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 connected to that place inside that makes life worth living. In this session we explore principles and practices from the teachings to incline the mind towards true well-being.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of October 23, 2023
This week’s theme is “Touched by Dukkha”. Living life involves being in touch with various experiences, some of which are challenging. These challenging experiences, referred to as ‘dukkha’ by the Buddha, inevitably stir the heart-mind. Our sensitive nature is touched by dukkha, manifesting in ripple effects like impulses, emotions, and thoughts. This week, we’ll explore together what the Buddha called the second noble truth, to understand how our reactions and responses to dukkha shape our lives.
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The Paradox of Being: Alive & Aware
Recorded :
February 17, 2019 “The World is its Own Magic” – Suzuki Roshi As we practice and our understanding deepens, we’re often surprised by paradox. We begin to discover what the Laṅkāvatāra Sutra pointed to: Things are not what they seem… Nor are they otherwise. We intuitively know that there is more to life/reality then the usual, the familiar…
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Daily life practice – the cultivation of virtue in ordinary action.
Recorded :
December 11, 2016 Shaila discusses the cultivation of virtue. Her talk will considers the relationship between virtue practices, and the more popular practices of compassion, mindfulness, and wisdom.
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This Is What We Are: Foam, Bubbles, Mirage, Banana Tree Trunks and Magical Shows
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January 22, 2023 In this session, we will explore the Buddha’s wise use of images in the Phena Sutta. We will see how these are representations of the deepest teachings of Insight Meditation and how they can be relevant for us today in our quest to free the mind and heart from constriction. There will be time to practice together guided by Pascal and time for questions and beginning of answers.
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Awake in the wild – meditation in nature as a path to awakening.
Recorded :
March 29, 2015 Worldwide Insight talk from Mark Coleman: “Awake in the Wild – Meditation in Nature as a Path to Awakening”. Guided meditation, Dharma talk and Q&A.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of 4 March, 2024
This week’s topic is “Wide and Deep: an Integrated Practice in Meditation and in Life”. This week at Sangha live, the morning meditations with Martin will draw each day on elements of dharma practice and understanding that can be both cultivated in meditation, and applied in daily activity. We’ll encourage a steady participation in the mornings through the week, and reflect on using the daily themes to explore our habits, beliefs and reactions throughout each day.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of September 19, 2022
This week’s topic is “Compose Yourself”. Dharma teachings appear to pull ‘us’ in two directions: on the one hand we pacify, renouncing and let go of everything, even of ourselves; on the other we energise, expanding our being into interconnection, to extend a limitless, inclusive welcome to all everywhere. But in actuality, we discover that there is no contradiction with this mismatch. For the well-composed practitioner, expanding goodwill and liberating release harmoniously and melodically intertwine.
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Natural awareness: practicing in daily life.
Recorded :
July 10, 2016 Meditation is often viewed as something restricted to a certain posture or time of day. For most of us, the majority of our life will not be on retreat or even spent in a formal sitting posture. If we want to make best use of our daily life, it’s important to know that being aware…
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