We live in challenging times. Biologists speak of micro-systems where species sequester during times of crisis. They are called refugia. In times of uncertainty and fear, we too need refugia, places of spiritual safety where we can put down roots, grow and thrive. In this Sunday teaching, Willa invites us to explore the concept of refugia, and how it can help expand our conventional understanding of what “refuge” means in the Buddhist context. Refuge, an ancient Buddhist practice of finding sanctuary in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, is not a ritual or initiation. It involves a deep exploration of the role of safety in spiritual life. Refuge is an ongoing inquiry into what refugia looks like for each of us, into our crisis-sanctuaries and how they become a catalyst for our spiritual evolution.
With Willa Blythe Baker recorded on September 1, 2024.
Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
-
Grief, sorrow and the intertwining of ethics with meditation practice.
Recorded :
April 19, 2015 Worldwide Insight talk from Michael Stone: “Grief, Sorrow and the Intertwining of Ethics with Meditation Practice”. Guided meditation, Dharma talk and Q&A.
-
Discovering the Joy of Sensory Awareness: Mindfulness in Nature
Recorded :
February 12, 2023 When we turn our attention to the sensory, natural world around us, mindfulness practice can become easeful and expansive. Nature allures awareness through her beauty, and range of dynamic, enchanting experience. In this session we will practice cultivating attention to our sense experience, and discovering joy, peace and wonder in this very moment. Tune in from any peaceful environment outdoors with an internet connection, or indoors, ideally with a view of the outdoors.
-
Fluidity and spontaneity.
Recorded :
November 22, 2015 Worldwide Insight talk from Christelle Bonneau: “Fluidity and Spontaneity”. Guided meditation, Dharma talk and Q&A.
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ayala Gill – Week of 03 February, 2025
We’re delighted to have Ayala Gill leading our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May they bring depth and joy to your practice.
This week’s theme is: From Suffering To Love
Suffering is a messenger inviting us to include more of this moment with love. Rather than fussing, numbing and fixing, we pause in the midst of reactivity to breathe, come into the body, unhook from stories and feel emotions with love. This allows us to respond to life from love. Suffering returns us to love by showing us what we leave out of its limitless embrace.
Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.
-
Letting go of fear; finding courage in the face of uncertainty.
Recorded :
March 5, 2017 Even though we know fear does not serve us, we often allow it to stop or limit us. We might not even be aware of the ways it drives us and makes us smaller than we are. Though we might think we can control life, there is little we can actually control. If we are…
-
Luminous Darkness: A Path for Seeing Clearly from the Heart
Recorded :
October 2, 2022 One of the gifts of global uncertainty is that it requires us to recognize and release unconscious biases that have been passed down for generations. These include the perception that splits into opposites and values light over dark, speed over slowing down, productivity over attunement, and conclusion over not knowing. Awakening requires that we soften…
-
The meaningful life
Recorded :
November 11, 2017 How can we use our meditation practice to repair attachment disturbances caused by our early conditioning, so that we can be completely ourselves in our relationships with others and in our work, as we pursue the path of awakening?
-
Surrendering the Clever Mind into the Listening Heart
Recorded :
February 14, 2021 As our deepening poly-crises shift us from a sense of predictability, stability, and even a future, into crisis management as a daily norm, how can our practice support inner resilience and a meaningful response? We will touch on Dharma practices and teachings that support the internal shifts needed as we transition from over-reliance on separative…
Discussion