We’re fortunate that Martin Aywlard and Zohar Lavie have generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK. To find out more about Martin and Zohar, and to view their other contributions to Sangha Live, click here for Martin, and here for Zohar.
Today’s chant:
Namo tassa bhagavato Arahato Samma sambuddhasa
Recorded :
Life is never only good or only bad, pleasant or unpleasant, comfortable or uncomfortable, just or unjust. Cultivating a wide spacious perspective within the reality of uncertainty gives rise to a bigger capacity to meet our lives more gently, kindly, and clearly, with more stability and more love. Join us as we explore perspectives and practices to…
Recorded :
Drawing on Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching on the different layers of consciousness, we will explore the nature of the seeds that sleep in the depths of our mind. We can each learn to be skillful gardeners of our own and others’ minds, watering the wholesome seeds and skillfully caring for the unwholesome ones. As we…
Recorded :
These pandemic times with isolation, suffering, social and political divisiveness and an uncertain future our lives are filled with even more challenges than usual. At the same time many hearts are opening with increased compassion, connection and possibilities on the horizon. The mind can easily get contracted by the stress or grasping at hope. But…
This week’s topic is “Imagine That”. Edgar Allan Poe wondered, “Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?” According to naive realism, we do not perceive things as they are, yet think we do. The Dharma exists to wake us from delimiting dreams, so we may live lives of profound awakening.
This week’s topic is Healing Shame and Guilt. Psychologists describe shame as soul-eating emotion. Shame and guilt prevent us from developing trusting connections with others and a healthy sense of appreciation for ourselves. The Buddha taught that systems of self-reference such as shame and guilt can cause pain and stress. To find liberation is to find freedom from these deeply harmful emotions. We will look at practical ways to find such freedom in our own lives.
Recorded :
We are deeply conditioned to look for love outside ourselves. In that desperate search, we not only experience the frustration and the futility of grasping, but we lose sight of who we authentically are. Join us as we engage in practices that not only remind us of our true nature, but guide us to a…
This week’s topic is “Rediscovering Simplicity: Renunciation and the Art of Letting Go”. Renunciation is one of the ten paramis or ‘spiritual perfections’ considered most conducive to happiness and wellbeing, and yet we tend to understand it in ways that are not helpful. How in the age of peak stuff and peak busyness can we recover the wisdom of “less is more” in a way that re-energises us, lightens our burdens and helps us rediscover creativity and flow? This week we’ll look at this question from different angles with some suggestions for taking the exploration from our morning practice into the activities of our day.
This week’s topic is Skills for Inner and Outer Transformation. Dharma practice gives us great tools for inner and interpersonal change. It’s empowering to explore how these can also be useful for social and environmental transformation. We will tour such qualities, including equanimity (upekkha), non-self (anatta), and sukha (yes, pleasure!). Together, we will draw on both traditional and more contemporary voices to show how your skills as a practitioner could be vital to the work of changing the world.