Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of January 11, 2021
Martin Aylward
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.
Scientists have documented some significant and measurable changes that occur as a result of meditation. But Buddhist practice is not limited to calm, pleasant, relaxing states of meditation. The liberating path includes a broad range of practices that produce a wide variety of benefits. We learn how we encounter the world of the senses; we…
This week’s theme is A Gentle and Playful Heart”. A week of morning meditations orienting to the qualities of playfulness and gentleness. When we neither meet ourselves or each other with harshness nor take ourselves too seriously, we find a genuine inner strength. Whether we feel we have lots of energy and motivation for practice, or little, exploring these qualities will refresh the heart and mind and support us in meeting the challenges of our week.
In an effort to counter tendencies towards striving and over-achieving, many Western approaches to meditation and spirituality emphasize relaxation. While relaxation and ease are essential ingredients on the meditative path, they must be integrated with whole-hearted effort. How do we find inner strength and make a clear resolve that is informed by wisdom and balanced…
This week’s topic is A Sense of Essence. In his teachings the Buddha utilised the liberating yet frequently misunderstood concept of karma. Karma refers to how an action is carried out rather than the outcome of that action. This helps shift us away from a fixed self-view, on which we frequently pass judgment, and toward a freeing examination of activities. Asking us to inquire, “What, when I do it, will lead to my long-term well-being and happiness?”
This year, humanity has witnessed the alarming acceleration of climate change… the loss of forests and rivers, animal and plant species… and the potential annihilation of our species. Alongside our profound grief for what is changing globally, however, we are also experiencing Emergence. Emergence, the organizing principle of Gaia, can help us to stay present as…
In this session we’ll explore opening to the practices of vastness of awareness. Through listening and sensing we will open up to a sense of spaciousness and explore letting go within it.
This week’s theme is: Finding Happiness and Wellbeing on the Path
The understanding of how dukkha is conditioned and constructed lies at the heart of Dharma teachings. Dukkha and wellbeing are in relationship with each other; the abandonment of the causes of dukkha leads to wellbeing. The nourishment of the causes for wellbeing decreases dukkha. During this week we will explore our capacity to uncover and develop wellbeing through our practice, in ways that enrich our lives.
The Buddha spoke of the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion. We see all three of these showing up in the realm of global events currently, and in particular, the phenomenon of ‘fake news’, intentional misinformation, and delusional thinking. How might the practice of Vipassana or ‘seeing clearly’ help us in this context? How…