Jonathan Foust

Soon after retiring, Tracy Budd, who had a strong meditation practice, embarked on an exploration of meditating for four hours a day following the Elephant Path and the teachings of Culadasa. In this interview we explore what happened over the course the year, the breakthroughs, the breakdowns, the insights and what he learned about doing intensive practice at home. You’ll find this interview inspiring, particularly if you have ever had fantasies of putting everything aside and doing the kids of practices reserved for monks and renunciates.

We continue our exploration on moving from Fear to clear-seeing. You’ll explore a few protocols that have helped me enormously in shifting from feeling caught to feeling empowered again.   Fear can serve as an early-warning detection system and when explored mindfully, can point the way toward more skillful means.   I reference The Sedona Method, the work of Tim Ferris  and the work of Byron Katie.

This talk explores how to move from Fear to Clear-Seeing and new possibilities.   You’ll learn how unresolved fear restricts the possibilities in your life and how you can turn toward fear through cognitive processes as well as somatic inquiry.   When you shift from “How do I get rid of this?” to “What can I learn from this?” you may start to feel new possibilities.

This talk explores how you can transform your relationship with your inner critic.   You’ll learn the origins of negativity bias, how that critical voice forms in your early development and how the miracle of self-awareness can lead to a life guided by wise discrimination.   This is an 'encore' session from the Monday night class at the Unitarian Universtalist Church in Arlgington, VA

This talk explores how you might transform your deepest wounds into sacred gifts. You’ll learn how stress and suffering are inevitable and how, when you deeply examine your wounds, you can unveil the gifts they offer.  We’ll explore the concept of the wounded healer and how being transparent with your wounds can bring you into deeper intimacy with the world around you.   I mentioned the book Feeding Your Demons by Tsultrume Allione and the Enneagram, a powerful model for transformation.

This talk explores the mechanics of healing (and how I’m healing a bone fracture.) You’ll learn how critical it is to make room for all your reactions and how to ask yourself an important question that can make room for feeling whole.  You’ll explore the art of ‘having tea with your demons,’ three steps in a healing meditation and ultimately, how to open to the quantum field for feeling more whole.

This talk explores the nature of happiness. You’ll learn how happiness truly is ‘here and now,’ how important it is to actively explore what is between you and feeling happy, how happiness is a reflection of your true nature and a model or assessing your happiness level. This talk is from 2019, offered live at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington in Arlington, VA.

This talk explores four sutras offered by the Buddha on how to awaken your heart and mind.   You’ll learn the importance of cultivating a lifelong aspiration to awaken, to actively cultivate spiritual friendships, to be open and kind and to take time away from the complexity of life to see ever more clearly into the nature of reality. This talk is inspired by an article in Tricycle Magazine, summer 2022, by Dale S. Wright entitled “Four Ideals to Guide Your Practice.”

This talk explores how to draw on compassion when in pain.   You’ll learn how compassion must be balanced with wisdom (tough love) and a powerful technique for opening the frame of compassion that can dramatically shift your personal experience of pain.  Finally, we’ll explore the impact of opening the heart to the suffering of others and how that can influence and cultivate the heart.

This talk explores strategies for working with physical pain and beyond.   You’ll learn about your primary and secondary response to pain, how to discern your ‘pain recipe,’ the cost of ignoring the messages of pain and a practice where you’ll change the frame of awareness when working with challenging sensations.