Online Course with James Baraz

Take this course independent study through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Recordings of the 2024 Sessions are available.


The Four Buddhist Heart Practices Course (Brahma Viharas)

A 4-week course to open the heart, as a complement to Insight (mindfulness) meditation practice. This year's course is offered live online via Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

Sign Up via Spirit Rock Meditation Center

What are the Four Buddhist Heart Practices?

The classical Buddhist heart practices, the Brahma Viharas (Loving-kindness, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity), are all about our connection with ourselves, others, and the world around us. They connect the mind and heart so that our meditation practice and everyday mindfulness incorporate both clarity and kindness.

The course offers formal meditation instructions and talks on how to apply these practices in our lives. Each teaching builds on the previous ones as we learn the different ways the heart can open to ourselves, those close to us, those we have difficulty with, and all beings.

Tuesdays, Nov. 12 - Dec. 3, 2024

Online via Zoom - Recordings Available
View or Listen for 90 days until March 3, 2025

6:00 - 8:00 PM  San Francisco Time
18:00 - 20:00 / UTC-7  

Time Converter

2024 Dates and Topics for the Brahma Viharas Course

Live Zoom sessions: 6:00 - 8:00 PM California Time (18:00 - 20:00 UTC-7) every Tuesday Nov. 12 - Dec. 3. All sessions are recorded and made available until March 3, 2025.

  • November 12 - Session 1: Loving Kindness (Metta)

  • November 19 - Session 2: Compassion

  • November 26 - Session 3: Sympathetic Joy

  • December 3 - Session 4: Equanimity

How it Works

Each 2-hour Session Includes a talk on the week’s focus, a period of guided meditation with instructions + time for interactive Q&A. You Receive:

  • Video + audio-only recordings of each Live Zoom Session, including a guided meditation for each of the 4 Heart Practices. (It is not necessary to join the live sessions to take this course.)

  • Weekly practice letters, including a session recap and suggestions to support your meditation practice.

  • Access to course support to answer questions between sessions

  • Email Notification whenever new materials are posted.

  • Materials will remain available for 90 days until March 3, 2025.

James Baraz

Instructor

James' Teaching Schedule

James Baraz has been a meditation teacher since 1978 and leads retreats, workshops and classes in the U.S and abroad. He is the creator and teacher of the online Awakening Joy course, since 2003. He's also a co-founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. 

In recent years, he has  focused on dharma and climate change. He serves as an advisor to One Earth Sangha, a website devoted to Buddhist responses to climate change. 

His books include Awakening Joy with Shoshana Alexander, and Awakening Joy for Kids with Michele Lilyanna. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, Jane, and has two sons and three grandchildren.

Sarah-Marie Hopf

Course Assistant


Sarah-Marie Hopf will be assisting James Baraz  during the live course sessions, as well as answering questions in-between sessions. 

Sarah-Marie is a mindfulness meditation teacher, an International Coaching Federation-certified integral leadership and development coach, and the founder of Thriving in a Noisy World. She's passionate about supporting growth-minded, purpose-driven individuals in their inner development journeys for the benefit of all. To her work, she brings experience at the intersections of leadership development and organizational change, human-centered design, and systemic social innovation. 

First discovering the dharma at age 13, Sarah-Marie is a seasoned mindfulness practitioner and regularly sits Insight Meditation retreats. She is a graduate of Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach's Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and a certified mindfulness teacher through the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. A German/American, she’s currently based in Oakland, CA.

Praise for James' Four Buddhist Heart Practices Course

“James' guidance and the information from this course have helped to increase my efforts to be more patient and compassionate towards my family, friends, and all other beings”

“I really enjoyed the course and James’s approach - encouraging, supportive and always kind. Thank-you!” ”

“My mind has become much more equanimous and happy by doing these practices. I feel less hesitant to talk to strangers and feel more connected with other people." ”

“These heart practices are amazing. They have helped to strengthen my meditation practice and (more importantly) my mindset throughout each day.” ”

The Four Buddhist Heart Practices Course (Brahma Viharas)

A live online course to open the heart as a complement to Insight (mindfulness) meditation practice.

Sign Up via Spirit Rock

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