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

Clear Presence, Sweet Absence

With Kim Allen recorded on March 1, 2020.

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

Dharma practice encourages us to see the present moment clearly – to meet and respond to it well. What is here in this moment? Another dimension of practice is to learn to appreciate absence: What is this moment free from? Having skill in both these dimensions brings us closer to the joy and peace that the Buddha spoke of.

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

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Caverly Morgan – Week of June 29

    We’re very grateful to have Caverly Morgan hosting our Daily Meditation Series for North America. To find out more about Caverly, and to view her past recordings and contributions to Sangha Live, click here. Monday, June 29 In truth, you are never lost Wednesday, July 1 Integrating practice into everyday life Friday, July 3 Resting…

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of 05 May, 2025

    We are delighted to have Ulla Koenig guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these offerings support and enrich your practice.

    This week’s theme is: Touching Ground

    Whether it is the dynamics of the world that stir our hearts and minds, or personal challenges, as human beings we are confronted in many ways with the fragility of life. Touching ground, finding something to orient and trust in, is a deep need and yet not an easy endeavor. We dedicate this week to exploring the idea of taking refuge and translating it into a meaningful act that we can participate in no matter what.

    Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.

    Read More

  • photo of Martin Aylward smiling

    Saddha: Unshakeable Confidence

    So many of us feel assailed by doubt, anxiety and insecurity. Unhelpful self-talk, along with the uncertainties of the world, heighten and reinforce thought tendencies. Dharma practice helps us recognize and uproot ingrained patterns, and also to establish trust, confidence and fearlessness. Our first Sunday Sangha of 2023 will inquire into what is deeply trustworthy, and point towards a confidence that is unshakeable — regardless of circumstance or preference, life or death.

    Read More

  • Vimalasara Mason-John

    The Four Sights

    What truly inspires us to change our lives? Are aging, sickness, and death enough to make us turn things around? Today, we’ll explore the inspiration that drove the Prince on his journey, and ask whether it holds the same power for us. (Please note that unfortunately the guided meditation and start of the dharma talk…

    Read More

  • photo of Martin Aylward smiling

    Visions of a free life

    Freedom is a central concern of all our lives, yet has many different manifestations, some of which run completely contrary to others. This class will explores the importance of social freedoms, inner freedom, personal and collective freedoms. We explore how different perspectives on free-ness shape how we practice; and how we understand life and our…

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of March 28, 2022

    This week’s topic is Shelter from the Storm. Whether it is restlessness, worry, anxiety, panic, worry or rumination, all aspects of fear have one thing in common: they rob us of our peace of mind. If fear governs our perspective, we are focused on that which is potentially problematic. Unable to settle down and rest, we often feel exhausted by the relentless activity of our mind. The Buddha invited us to find in our practice ‘a Shelter, a Harbour, a Refuge’. In this week together, we’ll explore the underlying dynamics of fear, learn ways to soothe our minds and gain access to a sense of safety and peacefulness right here and right now.

    Read More

  • Acting on Behalf of Consciousness

    As we move into this new year, most of us are ready to leave 2020 behind. So much hardship, for so many, has arisen in the last year. Many of us felt more isolated, more separate, than ever before. As we transition into 2021, rather than live and act on behalf of that felt sense…

    Read More