Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of March 23
Martin Aylward
We’re fortunate that Martin Aywlard 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.
In this talk and guided meditation, we turn toward the reality of impermanence with mindfulness and compassion. The Buddhist “Nine Contemplations of Death” invite us to meet our fear and denial with gentleness and honesty, remembering what truly matters. Rather than morbid, this reflection is a doorway into freedom—supporting us to live with integrity, presence,…
In this session, Martin opened up to dharma questions from the Sangha. He invited questions that were personal or impersonal, about technical aspects of Buddhism or the wider field of Dharma practice, about anything between heaven and earth including both; about life, love and liberation; work, sex, money, power; the depths of meditation and the…
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.
This week’s theme is “Preparing the Heart and Mind”. In Buddhist practice we often hear we should let go. And often enough we would really like to let go of those thoughts, impulses, moods and contractions which keep us agitated and in unease. But letting go is rarely something we decide to do; and neither is holding on. In the upcoming week we will explore why the heart-mind holds on to something and how we can prepare, nourish and soothe it, so that letting go becomes a natural process, not a willful command.
The Shurangama Sutra, which points out the foundations of Zen practice, discusses the essential nature of mind as the “primal essence of consciousness that brings forth all conditions.” Implied is the heart-mind (citta) both profoundly intimate with all things while at the same time free and independent of all things. How is it to live…
As we enter a year marked by global uncertainty, collective grief, and profound transition, many wonder: How do we practice now? We’ll explore how Dharma can serve as a living refuge, not as withdrawal from the world, but as a steady ground for clarity, compassion, and ethical response. And how response to suffering, our own…
Gregory writes: “Obviously our Dhamma practices infuse our lives (if not, something is amiss). We don’t usually talk about how this flows the other direction: the qualities we develop in our personal and professional lives strongly impact our Buddhist path. That’s what I’ll be speaking about, drawing examples from my own life in music, inventing,…
For many of us these are times of deep questioning: How do we respond to the challenges we are facing in our societies and our planet? What can we do? How to engage in ways that are skilful and non-harming and also honour our inner sense of integrity, urgency and care? Zohar offerssome reflections and…