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Rob Burbea's Dharma Talks
Rob Burbea
ROB BURBEA (1965-2020) was Gaia House’s much-loved resident teacher for 10 years from 2005 - 2015, when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. During his time at Gaia House, Rob wrote Seeing that Frees: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising – an important and influential work that continues to shape and open the meditative exploration of many. Emerging from this deep experiential understanding of emptiness, Rob dedicated much of his time and energy during the last years of his life to conceiving, developing, and establishing a new body of teachings that he called ‘A Soulmaking Dharma’. Before his death, Rob initiated the Hermes Amara Foundation (HAF), an organisation that is working to preserve and develop Rob's vast Dharma teaching legacy, and to support practitioners and teachers who are engaged with these teachings. All donations go directly to HAF - your financial support is much needed if Rob’s legacy is to sustain and thrive. To join the HAF mailing list and find out more about Rob's work please go to hermesamara.org or get in touch at info@hermesamara.org. Rob was also a guiding teacher of Freely Given Retreats (freelygivenretreats.org), a co-founder of Sanghaseva, an organisation exploring the Dharma through international service work (sanghaseva.org) and a co-initiator of DANCE, the Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement (thedancewebsite.org).
2009-05-21 Realizing the Nature of Mind 63:55
Through practice we can glimpse a sense of the nature of awareness as something ever present and awesomely vast, and this sense can be cultivated as a profound resource for freedom and peace in our lives. But eventually we must see even beyond this to know the ultimate nature of the mind - empty, completely groundless, and dependently-arisen - a seeing which brings an even deeper freedom. This talk explores some of the ways this realization might be encouraged and developed in meditation.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge May 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge
2009-05-15 No Self, No World 63:22
Anatta (‘not-self’, or ‘no-self’) is one of the Buddha’s most subtle and profound teachings, and a full understanding of it involves seeing how not only the personal self, but also the entire world of experience, is empty of any intrinsic essence or existence. This talk explores some of the possible ways a meditator might work in practice to develop and strengthen such radical and liberating insights.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge May 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge
2009-05-09 Into the depths of Silence 59:18
Listening to silence in our lives, opening to its embrace, reveals a profound and immense power to transform the heart. Deepening in the stillness of meditation, our practice involves mindfulness of all ‘objects’, but must eventually also go beyond objects to realize a truly boundless freedom – of being nothing and having nothing.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge May 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge
2009-05-03 What is ‘Insight’? 64:04
This talk presents a map and overview of the path of Insight Meditation, exploring the different kinds and levels of insight available to us, the possible avenues for its development and deepening, and some of the many ways we can nurture and strengthen its unfolding.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge May 2009 at IMS - Forest Refuge
2009-02-15 The Unfabricated, The Deathless... 67:13
Please note that these talks are from a 4 week retreat for experienced meditators. The talks and meditations can be listened to in any order or individually, but as they progressively unfold different levels of understanding of Emptiness, they will probably be more fully understood and the practices more easily developed if taken in series
Gaia House Meditation on Emptiness (2009)
2009-02-14 Dependent Origination, Awareness, and Time 68:01
Please note that these talks are from a 4 week retreat for experienced meditators. The talks and meditations can be listened to in any order or individually, but as they progressively unfold different levels of understanding of Emptiness, they will probably be more fully understood and the practices more easily developed if taken in series
Gaia House Meditation on Emptiness (2009)
2009-02-13 On the Nature of Mind 67:30
Please note that these talks are from a 4 week retreat for experienced meditators. The talks and meditations can be listened to in any order or individually, but as they progressively unfold different levels of understanding of Emptiness, they will probably be more fully understood and the practices more easily developed if taken in series
Gaia House Meditation on Emptiness (2009)
2009-02-09 The Freedom of No-thing-ness 53:22
Please note that these talks are from a 4 week retreat for experienced meditators. The talks and meditations can be listened to in any order or individually, but as they progressively unfold different levels of understanding of Emptiness, they will probably be more fully understood and the practices more easily developed if taken in series
Gaia House Meditation on Emptiness (2009)
2009-02-08 Love, Karma, and Healing 1:14:10
Please note that these talks are from a 4 week retreat for experienced meditators. The talks and meditations can be listened to in any order or individually, but as they progressively unfold different levels of understanding of Emptiness, they will probably be more fully understood and the practices more easily developed if taken in series
Gaia House Meditation on Emptiness (2009)
2009-02-03 Two Talks: 1- Mindfulness and Emptiness - The Foundations; 2 - The Ending of the World 1:14:07
Please note that these talks are from a 4 week retreat for experienced meditators. The talks and meditations can be listened to in any order or individually, but as they progressively unfold different levels of understanding of Emptiness, they will probably be more fully understood and the practices more easily developed if taken in series
Gaia House Meditation on Emptiness (2009)

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