Present Heart: The Universal Expressions of Love, Part 2: Compassion

Tara Brach

Buddhism, Religion & Spirituality, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.8 • 11.3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Compassion – the tender resonance of heart – awakens as we allow ourselves to be touched by our shared vulnerability.

This series reflects on four primary expressions of an awake, wise heart: lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. In each talk we explore the habitual patterning that blocks our full realization of these innate capacities, and the understandings and practices that nurture their unfolding.

In this talk, Tara explores

✨the all-inclusive nature of compassion in awakening our hearts and embracing all beings with care and presence.
✨ how evolutionary conditioning limits compassion, yet reveals our brain's natural wiring for empathy and connection.
✨ the common blocks to compassion, like fear, stress, and busyness, which pull us into a trance of disconnection.
✨ the essential role of self-compassion and kindness toward ourselves in deepening our ability to care for others.
✨ how to make compassion a lasting trait, by fully feeling and savoring moments of care so they shape who we are.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome, friends, to the Tara Brock podcast. I'm so glad you're here.
0:11.3	Each week, I share teachings and guided meditations to help us awaken our hearts and bring healing
0:17.8	to our world.
0:24.4	You can learn more or support this offering by visiting tarabrock.com,
0:27.1	where you can also join our email list.
0:32.5	Now, let's explore together
0:34.7	the many ways we can live
0:36.7	from the love and presence that's our deepest essence.
0:45.3	Namaste and welcome.
1:12.6	So I'd like to wish you a happy Valentine's Day and begin with a brief quiz.
1:23.6	The first one is, what do squirrels give each other on Valentine's Day?
1:29.3	Any guesses?
1:33.3	Forget me nuts.
1:35.3	Okay, one more. Only one more.
1:39.3	What does an octopus sing to his beloved on Valentine's Day?
1:50.0	I want to hold your hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand.
1:58.0	Okay, I gave it a good shot, right?
2:03.5	So appropriately we're in the midst of a four-part series on awakening the present heart.
2:13.4	And this is the first one, the first one that we did was on awakening loving-kindness, which is the seeing the goodness
2:22.6	and responding to the goodness in life.
2:25.0	The second is compassion, which is what we'll be doing this class, and then we move on to
2:31.0	joy and equanimity.
	...

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