Where’s your body? Can you feel it? Is it still there?! Life is full. There’s so much to plan and think about. We can go hours without feeling a single breath or footstep. Can you relate? By getting lost in our thoughts we over-identify with a limited sense of “self” and therefore suffer. We will explore the body as a distinction to thinking and see what freedom lies there.
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The Power of Relational Awareness
Recorded :
September 9, 2018 In this session, Oren Jay Sofer shares reflections on the basics of Mindful Communication, with particular focus on the internal foundations of successful communication. The talk explores some of the ways our silent contemplative practice can support our interpersonal relationships, while the Q&A delves into more specific issues of conversation and relationships.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of September 18, 2023
This week’s theme is “Understanding Suffering”. Dukkha, often translated as suffering, is a central concept in the Buddha’s teachings. This has led some to view Buddhism as adopting a negative outlook on life. But is this true? Why did the Buddha emphasise suffering (dukkha) and what does he mean by this concept? This week of practice we will take an in-depth look into the first noble truth around dukkha. This exploration can help us cultivate compassion, as well as extending it to the larger community. It can free us from feelings of shame and a sense of failure, and bring a fresh perspective on our practice.
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When did you stop breathing?
Recorded :
June 4, 2017 We could say that the Buddha was teaching us to breath again. It’s said that the prince Siddhartha was sitting under a Bodhi tree, practicing the anapanasati (the mindfulness of breathing) when he gained enlightenment and became awake, a Buddha. He was aware of the whole experience of breathing. Through breathing he trained the mind…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Leela Sarti – Week of Nov 8, 2021
This week’s theme is “Deepening Heart Presence: Life, Dukkha, and Beyond”. We need heart presence in order to digest life experience. It takes a lot of heart to live with integrity, sensitivity and openness. Awakening compassion, courage, and kindness helps us embrace the challenges and the sorrow of life. This week we explore the possibility of being grounded in the depth of timeless presence in the midst of daily life. We will inquire how to live and love from silence and emptiness, being yourself in peace with others, and doing what needs to be done.
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How can I Sink when I am the Ocean?
Recorded :
June 10, 2018 In this session we explore more precisely the different individuals we think we are through the days. We will try to recognize them better, with their own feelings, sensations, emotions, thoughts and states of mind. We’ll also try to hear more clearly all the different judgemental voices that take place in us, about the way…
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The Two Fundamental Roots
Recorded :
January 25, 2026 I reflect this Sunday on the profound Surangama Sutra teaching of the Two Fundamental Roots: The root of “beginningless birth and death,” and the “primal bright essence of consciousness.” The Buddha warns that not knowing these two essential principles renders one’s spiritual efforts into a doomed futility, like “cooking sand in the hope of creating…
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How Conduct Bears Fruit: Training in Not-Killing
Recorded :
February 21, 2021 In this session Shaila Catherine explores the fruits of karma and the consequences of action through a detailed consideration of why and how we practice ethical precepts. The focus for this talk is the commitment to not kill.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of 24 November, 2025
We are delighted to have Nirmala Werner guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these sessions support and enrich your practice. This week’s theme is: Embodying the Four (or Five) Elements: Meditation for Everyday Presence. Rooted in Buddhist wisdom, this practice invites us to connect with earth, water, fire, air, and space as living forces within and around us. By attuning to their ever-shifting qualities, we find grounding amidst change-an anchor of presence, steadiness, and clarity to meet the movements of daily life. Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.
