Donald Rothberg is a leading teacher and writer on meditation, the intersection of psychology and spirituality, and socially engaged spiritual practice. He has taught and practiced Buddhist meditation for over 45 years, and his teaching and trainings have helped to pioneer new ways of connecting inner and outer transformation.

He is a member of the Teacher's Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in the San Francisco Bay Area, a guiding teacher for the Marin Sangha, and a regular teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, Southern Dharma Retreat Center in North Carolina, the Louisville Vipassana Community, InsightLA, and New York Insight, and the author of The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World

Learn more about Donald Rothberg: https://www.donaldrothberg.com/

00:01:51 – Sean welcomes Donald Rothberg
00:08:30 – Introduction from Donald Rothberg
00:10:10 – Outline of this session
00:17:47 – Practice period: Donald Rothberg teaches loving kindness as if he were teaching a group for the first time
00:18:22 – What is metta, or loving kindness?
00:21:32 – Often what comes up in loving kindness is what gets in the way of loving kindness (i.e. irritation, anger)
00:24:29 – Passage from Metta Sutta
00:26:09 – The sequence of a loving kindness practice
00:29:37 – Loving kindness (metta) phrases
00:34:14 – Loving kindness practice
00:51:19 – Ways of teaching loving kindness (i.e. use of phrases, body-based metta)
00:56:02 – Teaching loving kindness over a weeklong retreat
00:58:43 – Integrating loving kindness practice with daily life
01:03:30 – Challenges in teaching loving kindness
01:08:21 – Techniques for making loving kindness more emotional and body-based
01:11:02 – Radiating metta
01:11:38 – Mindfulness and loving kindness are not fundamentally different when they are both mature
01:13:40 – Working with a difficult person during metta practice (choosing a person/relationship of moderate difficulty)
01:15:18 – What can I do to become more authentic when offering metta to a very difficult person?
01:18:54 – With difficult or painful relationships, heart practices of compassion and forgiveness can be more effective than loving kindness
01:21:36 – How should we deal with purification and/or strong emotional responses during loving kindness practice?
01:25:45 – Varying your phrases to see what resonates with people
01:31:37 – Integrating and finding balance between mindfulness and loving kindness
01:33:01 – Doing a 6-week series and working with one person per session
01:34:08 – Visualizing loving kindness radiating out across the whole planet – and beyond
01:37:21 – How would you describe loving kindness in 30 seconds?
01:39:14 – The relationship between loving kindness practice and fear
01:42:52 – The relationship between loving kindness practice and concentration
01:47:08 – Are there any phrases we can use in federal workplace settings where we cannot reference faith or religion?
01:51:30 – How would I describe what purification is?
01:54:59 – How do you handle trauma that arises during loving kindness practice?
01:59:12 – Closing remarks
02:00:00 – Weeklong loving kindness retreat