Philippe Petit, who walked a cable between the Twin Towers, said the secret was that you're never in balance — you're always finding it. nico hase takes that as the central image for viriya, exploring courageous effort that doesn't give up, the moment-by-moment refinement of balanced effort, and the countercultural discipline of rest as its own expression of energy on the path.

Drawing on the legend of the Buddha touching the earth and the Barre town motto that named her retreat center, Sharon Salzberg explores viriya — the pāramī of energy, effort, and courageous application. This talk examines how right effort lives in the middle way between strain and indolence, how the integration of inner and outer work makes the dharma real, and how we claim our own right to aspire to freedom.

There is no lasting home in the conditioned world — everything changes, nothing holds. This talk explores how letting go of our reactivity to experience opens us into the unconditioned awareness that has always been here, always at peace.

When we loosen our grip on being someone — the creator, the author, the one who did that thing — something opens. This talk explores renunciation not as deprivation but as the doorway to creativity, purpose, and an open heart.

A daylong reflection on sīla as lived dharma—how we become the kind of person whose actions embody love. Using the “two travelers” story, this talk explores karma as the slow magic of perception and relationship shifting over time, and lands in the bodhisattva vow: an impossible commitment that becomes a compass for staying upright, inclusive, and grounded in goodness—especially in a storm.

A grounded, heart-forward exploration of sīla—ethical life as lived practice. Moving through the Eightfold Path and the five precepts as mindfulness trainings, this talk reframes integrity as wholeness: remembering we already belong, and learning to bring compassion, discernment, and non-harm into how we speak, act, relate, and consume.

In this intimate and practical talk, Nico explores dāna not just as generosity, but as the living rhythm of receiving and giving. Beginning with the body and the breath, he shows how generosity softens clinging and loosens the “dream of dissatisfaction.” Through stories, reflections on boundaries, and teachings on interdependence, he reframes dāna as making space—listening for what is needed in ea

We're caught in a dream of thoughts, roles, identities, and emotional reactivity. Rather than fighting or believing the dream, we practice deep listening to body, heart, and mind with unconditional welcome. Through this listening, we make four discoveries: the dream is stressful, bondage to it is suffering, unbinding brings peace, and there's a path. The ten paramis (perfections) gradually wake us

In this honest and tender talk, Gina LaRoche reflects on equanimity as a lived practice of non-reactivity — meeting life’s waves, insomnia, loss, and uncertainty with steadiness and care. Drawing on her teacher DaRa Williams and the “seven brahmavihāras,” she explores forgiveness, generosity, and gratitude as daily companions on the path toward a balanced, open heart.

In this talk, nico hase unpacks equanimity as a living, relational practice — not numbness, but steadiness in the middle of praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and pain. Through stories (including a flying blender), Tibetan and Zen frames, and simple training phrases like “May I find stillness in the midst of change,” he shows how returning again and again to balance lets us live with less drama, more compassion, and an open hand toward the world.