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

Awakening Joy: Practice as a Path of Happiness

With James Baraz recorded on January 13, 2019.

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

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.

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

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • The nature and practice of right view.

    If there is one practice that defines the quality of the Buddha’s teachings, it is right view. This is a wisdom path. Right view is the beginning and ending of the path. Right view comes first among the eight path factors because it is needed for the entire path. Right view can be described as…

    Read More

  • Nathan Glyde

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of Oct 25, 2021

    This week’s theme is Making Sense of Self.
    Although the Buddha encourages us to not indulgently ponder whether the self is real or not, he did offer us a way to explore how the sense of self appears. This methodology, called the khandhas (aggregates: the heap of heaps), exposes all aspects we gather together to create and hold to our sense of self: form (body); vedanā (subtle preference); perception; saṅkhāra (mental formations – like intention, attention…); and consciousness (knowing).

    Read More

  • Leslie Booker

    Practicing Belonging in a Divisive World

    The precepts are often shared on the first night of retreat to kind of go into a social contract of how we’re going to care for one another on retreat, while holding the nobility of silence. And out in the world, without the protection of silence and this commitment, we often forget how deeply we…

    Read More

  • Kittisaro

    Exploring dukkha.

    Worldwide Insight talk from Kittisaro: “Exploring Dukkha”. Guided meditation, Dharma talk and Q&A.

    Read More

  • Sophie Boyer

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Sophie Boyer – Week of June 19, 2023

    This week’s topic is “Generosity at the Heart of One of Life’s Greatest Mysteries”. What meaning does generosity embody when we open our minds to accepting one of life’s greatest realities – that in fact we know and master very little. Let us explore the different ways in which facing our experiences with generosity allows us to let go of our preconceptions and taste all of life’s flavours and feel fully alive.

    Read More

  • Toby Sola

    The Concentration Algorithm

    Discover a “concentration algorithm” that transforms your practice. Instead of fighting distractions, this approach teaches you to work with them skillfully. When your concentration wavers, notice what captured your attention, then make that distraction your new meditation object. This process reveals two valuable insights: first, that any sensory experience can serve as a meditation anchor…

    Read More