We’re fortunate that Martin Aylward has generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK. To find out more about Martin, and to view his other contributions to Sangha Live, click here. Recordings will be posted by the end of the day of the live session.
The picture in this recording is lost about 10 minutes before the end, but audio is unaffected.
Om Mani Padme Om
This week’s theme is: Bringing the Practice to Life. The Buddha’s teachings emphasise the whole of our lives as a rich ground for exploration and growth. Through meditation, we cultivate skills and ways of relating that can be applied beyond formal meditation. This week we will explore bringing the practice to different areas and aspects of our lives. We will open to taste how this enlivens and rejuvenates our practice, and how it can nurture wellbeing for others and ourselves.
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.
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Embodied and Awake: Meditations for Body, Heart and Mind.
Mind, body and emotion form a constant feedback loop. As the traditional teachings on mindfulness make clear, all three equally deserve our interested, caring attention. When mindfulness is balanced in this way our whole being benefits. Our practice this week will include some gentle movements and mindful breathing practices as a prelude to each day’s meditation. These can be done seated or standing, or adapted for lying down, according to your ability and levels of energy.
Each morning this week we’ll dive into one of the images from the natural world and daily life that the Buddha used to explain his teachings. Let’s see how how these similes and metaphors from the Buddhist texts can support our understanding and enrich our practice. We may also discover how practising with them can enhance our appreciation of the world around us.
This week’s theme is: Timeless presence in the midst of daily life.
This week we will invite the possibility of being grounded in the depth of timeless presence in the midst of daily life. We will practice and inquire how to live a full and heartfelt life from silence and emptiness, and yet being yourself in peace with others, and doing what needs to be done.
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In these times of isolation and uprising, how can wise relationships be a refuge? Join us for an exploration of the Buddha’s teachings on spiritual friendship, and how they can help us embody freedom in all our relationships as we navigate the path to collective liberation.
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Spiritual practice is often a journey to discover spaciousness, openness and absorption into everything else. From form to formless. From more spaciousness in the mind to subtle and beautiful limitless states that are clearly described in the Buddhist tradition such as the four formless jhanas or realms. We will explore and practice these states and…
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Wherever we go, here is our body. Finding a sustainable shape when meditating is crucial for our practising. We can then use our bodies as ways of experiencing change and kindness. In this session, we will look at various forms of meditation (including standing and sitting) and do various techniques that can help our meditating.
This week’s theme is “The Practice of Courage in Everyday Life”
Courage is an essential quality in life and on the spiritual path and it comes in many guises. Anything that challenges our unhelpful habits requires a capacity for determination and the stretching of our comfort zones. This week’s morning meetings will reflect on some of the ways we can cultivate courage in meditation and daily life and resource ourselves to meet the challenges of living in these times.