August 10, 2026
Our community engages in practices that support awakening and compassionate action in the world. We are grounded in Buddhist and other wisdom traditions, inspired by the teachings of Lama John Makransky, Lama Willa Baker, Rupert Spira, and other teachers. Our community welcomes those beginning to explore contemplative practice and experienced meditators. People of all faith traditions, as well as those who do not identify with any faith, are invited to join us.
Monthly on Second Sundays @ 4:30 pm ET
Tamara Daly & Eric Brus
Newton, MA
Sustainable Compassion Training
Second & Fourth Wednesdays of Each Month, @7 pm ET
In person: Eliot Church, 474 Centre St., Newton, MA
May the pure brilliant sun of bodhicitta
Dawn in each and every heart and mind
Dispelling the darkness of suffering and confusion
Unstoppably, until all are fully illumined and awakened.
May I and all beings know happiness and the inner causes of happiness,
May I and all beings be free from sorrow and the inner causes of sorrow,
May I and all beings remain undivided from the sacred joy which is free from sorrow,
May I and all beings come to rest in the great equanimity beyond attachment, aversion, or indifference to “friends,” “enemies” or “strangers.”
I and all beings are primordially Buddha.
Knowing this to be true, I am aligned with
supreme enlightened mind.
Elise Hoblitzelle has been interested in the nature of belief and of the mind most of her life. For 25 years, she has been exploring various meditation practices and Buddhist traditions. Since 2014, she has been studying primarily with Lama Willa Baker, Lama Liz Monson, and Lama John Makransky. Elise has taught with Foundation for Active Compassion.
Tamara was introduced to meditation in the Western esoteric traditions. An introduction to bodhicitta led her to Tibetan Buddhism. She has studied under teachers in the Dzogchen tradition since 2004. She has taught meditation for Natural Dharma Fellowship and Foundation for Active Compassion. Current teachers are Lama John Makransky, Lama Willa Baker, and Mark Sullivan.
Carol has been practicing the dharma for over twenty years, primarily in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Her teachers include Lama John Makransky, Lama Willa Baker, and the non-dual teacher Rupert Spira. She has taught with Foundation for Active Compassion and in prison sanghas.
Eric has been practicing the dharma since the early 1990s. He has a strong affinity for dharma study, chanting, and meditative practices that nurture and express our innate compassion and wisdom. Eric's current teachers include Lama Willa Baker, Lama Liz Monson, Lama John Makransky, Anam Thubten, and Rob Preece. Eric has taught meditation with Foundation for Active Compassion and Natural Dharma Fellowship.
Ilona has a BA in Religious Studies. Raised in the Catholic tradition, she was a member of the Boston Catholic Worker community. She has led practices of love and wisdom in the Buddhist tradition since 2010. Her current teacher is Rupert Spira. She has taught with the Foundation for Active Compassion.
Our beloved teacher and friend Joel Baehr passed away in September 2023. We are including recordings of a large selection of his recent teachings in this archive. In addition to teaching with Awakening Heart, Joel was a teacher for the Natural Dharma Fellowship. Joel studied and practiced for decades with Lama Willa Baker, Lama John Makransky, Brendan Kennedy, Lama Surya Das, Thomas Hora, and many teachers of Tibetan Buddhism and other spiritual traditions.
Ken Bent has been a regular meditator for over 50 years. His practice began with Transcendental Meditation in the early 1970's. Since meeting Lama Sura Das in 2002, his study and practice has been in the Dzogchen tradition, attending retreats and teachings with Lama Surya Das, Lama John Makransky, Lama Willa Miller, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and others. During the covid shutdown, he started studying with the Shamatha- Vipassana teacher, Doug Kraft and, towards the end of the covid era, started attending retreats with the non-dual teacher Rupert Spira. Ken has come to appreciate and value the unity of all these different practices and how they can be applied in our daily life.
Marge, a long-time meditator in several traditions, has studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism since 2000. Her spiritual teachers are Tsoknyi Rimpoche, John Makransky, Lama Willa Baker and Lama Liz Monson. Marge's teachings gravitate towards understanding and resolving barriers or distortions that block our expression of our innate happiness and true nature. She is honored to be one of several quest teachers.
Kevin has been practicing the Dharma since the early 2000s. He has found the teachings of Pema Chodron and Thich Nhat Han to be particulary helpful and returns to their wisdom often. He has also been inspired by the love and compassion teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. He is very grateful to be a member of the AHPC Sangha.
Philip has been practicing Buddhism for most of his adult life, with an emphasis in the Tibetan tradition since 2000. His current influences include Lama Willa Baker, Lama Liz Monson, Anam Thubten, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. For the past 6 years, he has served as a mentor and meditation teacher in the Margha Program at the Natural Dharma Fellowship.
Paul has been practicing meditation for the past 20 years within Zen and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. He has practiced with Willa Baker, John Makransky, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, and Kent Hoffman. Paul completed a PhD in psychology and draws on multiple areas of psychological science to inform engagement with contemplative practices of compassion and wisdom.