Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of Apr 29 – 3 May, 2024
Nirmala Werner
We’re fortunate that Nirmala Werner has generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions. To find out more about Nirmala, and to view her other contributions to Sangha Live, click here. Recordings will be posted by the end of the day of the live session.
This week’s topic is “Mindfulness of the nervous system: transforming fear, struggle and separation into love and connection“.
We humans are social animals and need each other to feel safe and secure, to grow and to nourish ourselves. How can we live with a sense of connection, loving-kindness, and inner family?
Our meditation practice allows us to take a break between stimulus and response. When we come into contact with our loved ones, we all too easily lose the inner freedom we think we have achieved and avoid our difficulties, also called spiritual bypassing.
This week we explore what supports us to react flexibly to the internal and external world, to relax and to allow closeness and real intimacy. We will look into the first foundation of mindfulness, mindfulness of the body, including harmonizing the body formations and nervous system to meet our difficulties with gentleness.
Jessica discusses the seven factors of awakening (mindfulness, tranquility/relaxation, piti/joy, concentration, investigation, viriya/courageous energy, equanimity) and how to work with them in meditation practice to balance the mind and support insight through specific meditative techniques.
During these unprecedented times, it can be challenging to find a sense of refuge amidst the storms of uncertainty swirling around us. While the timeless teachings of the Buddhist Tradition don’t offer us lasting certainty, they do offer the possibility of finding a reliable refuge in what are known as the 3 jewels: The Buddha,…
This week’s topic is “Wholehearted Presence”. Meeting experience as it unfolds with presence and interest, we uncover the wellbeing and freedom available to us on the Dharma path. Through this week’s exploration we will open to what supports a wholehearted approach to practice, and understand what is nourished and cultivated when we relate to experience in this way.
Equanimity is often misunderstood as disengagement or neutrality, yet true equanimity is a deeply alive, responsive and steady spaciousness that allows us to stay present in the midst of complexity and pain. In this session, we’ll explore the traditional Buddhist teachings on the “near” and “far” enemies of equanimity-how the near enemies of indifference and…
Martin writes: “Sangha is about community, support and love; it is one of the 3 jewels (Buddha-Dharma-Sangha) of our practice. But in the individualistic cultures and atomised structures in which many of us live, sangha too often gets inadequate attention. This is especially true in the Vipassana / Insight meditation tradition, because while silent meditation…
We’re fortunate that Jaya Rudgard has generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK. To find out more about Jaya, click here.
We’re fortunate that Martin Aylward has generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK this week. To find out more about Martin, and view his other recordings on the platform, click here.
Worldwide Insight talk from Larry Yang: “Beautiful and Beloved Communities in the Dharma: The Practice of Inclusive and Diverse Sanghas”. Guided meditation, Dharma talk and Q&A.