discourses in Pali (#161)
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: Dharma in the Modern World (#162)
Geshe Tenzin Namdak: Freedom Through Correct Knowing (#163)
Karl Brunnhlzl: Sounds of Innate Freedom: Volume 3 (#164)
Khandro Kunga Bumma: Bodhicitta, Happiness, and Interdependence (#165)
Malcolm Smith: Dzogchen: Ten Key Terms (#166)
Lama Tsomo: Ancient Wisdom for Our Times (#167)
Thupten Jinpa: Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics (#168)
H. E. Kalu Rinpoche: The Yoga of Niguma (#169)
Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche: The Yoga of Niguma (#169)
Venerable Bhikkhu Anlayo: The Signless and the Deathless (#170)
Geshe Tenzin Namdak: The Mind and Knowing (#171)
Jay Garfield: Buddhist Philosophy In-Depth (#172)
Sangye Khandro: The Parinirvana of Venerable Dhomang Gyatrul Rinpoche (#173)
Charles Manson: The Second Karmapa (#175)
Alejandro Chaoul: Trul Khor (#176)
Geoffrey Barstow: Was the Buddha Vegetarian? (#177)
Dr. Richard J. Davidson: Meditation and the Effects on the Brain (#178)
Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi: Noble Truths, Noble Path (#179)
Thupten Jinpa: Stages of the Path (#180)
John Brehm: Dharma Talk (#181)
Peter Skilling: Buddhas Words for Tough Times (#182)
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: Dorje Drol and the Power of the Mind (#183)
Cortland Dahl: Mahamudra and Daily Life (#184)
Tim Olmsted: Spontaneous Teachers, Spontaneous Student (#185)
H. E. Kalu Rinpoche: Illusory Body and Mind (#186)
Klaus-Dieter Mathes and Pter-Dniel Sznt: Sarahas Spontaneous Songs (#187)
H. E. Khangser Rinpoche: Rebirth, Meditation, and the Path to Joy (#188)
Dr. Joanne Cacciatore: Embracing Grief: Meditation, Journaling, and Self-Reflection (#189)
Thupten Jinpa: Mind Training (#191)
H. E. Khangser Rinpoche: A Monks Guide to Finding Joy (#192)
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche: Dream Yoga (#193)
Marcia Binder Schmidt: Meeting Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (#194)
Erik Pema Kunsang: Timeless Teachings with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (#195)
Tsoknyi Rinpoche: Insights from My Father and Teacher, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (#196)
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: Tulku Urgyen Rinpoches Legacy (#197)
Geshe YongDong Losar: Exploring Breath, Yoga, and Meditation (#198)
Venerable Losang Gendun: Bridging Traditions, Building Communities (#199)
Venerable Thubten Chodron: Vajrayna and the Culmination of the Path (#200)
Michael Tweed: Lessons and Laughs (#201)
Lama Alan Wallace: Dzokchen Dialogues (#202)
Justin Kelley: Beyond Scholarship: The Meeting of Dharma and Education (#203)
Christopher Ives: Zen Ecology (#204)
crya Malcolm Smith: The Dzogchen Aural Lineage (#205)
Douglas Duckworth: The Great H (#206)
Chkyi Nyima Rinpoche: The Legacy of Tulku Urgyen and the Path to Kindfulness (#207)
Alejandro Chaoul, Richard Freeman, and Mary Taylor: Yoga for Meditators (#208)
Cortland Dahl: A Meditators Guide to Buddhism (#209)
Sarah Harding: Severance (#211)
Mark Siderits: Buddhism as Philosophy: Part 2 (#212)
James Apple: Atias Stages Of The Path To Awakening (#213)
Venerable Matthieu Ricard: Presence, Insight, and Compassion: A Guide to Happiness (#215)
Anu Gupta: Breaking Bias (#216)
Lama Alan Wallace: amatha and Vipayan: Part 1 (#217)
H. E. Khangser Rinpoche: Buddha-Nature and Beyond (#218)
Dasho Karma Ura: The Pursuit of Happiness in Bhutan (#219)
David M. DiValerio: Mountain Dharma (#221)
Wisdom Dharma Chat | Tenzin Choegyal – December 2025
Professor John Dunne: Buddhist Philosophy and the Nalanda Tradition (#223)
Khamtrul Rinpoche: Exploring the Drukpa Lineage – Special Video Episode (#224)
Eva Natanya: amatha and Vipayan: Part 2 (#225)
John Makransky: How Compassion Works (#226)
His Eminence Kalu Rinpoche and Michele Loew: The Yoga of Niguma (#227)
Lama Justin von Bujdoss: Dark Retreat (#230)
Gerardo Abboud: Translating the dharma (#231)
Geshe YongDong Losar and Jesse Moussa: Becoming The Master On The Course And In Life (#232)
crya Malcolm Smith: A Dzogchen Perspective (#235)
H. E. Khangser Rinpoche: Wisdom from Gyuto Monastery (#239)
Thupten Jinpa: The Nature of Reality (#241)
See all Podcasts
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