We’re fortunate that Martin Aylward has generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK. Click here to find out more about Martin and to view his other contributions to Sangha Live.
This week’s topic is “Fear and Fearlessness”
A week of exploring how our mind gets gripped, and how our practice frees us.
We’ll explore causes and conditions of fear, and the ways fear can dissolve, and the radical possibility of a fearless life.
Recorded :
Practice places emphasis on seeing impermanence. Such a practice easily becomes habitual to the degree we miss the point. There is nothing reliable owing to impermanence. There is nothing we can depend upon in this world of mentality and materiality, inner and outer. If we abide deeply clear about this, the stress and fears fade…
Recorded :
The Buddha was known as The Happy One. Though Joy is one of the Seven Factors of Awakening, with so much emphasis on working with suffering, joy can sometimes seem frivolous or unspiritual. His teaching on attending to the ‘Gladness Connected with the Wholesome’ is a key aspect of Wise Effort and developing a loving heart. We will practice and explore together this foundation for awakening joy.
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 :
What if the concept of time is part of our suffering? In this talk, we’ll look at the impact of our attachment to schedules and productivity and explore the ways that Buddhist teachings challenge these conventional understandings. By investigating our relationship to time, we learn ways to practice and to cultivate liberation from suffering for…
Recorded :
Certain moments, events and experiences open our awareness beyond the everyday to a sense of something more eternally present. Meditation points our attention to just this place, which the poet TS Eliot called ‘the point of intersection of the timeless with time’. Contemplating life from such a perspective we can often find fresh resources of…
This week’s topic is “Embracing challenging emotions”. There are no negative emotions, only ones that we find challenging to embrace, like anxiety, anger, grief and fear. When we relate to them in distorted ways, their expression is indeed negative. Over this week (at a time of year where they may be particularly triggered!) we will explore how to come into a sacred relationship with each of these challenging emotions.
Recorded :
So often we struggle because we’re resisting, fixing, changing, or even “transcending” our experiences. What shifts when instead of pushing our emotions away, we invite them closer in? What changes when we learn to relate to our emotions like a welcoming friend? And, what changes when we are able to access the place in which…
This week’s topic is “A Peaceful Mind”. Thoughts are our continuous companions. While some are harmless, others have a deep impact on us: not only do they shape perceptions, but they also influence our physical and mental well-being. In our darkest hours, we might feel the pain of negative, depressing or restless thought patterns. Shaken by their invasive nature, we often wish for a rest from the never-ending chatter. We dedicate the upcoming week to an exploration into the realm of thoughts and skilful practice.