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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Relational Dharma
Recorded :
October 23, 2022 What does the Dharma have to say about how we relate: to ourselves, to each other and to the environment? How might we touch in to the energizing potential of waking up together? This session will draw from the inherently relational practices of both the Zen koan tradition and Insight Dialogue to consider ways that…
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The Body as a Vehicle of Awakening
Recorded :
June 20, 2021 One of our best teachers is very close at hand. The body offers continual opportunities for healing and insight, both simple and profound. But what is the body? As we look more carefully, we find a rich universe of sensation that is intimately connected to the mind. In this session, we explore the body as…
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The Appropriate Response
Recorded :
May 8, 2022 When a monk asked the 10th Century Zen master Yunmen, “What are the teachings of a whole lifetime?” Yunmen replied, “An appropriate response.” What is this appropriate response and how do we know we’ve got it right? Beyond linear formulas, Dharma teachings point to a natural intelligence that guides us in a spontaneous responsiveness to life….
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Clarity, Presence and Love: Both on and off the Cushion
Recorded :
October 19, 2025 How to meet the world’s joys and crises, alongside our deepening practice? Learn from the examples of Buddhist teachers and activists who engage with the world and create change from the presence, clarity and love of a dedicated dharma practice. Portraits of people and organisations:Dr A. T. Ariyaratne (1931 – 2024) and the Sarvodaya movementJoe…
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Uncovering your Natural Awareness
Recorded :
April 7, 2019 There are many ways to practice mindfulness, from the focused and deliberate to the expansive and relaxed. In this session, Diana teaches about natural awareness, which is a wide open, spacious, effortless awareness of awareness. Learn simple shifts and “Glimpse Practices” to connect with our radiant awareness. (A version of this recording with Spanish subtitles…
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Dzogchen Meditation: Spacious Ease Cultivating Stillness, Thought Activity and Awareness
Recorded :
January 14, 2024 Dzogchen (Sanskrit: Ati Yoga) is the most simple, direct, and profound Vajrayana Buddhist path to reveal the sky-like nature of our own mind which is clear, vast, and unobstructed by the clouds of afflictive emotions. Join Lama Justin for an introduction to Dzogchen meditation in which we will explore how to feel into the mind’s…
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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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Developing insight into power.
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February 21, 2016 The Buddha talked about eight qualities of one who has transformed insight into a power. We examine these eight and apply introspection to assess where we are on the path to awakening and what is needed for completion.
Discussion