#335 A Pressure Cooker for Insight | Bart van Melik

The great meditation teacher Ram Dass once said, “If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family.” My guest today comes with tools to help you keep your cool when interacting with family -- or anyone else. We’re going to talk about a kind of meditation practice known as “relational dharma,” or “insight dialogue.” It’s a way of taking meditation off the cushion and into the crucible of conversation. 

My guest is Bart van Melik, who teaches to veterans and children in juvenile detention centers. He’s co-author of a book called Still, in the City: Creating Peace of Mind in the Midst of Urban Chaos. He graduated from the Spirit Rock/IMS Teacher Training and Community Dharma Leader Program. He’s based in New York City, but he’s currently in his country of birth, The Netherlands. In this conversation, you will hear lots of tips about how to actually practice relational meditation and insight dialogue, which Bart calls a “pressure cooker for insight.”

Where to find  Bart van Melik online: 

• Website 

• Bart’s lectures on Dharma Seed

Book Mentioned:

• Still, in the City: Creating Peace of Mind in the Midst of Urban Chaos

Other Resources Mentioned:

• Spirit Rock Meditation Center
• Gregory Kramer
• New York Insight Meditation Center
• Insight Dialogue
• Dharma Contemplation
• The first teachings of the Buddha to his son Rahula
• Stan Koehler
• Jack Kornfield
• Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison
• Wise Speech
• Insight Meditation Society
• Joseph Goldstein
• Upcoming online meditation retreat with Bart van Melik, Joseph Goldstein, and Roxanne Dault

Additional Resources:

• Ten Percent Happier Live: https://tenpercent.com/live
• Coronavirus Sanity Guide: https://www.tenpercent.com/coronavirussanityguide
• Free App access for Frontline Workers: https://tenpercent.com/care