Listening Room
February 2026 — Boundaryless Love
“Love is the only cause of happiness. Its nature is all-pervasive like space. Love is the sunlight of the mind.” – His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche
Photographer Richard Renaldi
CBS EVENING NEWS PIECE, 3 MINS
Photographer Richard Renaldi explores the imagery of affection by posing total strangers in scenes of love and harmony. After overcoming their initial awkwardness, the individuals convincingly pose as family, smiling and laughing together, reflecting afterwards on how the experience gave rise to feelings of compassion and even love for total strangers.
Thich Nhat Hanh
TEACHING, 6 MINS
In this portion of a 2004 teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh discusses the immensity of love, capable of diluting any sadness or ill-will. He characterizes the four elements of love, each of which is infinite and borderless, concluding with a discussion of the strength, equanimity, and Buddha-like presence of all who can find within themselves the ability to love all things.
THIS IS LOVE
PODCAST STORY, 28 mins
One girl’s swimming regimen brings her into an oceanic encounter with a baby whale, isolated from its mother and stranded dangerously near the shore. The whale begins following the young swimmer, who leads it back to safety and, by coordinating with nearby boats, the baby is reunited with its mother. The girl, now a grown woman, recalls unmistakable feelings of oneness and compassion shared between the whale and her, expanding her idea of love and leaving her with an unforgettable memory. • Link
January 2026 — Begin again
A small curated selection, new & old with some of our favorite guided meditations and teachings from across traditions, to inspire you in the new year.
ZOKETSU NORMAN FISCHER
MEDITATION, 21 mins
Zoketsu Norman Fischer was abbot of SF Zen Center for many years, and is a big hearted poet, with the presence & groundedness of a true Zen master. Here he guides us through a basic meditiation session. February 2025 • Link
TARA BRACH
MEDITATION, 8 mins
Using RAIN steps (recognize, allow, investigate, nurture), practice meeting what’s here with kindness and a softening presence. May 2020 • Link
JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN
TEACHING, 61 MINS
Wonderful Joseph Goldstein sharing essential root of meditation practice on his 80th year. Funny, wise, and full of heart. Stories from his life, travels, teachers. Spirit Rock Retreat — April, 2025 • Episode Link
LAMA ROD OWENS
MEDITATION, 11 mins
An excerpted compassion practice with Lama Rod Owens, Black, queer Buddhist teacher in the Kagyu lineage and author of Radical Dharma and The New Saints, cut from a conversation on the Tara Brach podcast. October 2023 • Link
ROSHI JOAN HALIFAX
MEDITATION & TEACHING, 29 MINS
A brief talk and grounding meditation inviting us to sit upright in the world’s “charnel ground” of war, climate crisis, and everyday suffering, without rushing to certainty or turning away. Practicing “strong back, soft front,” she returns us to not-knowing, bearing witness, and letting real care and accountability shape what we do next. Listener note: Includes a brief reference to sexual violence (rape). Teaching from Wisdom 2.0, 2024
TSOKNYI RINPOCHE
MEDITATION & TEACHING, 26 MINS
A gentle somatic release practice, Tsoknyi Rinpoche offers a simple, repeatable way to set down the “backpack” of mental burden, tension, effort, and looping thought. He invites you to notice where you’re gripping in the body, let the load fall, and rest in a more open, unforced awareness, then drop it again whenever you pick it back up. Crestone Retreat, 2015.
- bonus -
ALAN GINSBERG, ARTHUR RUSSELL & BAND
LIVE PERFORMANCE 3 MINS
Allen Ginsberg, with Arthur Russell on cello performs “Do the Meditation Rock” on Nam June Paik’s Good Morning, Mr. Orwell, broadcast live in a satellite link-up between New York and Paris. New Year’s Day, 1984
“It’s never too late,
it’s never too late,
To tell the superpower to stop and meditate”
– Allen Ginsberg & Band, 1984