Most of us know the Buddha as a revered spiritual sage. Less is known about the person, Siddhartha Gautama, who was also a social revolutionary. In this talk, we will explore how Gautama upended the caste system in India and examine his problematic relationship to women. We’ll see how understanding the Buddha as a human being can help us illuminate and transform ourselves and current systems of racism, misogyny and oppression.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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Living by Vow
Recorded :
November 1, 2020 If we start with the understanding that everyone is living by vow, how can we examine what vows we are following and change to follow the ones that lead to liberation?
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Awakening Joy: Practice as a Path of Happiness
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January 13, 2019 Joy is both a Factor of Enlightenment and one of the four Divine Abodes. Today, as we are bombarded with news that heightens our fear and sadness about the world, more than ever it’s vital to understand the importance of joy as a central aspect of spiritual practice. We need to remember how to stay…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Jaya Rudgard – Week of Nov 22, 2021
This week’s theme is Similes and Images from the Ancient Texts .Each morning this week we’ll dive into one of the images from the natural world and daily life that the Buddha used to explain his teachings. Let’s see how how these similes and metaphors from the Buddhist texts can support our understanding and enrich our practice. We may also discover how practising with them can enhance our appreciation of the world around us.
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How To Thrive in Hard Times
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October 27, 2024 When external circumstances are difficult and challenging we tend to get swept away by them. But instead, they can be a wake-up call. We turn to the dharma to help us meet the challenges from an enduring sense of freedom, a more transcendent point of view and skilful, heartful ways to act.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ayala Gill – Week of 02 June, 2025
We’re delighted to have Ayala Gill guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these sessions support and deepen your practice.
This week’s theme is: The Body is a Doorway to Love
Through relating to the elements of the body, we cultivate a presence that is grounded, awake, open, relaxed and spacious.
As the body becomes a more stable home for the heart and mind, everything settles and softens back to its natural state of aliveness and love.Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.
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The Supramundane Nature of Emptiness
Recorded :
September 15, 2024 Emptiness can be a loaded word for lay practitioners. It can bring up a sense of isolation and annihilation. The dharma of emptiness, however, is a fundamental part of practice. Even in the most mundane tasks of our ordinary lives, we can access emptiness and feel the freedom that comes with it. It’s not about…
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The Dharma and the Drama of Sex: Everything you Wanted to know about Dharma and Sex but were too Spiritual to Ask
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November 18, 2018 Sex is everywhere. It’s how we got born, it teases us from advertising boards on every city street, it drives some of the biggest industries, and it provokes some of the most intense stimuli in body, heart and mind. Yet dharma teachings, even in a lay context, mostly ignore sex. It is not spoken about…
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Finding Forgiveness: Processing the Past to Open the Present
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July 2, 2023 The Buddhist path is one of liberation through letting go. But when there’s been disappointment, betrayal, or harm, letting go can seem like a very tall order. Join us as we explore the spectrum of heart qualities on the way to forgiveness, and find a new relationship to the past that brings you more freedom in the…
