Wild Heart Meditation Center

On the first morning of the most recent Wild Heart Retreat, Andrew offers a brief talk and meditation instructions on the first foundation of mindfulness- mindfulness of the breath and body. Enjoy!

Andrew finishes a series on the core teachings of the Buddha, "The Four Noble Truths & The Eightfold Path", with a talk on "Wise Concentration". Cultivating Samadhi, or calmness & tranquility, is an essential characteristic of developing concentration in our meditation practice. A calm mind leads to a more equanimous awareness and a more refined observations of our experience, which leads to liberating insight.

In this episode, Andrew continues his series of talks on the Buddha's Eightfold Path, discussing the topic of "Wise Mindfulness". Mindfulness is such a popular focus of the Buddha's teaching, but what did he actually say about it 2600 years ago? We hope you enjoy!

Peace Within The Wild HeartSept. 1st-5th (Labor Day Weekend)with Andrew Chapman, Mikey Noechel, & Marika Maypop William J. Kelley Retreat CenterBay Saint Louis, MississippiPresented by Flowering Lotus MeditationLearn more & sign up at:https://www.floweringlotusmeditation.org/peacewithinthewildheart   

Wild Heart has an upcoming Meditation Retreat in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi September 1st - 5th. Link herehttps://www.floweringlotusmeditation.org/peacewithinthewildheartAndrew & Mikey take questions from the audience on a Wednesday night Dharma & Discussion group. The questions range from topics about developing wisdom, transmuting anger into compassion, how to work with trauma & depression, and more. Enjoy!

Andrew continues his series of talks on the eightfold path with Wise Effort. He starts off by asking the questions: "why don't we do the things that we want to do?". What makes us stop doing, or never start doing, the things in live that we truly value or find happiness in? The Buddha offers as a reflection, the teachings on wise effort. Enjoy!

This talk was recorded at Wild Heart's Memorial Day Loving Kindness Retreat on May 27th-30th at Heartwood Refuge in Hendersonville, NC. Mikey Noechel offers a Dharma talk on developing a kind and compassionate view of the world through loving kindness (metta.) 

In this short talk from the Memorial Day LovingKindness Retreat Andrew offers a reflection on the gentle effort that it takes to be with the present experience with an open heart. He also offers a short LovingKindness meditation at the end of the talk. Enjoy!

This talk was recorded at Wild Heart's Memorial Day Loving Kindness Retreat on May 27th-30th at Heartwood Refuge in Hendersonville, NC. Mikey Noechel offers a Dharma talk on loving kindness (metta) towards all experiences. The emphasis of the talk is to develop an indiscriminate friendly attitude towards all experiences whether they be pleasant or unpleasant.  Peace & Love. Enjoy!

This talk was recorded at Wild Heart's Memorial Day Loving Kindness Retreat May 27th-30th, 2022 at Heartwood Refuge in Hendersonville, NC.Mikey Noechel offers a Drama talk and meditation on loving kindness (metta) towards yourself. The emphasis of the talk and meditation are to concentrate the mind on loving kindness and relaxation. 

Andrew offers a Dharma talk on LovingKindness and the Five Hindrances on the first night of the Memorial Day Weekend Retreat at Heartwood Refuge. He talks about these visiting tendencies of the mind -- craving, aversion, restlessness, lethargy, and doubt -- and how they obstruct wisdom. Rather than attempting to get rid of these mind states, the Buddha offers something more radical, to meet them with kind awareness. Kind awareness naturally diffuses their grip on the mind and helps us move out of the reactive habits that flow from these mind states. Enjoy!

Andrew offers the morning instructions on the first day of the WHMC Loving Kindness Memorial Day Retreat, Metta for a Benefactor. The cultivation of Metta, or lovingkindness, is said to be a sublime state that can be cultivated to alleviate suffering and view the world through kind eyes. In this talk, Andrew offers instructions for how to begin Metta practice, by developing this quality of kindness towards someone that is easy to evoke this attitude towards--a benefactor.

Papanca is a Pali Sanskrit word that means "metal proliferation" or is literally translated as "spreading out". What does the Buddha say about what to do when the mind is tripping? And when we're caught in the grip of our thoughts, where does it usually go? Andrew and Mikey talk about the ins and outs of papanca and the ways that mindfulness helps us get out of the rabbit hole. Enjoy!

In this episode Mikey Noechel offers a talk and meditation on the third Brahma Vihara, sympathetic joy or mudita. Mudita is the ability to find joy in others' joy. The phrases Mikey uses for the meditation are:May your happiness growMay your happiness continueI am rooting for you

In this episode, Andrew talks about one of the Brahmaviharas, appreciative joy and gratitude. Practicing gratitude can widen our perspective when going through a hard time and help us practice non-attachment during times of pleasure and joy. Enjoy!

In this episode Mikey Noechel offers a talk and meditation on compassion and the process of excavating the heart. Enjoy! Peace & Love. 

In this episode Mikey Noechel offers a talk and meditation which combines the two wings: wisdom and compassion. He covers the four noble truths and how compassion meditation can help us understand these truths directly. 

How do the words I speak effect the peace and happiness in my life?Communication is so much of what we do! Whether it's with others, or even just the voice in our head, the way we talk to ourselves and others can either be a source of peacefulness or great pain in our lives. The Buddha includes Wise Speech in 3 individual factors of the eightfold path (speech, action, and mindfulness) and he offers helpful guidelines to radically transform the ways we communicate in service of living in a more peaceful way. Enjoy!

In this episode Mikey Noechel offers a talk and meditation on metta (loving kindness). This talk is part of a series on the bhramaviharas or the heart practices. These heart practices are: metta (loving kindness), karuna (compassion), mudita (joy), upekkha (equanimity). Mikey offers a guided loving kindness meditation at the end of this talk. The phrases he uses are:May you be at easeMay you be at peaceMay you be kind and gentle with yourselfMay you be filled with loving kindness 

In this episode Andrew talks about the second factor of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path: "Wise Intention". Andrew discusses the link between Wise View and Wise Intention (the first two "wisdom factors" of the eightfold path), the 3 ways that the Buddha taught about intention in the suttas, and then finally he discusses the 3 wise intentions: renunciation, goodwill, and harmlessness. Renunciation combats craving and greed, Goodwill combats aversion or illwill, and Harmlessness combats cruelty or harm. We hope you enjoy!