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

Comfortable with Discomfort: How to be a Bodhisattva

With Justine Dawson recorded on May 10, 2020.

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

Our current situation is giving us great practice with discomfort. whether we’re experiencing small inconveniences or significant disruption. Dharma teaches us that this very discomfort is a gateway to realization. Once our efforts to soothe or transcend run dry, we gain the opportunity to develop insight, freedom, and true bodhisattva compassion. Compassion that is at ease with entering and engaging in even the most uncomfortable realms. This Sunday, Justine will take us on a tour of the ancient sutras of Vimalakirti, exploring how we can stay open and even playful with the uncertainty and discomfort of this time. And how that just may make us better bodhisattvas.

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

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Justine Dawson

    Including All Parts of Ourself in Practice

    Are all parts of you welcome in your spiritual practice? What happens when desire, aggression, anxiety or obsession burst through your heart’s door? It is possible to cultivate an awareness that includes all, without fear or rejection. In today’s session, explore simple and potent practices for ending the internal war and welcoming ALL of you…

    Read More

  • Kittisaro

    Exploring dukkha.

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

    Read More

  • Wisdom and Heart Together

    The connection between wisdom (paññā) and the heart qualities, such as goodwill (mettā) and compassion (karunā), can be a delightful discovery in Buddhist practice. The clear, nonjudgmental awareness of wisdom can feel like warmth, inclusion, and safety when fully received. In turn, the truly open heart is free of the distortions of ill will and…

    Read More

  • photo of Martin Aylward smiling

    Staying In, Going Inwards: Inner Resources for Indoor Life

    Martin, the founding and guiding teacher of Sangha Live, leads our regular Sunday session, looking at skilful ways to meet this time of confinement and ‘forced retreat’. He offers various reflections on caring for ourselves and others, and makes plenty of time to share and explore together as a Sangha, as we lean into this…

    Read More

  • Deborah Eden Tull - Senior Dharma Teacher

    The extraordinary nature of ordinary self

    It is an extraordinary relief to encounter the perfection of ordinary self in a world that is screaming loudly, “There is something better out there! There is something you might be missing! There are standards you need to meet! There is something more you need to prove!” As we remember our inherent goodness, we cease…

    Read More

  • In Relation to Everything

    All of our dharma practice is done in relation to something. We’re essentially always in relation to whatever we’re paying attention to. And, we might say that, in order for our dharma practice to progress, we need to be in good relation to four things: the dharma, ourselves, our meditation object and, in general, to…

    Read More

  • Ven. Pannavati Bikkhuni

    Developing insight into power.

    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.

    Read More