We’re fortunate that Martin Aywlard and Kaira Jewel Lingo have generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK this week.
Links mentioned during these sessions can be found at the bottom of this page.
To find out more about Martin, and to view his other contributions to Sangha Live, click here.
To find out more about Kaira Jewel, and view her other recordings on the platform, click here.
Song “Breathing in breathing out“.
Lyrics and the guided meditation:
Breathing in, breathing out Breathing in, breathing out I am blooming as a flower I am fresh as the dew I am solid as a mountain I am firm as the earth I am free Breathing in, breathing out I am water reflecting What is clear, what is true And I feel there is space Deep inside of me I am free, I am free, I am free
Song “I entrust myself to the earth“.
Song “Arrived arrived“.
The words of the guided meditation:
I have arrived, I am home
In the here, in the now
I am solid, I am free
In the ultimate I dwell
This week’s topic is “Body like a temple”. We often refer to the body as if it were a functional tool. We talk about my body, as if it were supposed to be at our service. Sometimes all it takes is one breath for everything to change, and in a dazzle, we experience body as a temple, a sanctuary for life. What is a temple? It is a sacred place, a place whose spiritual reality goes beyond the physical plane. In our daily meditations this week, we will bow to the miracle of the body that we are, honoring the presence of life unfolding in all its realities.
Recorded :
The precepts are often shared on the first night of retreat to kind of go into a social contract of how we’re going to care for one another on retreat, while holding the nobility of silence. And out in the world, without the protection of silence and this commitment, we often forget how deeply we…
Recorded :
Worldwide Insight talk from Shaila Catherine: “Overcoming Obstacles”. Guided meditation, Dharma talk and Q&A.
Recorded :
How? By cultivating the 7 Factors of Awakening. These are mental qualities that give us capacity to meet suffering with wisdom.
Recorded :
Dharma practice encourages us to transform our thoughts, words and actions. The primary mechanism for how this is accomplished is vague. What often goes unnoticed is that the use of the term mind has undergone a radical psychologization from the time of the Buddha into present day. During this session we will explore the many nuances of…
Recorded :
In the story of the Buddha, he awakened in the forest, taught in the forest, died in the forest. Nature played an important role in the Buddha’s awakening. Many Buddhist practice communities have been in close connection with nature. What role might it play in our practice here in the modern world? In this session…
Recorded :
What changes as we consciously turn toward our suffering, rather than away? We are conditioned to experience ourselves as separate from life, but in that outward gaze, we often overlook an experience of belonging that is inherent. How does our habit of seeking shift when we recognize that what we long for can never actually…
Recorded :
The 5 precepts often given to lay practitioners are (with positive instructions in parenthesis): I vow not to kill (Love and support all beings)I vow not to steal (generosity)I vow not to misuse sexuality (contentment)I vow not to lie (compassionate truthfulness)I vow not to intoxicate self or other (staying mindful) We can think of precepts…