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PODCAST

Tea with Mara

Audio recordings of live Dharma Talks and Meditations offered in Virtual Reality for the Together with TRIPP community, and the Two Hands Sangha by Rev. George Beecher.

religion & spirituality buddhism

All Episodes

00:42:27

Seven Good Qualities

Tea with Mara ·

2025/06/13

“Seven Good Qualities” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation inspired by a moment in the Pali Canon where the Buddha responds to a rising authoritarian ruler—not with politics or condemnation—but by calmly highlighting the seven qualities that allow a nation to thrive. This isn’t about left or right—it’s about wise or unwise. Ethical or harmful. Healing or dividing. May this be useful and unnecessary! Enjoy!https://bio.reverendgeorgebeecher.com

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00:45:10

Give Me Three Steps

Tea with Mara ·

2025/06/09

“Give Me Three Steps” is a Dharma talk on radical equality, karmic physics, and the three practical steps the Buddha offers for turning compassion into action: see clearly, guard the mind, act wisely. We trace this wisdom from an empty alms bowl in ancient Kapilavatthu all the way to our news feeds today—asking how each of us can plant better seeds right where we stand. Listen in, then drop a comment: Which door will you stop skipping this week? I hope the talk brings steadiness and heart

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00:46:23

Nothing Else Matters

Tea with Mara ·

2025/06/06

"Nothing Else Matters" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation inspired by my recent experience at the Metallica 72 Seasons Tour concert. It's really, at its core, about found family, and sangha. It's about being good to people and focusing on our commonalities rather than our differences. The show was spectacular, and brought several dreams true for me, so I hope this talk will give a little something back to you. Enjoy!https://bio.reverendgeorgebeecher.com

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00:48:50

Beauty And Beasts

Tea with Mara ·

2025/06/02

"Beauty And Beasts" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha about breaking free from the prisons we create in our own minds. Whether it’s the story of Ambapali’s transformation or the characters in Sinners, the message is the same: true freedom comes from within. In this talk, I dive into the Buddha’s teachings on liberation, exploring how mindfulness and discernment can help us transcend the mental prisons of attachment, fear, and desire. We reflect on how we can unlock the doors to

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00:45:31

Beautifully Broken

Tea with Mara ·

2025/05/30

"Beautifully Broken" is a Dharma talk and a short guided meditation on impermanence, non‑clinging, and mindful appreciation sparked by Ajahn Chah’s famous broken‑glass teaching and sprinkled with a dash of Mary Oliver's brilliance! We’ll look at why knowing something is already on its way to changing can make it shine even brighter right now, and how that inner shift ripples out into a kinder world. Hope this brings a little freedom and a lot of gratitude.

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00:34:19

You Can't See Me

Tea with Mara ·

2025/05/27

“You Can't See Me” is a Dharma talk on labels, lineage, and letting compassion lead. We read Chapter 32 "The Finger Is Not The Moon" from Thich Nhat Hanh's Old Path White Clouds. I hope you find something useful in this one and of course, I hope you enjoy it!

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00:38:26

Get Into Wise Trouble

Tea with Mara ·

2025/05/24

“Get Into Wise Trouble” is a Dharma talk and guided meditation on courageous, compassionate action. Inspired by a moment in Babel by R.F. Kuang, and grounded in the words of the late Congressman John Lewis—this talk explores the Buddhist path of standing up, speaking out, and disturbing harm with love. We talk about what wise trouble really looks like, how the Buddha and Thich Nhat Hanh modeled it, and how we can act from clarity instead of fear—even when the stakes feel high. This one’s for anyone

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00:46:32

The Motherly Heart

Tea with Mara ·

2025/05/16

"The Motherly Heart" is a Dharma Talk and brief guided meditation in honor of Mother's Day, that talks about the full spectrum of motherly love, and explores the difficulties that many experience on this holiday and how our practice can transform that suffering. I hope you will find value in this offering. Enjoy!https://www.reverendgeorgebeecher.com

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00:53:00

You Can't Take It With You

Tea with Mara ·

2025/05/09

"You Can't Take It With You" is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation on clinging/craving. Specifically inspired by a story in the news this week about the auction of "Buddha's Jewels" at Sotheby's Hong Kong. The story is packed with dharma questions, but what struck me is what was missing. In this talk we get into it. I would love to see your comment below on what you thought about the story of these jewels. I hope this is somehow helpful for you!

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00:33:24

The Dharma of Star Wars

Tea with Mara ·

2025/05/05

"The Dharma of Star Wars" is my annual May 4th Star Wars Day Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha. We had BB-8 rolling around and chattering during our silent meditation space while sitting for this one, we discussed many correlations between the Dharma and Star Wars, informed by Matthew Bortolin's excellent dharma book and my own nerdery (and my bad voice acting). And if you were present for the talk in Sangha, you should know I added some more today in honor of May 5th (Revenge of the Fifth)

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00:39:40

Take Five and Breathe

Tea with Mara ·

2025/05/02

"Take Five and Breathe" is a dharma talk on the unique timing signature of life. We want life to be in 4/4 time, but life is a jazz musician, and will throw in 5/4 time whenever it gets the urge. Luckily the Buddha taught us to flow with whatever quirky timing life threw at us. This talk invokes everything from Dave Brubeck to Sleep Token, from Tron Legacy to The Little John Beecher Orchestra and more, all in the name of helping us handle the vicissitudes of life a little better. I hope

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00:41:47

A Quiet Place to Practice

Tea with Mara ·

2025/04/28

"A Quiet Place to Practice" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on Chapter 30 of Old Path White Clouds, discussing the five precepts for lay-practitioners, and a story from the Jataka Tales. Primarily this talk points at how the first four precepts provide us with a quiet place (our mind) to practice, and how the fifth precept supports those like a foundation for that place. I hope you'll find something beneficial to your practice here. Enjoy!

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00:43:41

We Listen And We Don't Judge

Tea with Mara ·

2025/04/19

"We Listen And We Don't Judge" is a Dharma Talk and brief guided meditation that looks at how we can show up and support people when they are grieving or scared of losing a loved one. We talk often about death, and about fear of it, but I wanted to talk about how to support someone when they are the ones facing it. May you find something of value in this. https://bio.reverendgeorgebeecher.com

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00:47:48

Water Rises Fire Burns

Tea with Mara ·

2025/04/15

"Water Rises Fire Burns" is a Dharma talk from Two Hands Sangha exploring the themes of Chapters 26 and 27 from Old Path White Clouds. This talk follows the transformation of Kassapa, a fire-worshipping ascetic whose meeting with the Buddha shifts his path entirely. We reflect on the power of presence, the fire of craving and ignorance, and the steady stream of insight that can rise within us all. This also marks the point that the Sangha grew from 50+ to 500+! I hope you'll find value

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00:50:39

Karma and Coffee

Tea with Mara ·

2025/04/11

"Karma and Coffee" is a Dharma talk and guided meditation exploring how the Dharma shows up in the most unexpected places—like a "Cozy Fantasy" novel (called "Legends & Lattes" by Travis Baldree) about a coffee shop run by an orc. We reflect on wise livelihood, karma, equanimity, and the power of choosing peace over conflict, all through the lens of a surprisingly insightful little story. It’s about how the Dharma is always brewing—right under our noses, in every act of kindness, every small

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00:52:23

The Sangha Grows

Tea with Mara ·

2025/04/08

“The Sangha Grows” is a little different from our usual episodes—this one is actually two in one. In our local sangha, we’ve been exploring the Buddha’s life after his awakening, drawing primarily from Thich Nhat Hanh’s Old Path White Clouds. This week, I read Chapter 24, continuing from where we left off last time. I had planned to read Chapter 25 as well, but then I remembered that I had already recorded a talk on it back in 2022—before the Tea With Mara podcast began—and had never released it. So

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00:44:34

If It Ain't Broke...

Tea with Mara ·

2025/04/04

"If It Ain't Broke..." is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation about learning to pause and reflect before leaping into action to fix something that may not need to be fixed. People tend to tweak and tinker in the effort to improve, and often they end up creating problems where there were none. Then we try to tinker our way back to stable footing. It rarely works out well. The Buddha said to pause and notice. Maybe we don't need to meddle with things so often. I hope you find

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00:37:50

Yasa and The Boodles

Tea with Mara ·

2025/03/31

"Yasa and The Boodles" is a Dharma talk offered at Two Hands Sangha on the story of Yasa who gives up his life of drunken debauchery to find peace in this lifetime with the Buddha's teachings. So what is a Boodle? Mostly just me mis-speaking which I was going to edit out, but I decided it was to silly and fun to cut. Or maybe "Yasa and The Boodles" is the name of my band. I don't know. I hope you get some laughs AND some dharma out of this wonderful story

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00:46:14

Forgetting to Remember

Tea with Mara ·

2025/03/28

“Forgetting to Remember” is a Dharma talk and brief guided meditation inspired by a conversation about those moments when the mind just won’t cooperate—when the harder we try to remember, focus, or figure something out, the more stuck we feel. This talk explores why that happens, what the Buddha had to say about clinging and effort, and how letting go—not giving up—can open the door to clarity. I hope it offers you something useful. Enjoy! https://bio.reverendgeorgebeecher.com

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00:47:11

Relaxed Living Through Perfect Imperfection

Tea with Mara ·

2025/03/24

"Relaxed Living Through Perfect Imperfection" is a Dharma Talk offered at Two Hands Sangha (and the title is a play on the Audi slogan which is explained in the talk) on the topic of the Four Brahma Viharas. Let's explore these four practices, and how they are both the path and the fruit of practice. I hope you enjoy this one!https://bio.reverendgeorgebeecher.com

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