The following talk is given by Tara Brock, meditation teacher, psychologist and author.

The following talk is given by Tara Brock, meditation teacher, psychologist and author.

Good evening.

We've had 48 hours, two days.

I'm always in awe of how coming together with this intention to pay attention,

just keeps on increasing sensitivity and getting to be in groups with you and then sense in the hall how that's unfolding is just really inspiring.

I'm aware of how that sensitivity translates into touching more of a sense of peace at times or being outside and the magic of the outdoors and a number of people have mentioned what that's like, that sense of the beauty or the meta-distenderizing.

And also with that sensitivity, that more awareness we notice more, the layers that we haven't been paying attention to become more apparent.

So we start reporting with each other on perhaps the feelings of shame that we haven't been paying attention to or anger that's been lurking or feelings of sorrow, fear.

And one of the biggest illusions that comes up for us as the energies get strong, especially if they're sticky, if they really have some hold, the biggest illusion that I notice really is that it's very personal.

This is my problem.

This is my struggle.

Something's wrong. It really shouldn't be happening. If things were going right, this wouldn't be happening.

And I'm curious how many of you have been tracking some of that undercurrent of something's wrong. Just being mindful of that. Can I just see, but yeah, good. Thank you.

Let's help.

If you look under pretty much any of the energies that are challenging and you really begin to investigate in the body,

what we begin to find, this is under, whether it's anger or obsessive thinking, judgment, what we begin to sense is that there's this primal place of fear.

It's a kind of a clutch.

It's perhaps the most primal appearance of Mara who's in the Buddhist mythology is the God of the Shadow side.

Mara's appearing and basically asking attention.

And so what I'd like to explore tonight is the gateway of fear, how we transform consciousness in our engagement with fear.

When I say that with that sense, it's something's wrong. And for you, you might say, well, you know, it's not fear that I've been really experienced, been angered, been griefed.

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