Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

An Open Heart in Hell

With Martin Aylward recorded on September 4, 2022.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

After a summer of extreme heat, drought and fire, we may well enter the autumn wondering how to manage the grief at our fragile and collapsing ecology. Taking the title An Open Heart in Hell from Nick Mulvey’s recent song “Prayer of my Own“, we’ll use this session to honour the pains of the heart without getting swallowed up by them, and will reflect on wisdom, fearlessness and love amidst the deepening crises of our world.

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Discussion

One thought on “An Open Heart in Hell

  1. Thank you Martin.. This practice has been helpful. . Opening the heart ……today, I experienced my own decomposition… Embracing imperfection..Rosie

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Refuge, resilience and response in uncertain times

    By now, we can consciously acknowledge that our planetary state of emergency and ineffectual political response is impacting and fast changing our Dharma curriculum. We are being mercilessly shaken awake while at the same time facing overwhelming uncertainties. In this session, Thanissara explores how the Dharma, its practices and guidelines, can come to our aid…

    Read More

  • Kate Johnson

    Radical Friendship – Practicing Freedom in Unfree Places

    In these times of isolation and uprising, how can wise relationships be a refuge? Join us for an exploration of the Buddha’s teachings on spiritual friendship, and how they can help us embody freedom in all our relationships as we navigate the path to collective liberation.

    Read More

  • Nirmala Werner

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of 17 March, 2025

    We are delighted to have Nirmala Werner guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. This week’s theme is: Sacred Body, Sacred Path: Feminine Principles on the Spiritual Journey. This week, we explore the profound role of the feminine principle on the spiritual journey in Buddhism. We will engage in embodied practices, examining the qualities of the elements and nature, while opening ourselves to what truly serves us on our path to awakening. Where does our practice lead us when we open to an embrace of life, seeing all experience as sacred?

    Read More

  • Dave Smith

    Citta and Right Speech: Cultivating the Voice of Kindness and Wisdom

    Dharma practice encourages us to transform our thoughts, words and actions. The primary mechanism for how this is accomplished is vague. What often goes unnoticed is that the use of the term mind has undergone a radical psychologization from the time of the Buddha into present day. During this session we will explore the many nuances of…

    Read More

  • photo of Martin Aylward smiling

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of April 13

    We’re fortunate that Martin Aywlard has generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK. To find out more about Martin, and to view his other contributions to Sangha Live, click here. Monday, April 13 Thought patterns Wednesday, April 15 Self-reinforcing thought loops Friday, April 17 Welcoming inner experience and also…

    Read More

  • Nathan Glyde

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of July 18, 2022

    This week’s topic is Perfectly Imperfect. “True perfection seems imperfect, yet is perfectly itself.” – Lao Tzu. Expecting life to be perfect is stressful: a beautiful goal like “getting it right” prevents us from developing when it morphs into “never getting anything wrong.” The non-harming noble-truths path of the Dharma may arouse perfectionism, but if carefully followed, can set us free from such entrapment.

    Read More

  • Nirmala Werner

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of Nov 27 – 1 Dec, 2023

    This week’s topic is “Longing for Belonging; Becoming Intimate with Expansion and Contraction”. Although people are more connected than ever through technology, there seems to be a global trance of “not belonging”. In this week’s sessions we will explore how we separate from our own selves and from others, and above all how we can come home to all our parts and sink back into a sense of belonging.

    Read More