Shows / Tea with Mara
Tea with Mara
Audio recordings of live Dharma Talks and Meditations offered in Virtual Reality for the Together with TRIPP community, and the Two Hands Sangha by Rev. George Beecher.
Episodes
- Tea with Mara
Resistance and Forgetting
"Resistance and Forgetting" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation to help with people who will be participating in our February Meditation Challenge to…
- Tea with Mara
Beginner's Mind, From The Beginning
"Beginner's Mind, From The Beginning" is a dharma talk about beginner's mind and how and why it can be such a useful thing, as well as how it is so easily lost…
- Tea with Mara
Why Bother?
"Why Bother?" is a dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha about knowing our reasons for why we bother with practice. Getting to know our own needs and reasons…
- Tea with Mara
The Spark
"The Spark" is a brief sort of meditation/dharmette offered to the MindfulnessVR community this week. Lacking a topic for the evening, we had a lengthy sharing…
- Tea with Mara
Direction, Not Perfection
"Direction, Not Perfection" is a Dharma Talk about the place that an Altar can hold in our practice. This talk is following up on our NYE Intention settings…
- Tea with Mara
The Ground Upon Which I Stand
"The Ground Upon Which I Stand" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on the topic of taking a close look at where we are, and beginning to make small…
- Tea with Mara
Hero Protagonist
“Hero Protagonist” is a brief Dharma talk and guided meditation on agency, aspiration, and what it means to consciously participate in our own lives. Using the…
- Tea with Mara
2025 NYEEEE Intention Setting Ceremony
"2025 NYEEEE Intention Setting Ceremony" is our Two Hands Sangha Intention Setting Ceremony. We came together, discussed the meaning and value of intention…
- Tea with Mara
Chasing Paper Airplanes
“Chasing Paper Airplanes” is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha during Christmas week, exploring the pressure to feel how we think we’re “supposed” to…
- Tea with Mara
A Wider View of Mindfulness
“A Wider View of Mindfulness” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation in which we explore mindfulness as the Buddha taught it: an inward knowing of…
- Tea with Mara
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Bob
“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Bob” is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on the Eight Worldly Winds; those shifting conditions of gain/loss…
- Tea with Mara
Gratitude Balancing Rage
“Gratitude Balancing Rage” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on how the heart can widen even in moments when it feels tight, hot, and reactive. We…
- Tea with Mara
Despite All My Rage
"Despite All My Rage" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha about the fire we feel when we’re hurt, unseen, or misunderstood, and the cage we end up…
- Tea with Mara
More Ferris, Less Cameron
"More Ferris, Less Cameron" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on the topic of strong fixed views, and the pain and suffering that holding those can…
- Tea with Mara
Empire of Noble Silence
“Empire of Noble Silence” is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha that looks at how Christopher Ruocchio’s wonderful book Empire of Silence unexpectedly…
- Tea with Mara
A Gentle Strength
"A Gentle Strength" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha exploring what it really means to stay grounded and clear when emotions run high, especially…
- Tea with Mara
Nothing Truly Disappears
“Nothing Truly Disappears” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation about loss. How we meet it, how we hold it, and how we continue on with love instead of…
- Tea with Mara
Intruder Alert!
"Intruder Alert!" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha about intrusive thoughts. Those strange, sudden, unwanted flashes the mind throws at us that can…
- Tea with Mara
Preparing For The Holidays
"Preparing For The Holidays" is a Dharma talk and very brief meditation offered in MindfulnessVR on the topic of how we can start preparing ourselves now for…
- Tea with Mara
The Dharma of Delayed Gratification
"The Dharma of Delayed Gratification" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha that explores what happens when our desire for instant pleasure replaces our…
- Tea with Mara
Read The Room
"Read The Room" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation offered for the MindfulnessVR community in VRChat. It's also a sort of love letter to the Buddha…
- Tea with Mara
Turning Toward Winter
“Turning Toward Winter” is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha about how, as the world cools and slows, we’re reminded that not every season is for…
- Tea with Mara
The Demon God
“The Demon God” is a surprise bonus Spooky Season Dharma talk about the so-called “Demon God Mara” from Buddhism. We all have our demons. The Demon God is a…
- Tea with Mara
Slayer To Saint
“Slayer To Saint” is the last of our Spooky Season Dharma talks! We explore the story of Aṅgulimāla the man born “Harmless” who became feared as a serial…
- Tea with Mara
Nothing To Fear
“Nothing To Fear” is a spooky season Dharma Talk on death. Most of us grow up thinking cemeteries are scary places full of ghosts, reminders of loss, and…
- Tea with Mara
The Spookiest of All Ghosts
“The Spookiest of All Ghosts” isn’t about haunted houses or things that go bump in the night. It’s about the restless hungers that haunt our own hearts and…
- Tea with Mara
Outing Our Inner Demons
"Outing Our Inner Demons" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on working with our less appealing, or shadow side aspects. It's not so hard to work…
- Tea with Mara
Ghosts of the Mind
“Ghosts of the Mind” is a dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha to get in the spirit of Spooky Season!; the perfect time to talk about fear. Not the kind in…
- Tea with Mara
There You Are
“There You Are” is about the wandering mind, the doubts and distractions that convince us we “can’t meditate”, and why none of that has to stop us. Meditation…
- Tea with Mara
Stop, See, Soften, Serve
"Stop, See, Soften, Serve" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation about Wise Action. Actions tend to be greater than words, and this week’s talk is about…
- Tea with Mara
Wise and Free
"Wise and Free" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on the topic of Wise Speech. We often celebrate the idea of free speech (the right to say what we…
- Tea with Mara
Pumpkinheads
"Pumpkinheads" is a Dharma talk and short guided meditation inspired by my daughter’s first job at a pumpkin patch and a graphic novel we read together to…
- Tea with Mara
All I Wanted Was A Pepsi
"All I Wanted Was A Pepsi" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation about respecting and honoring our parents, even when we don't always agree with our…
- Tea with Mara
Don't Fear The Reaping
"Don't Fear The Reaping" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on the topic of karma. Karma isn’t punishment, reward, or judgment. It’s simply the seeds…
- Tea with Mara
Bend, Not Break
“Bend, Not Break” is a dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on the topic of resilience in troubling times. We explored how true resilience isn’t about…
- Tea with Mara
A Noble Mind
“A Noble Mind” is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on Mudita. True joy doesn’t shrink when shared, it multiplies. This talk explores mudita…
- Tea with Mara
Leaning Into Personality
“Leaning Into Personality” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on the “Buddhist Personality Types”. In the Visuddhimagga, six temperaments are…
- Tea with Mara
Sukha Loops and Shoops
"Sukha Loops and Shoops" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on Sukha, and how we can create beneficial feedback loops that lead to and perpetuate it…
- Tea with Mara
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
“The Uplift Mofo Party Plan” is a plan based on a band, a band based on a plan. But...it's also a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha that explores what…
- Tea with Mara
The Agony and The Irony
“The Agony and The Irony” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation about boredom. We treat boredom like an enemy to avoid, filling every spare moment with…
- Tea with Mara
Patience As A Strength
“Patience As A Strength” is a Dharma talk at Two Hands Sangha reflecting on how we think of patience, and often picture just waiting something out, gritting…
- Tea with Mara
33,600 Turbo Miles, Due Up!
"33,600 Turbo Miles, Due Up!" is a Dharma talk that looks at what it means to stay on the path when nothing is going according to plan, and it isn't always a…
- Tea with Mara
Confidently Traversing Uncertainty
“Confidently Traversing Uncertainty” is a Dharma talk at Two Hands Sangha on August 3rd, 2025 about what we do when we don’t know what to do? This talk…
- Tea with Mara
Personal Responsibility
“Personal Responsibility” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation about reclaiming your power, not through blame or perfectionism, but through wise…
- Tea with Mara
Four More Things
"Four More Things" is the closing talk in our Dharma series that started with exploring our inherent worth, built refuge, and walked the Eightfold Path…Now we…
- Tea with Mara
Onward And Upward
"Onward And Upward" is the next installment in a series of Dharma talks exploring how this practice of the Dhamma can help us see our value and express it…
- Tea with Mara
Shake It Up Baby!
“Shake It Up Baby!” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation that explores the Sīla section of the Eightfold Path (Wise Speech, Wise Action, and Wise…
- Tea with Mara
Achievement Unlocked!
"Achievement Unlocked!" is the first in a three-part Dharma talk series on the Noble Eightfold Path, focusing on the paññā section (Wise View and Wise…
- Tea with Mara
A Safe Place To Return To
"A Safe Place To Return To" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on the topic of refuge. Not as a place we hide, but as a direction we choose again and…
- Tea with Mara
I'm So Glad You're Here
“I’m So Glad You’re Here” is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on July 6, 2025. It’s a talk for anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t belong, or…
- Tea with Mara
Happy Interdependence Day!
"Happy Interdependence Day!" is a dharma talk and brief guided meditation on the topic of true freedom. Not the freedom typically thought of on July 4th in…
- Tea with Mara
Early Morning Sunshine
"Early Morning Sunshine" is a Dharma talk inspired by Chapter 35 of Old Path White Clouds. It centers on a small but powerful moment where the Buddha speaks…
- Tea with Mara
Racing Ahead To Meet Suffering
"Racing Ahead To Meet Suffering" is a Dharma talk and guided meditation about the habit so many of us fall into of racing ahead to meet pain that hasn’t even…
- Tea with Mara
The Gift That Frees
"The Gift That Frees" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on the topic of generosity. It might not seem like it at first but this is related to all…
- Tea with Mara
Unshaken, Sorrowless, Dustless
"Unshaken, Sorrowless, Dustless" is a dharma talk and brief guided meditation on the topic of FEAR. The world can feel scary any time, but if the world today…
- Tea with Mara
Seven Good Qualities
“Seven Good Qualities” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation inspired by a moment in the Pali Canon where the Buddha responds to a rising authoritarian…
- Tea with Mara
Give Me Three Steps
“Give Me Three Steps” is a Dharma talk on radical equality, karmic physics, and the three practical steps the Buddha offers for turning compassion into action…
Tea with MaraNothing Else Matters
"Nothing Else Matters" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation inspired by my recent experience at the Metallica 72 Seasons Tour concert. It's really, at…
- Tea with Mara
Beauty And Beasts
"Beauty And Beasts" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha about breaking free from the prisons we create in our own minds. Whether it’s the story of…
- Tea with Mara
Beautifully Broken
"Beautifully Broken" is a Dharma talk and a short guided meditation on impermanence, non‑clinging, and mindful appreciation sparked by Ajahn Chah’s famous…