Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

Depth of Spiritual Practice – Even in a Chaotic World

With Ronya Banks recorded on November 3, 2019.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

“Practicing systematically, taking the time to go into deep practice and making it the number one priority, leads to a state where the mind is very still and malleable and can investigate.” – Nikki Mirghafori

As the human race’s daily living pace continues to speed up and an increasing sense of insecurity and doubt arise in response to the complexities of modern human life, many are turning to their spiritual lives for stability and support.

So, how can you get the most out of your spiritual practice when the world appears to be falling apart? By digging deeper into your practice. Typically, the more chaotic one’s life, the more dispersed their spiritual practices, when actually depth of practice is what is most needed during challenging times.

Join Buddhist teacher Ronya Banks as she provides us with the tips you can use to plumb the depths of your spiritual practice, especially during chaos.

Some of the things she will cover will include:

What is depth of practice?
What are examples of shallow practice?
Buddhist teachings on deep practice.
Employing “curiosity” and “not-knowing” as tools for deep practice;
Inquiries that will support greater depth and wisdom

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Chris Germer

    The Power of Self-Compassion

    Most people are more compassionate toward others than themselves when things go wrong. However, burgeoning research shows that self-compassion is good for everybody. Fortunately, it can be learned.  How can we seamlessly bring self-compassion into meditation practice and daily life?  What are two secrets about self-compassion practice that make all the difference?

    Read More

  • Nirmala Werner

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of May 27 – 31, 2024

    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.

    Read More

  • Shaila Catherine

    Faith and confidence: the first spiritual faculty.

    Faith, confidence, and trust are English translations for the Pali term saddhā. In this talk, Shaila Catherine explores the cultivation of saddhā as an aid to awakening and as the first in the list of spiritual faculties that include faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom.

    Read More

  • Cultivating self-compassion

    So many of us struggle with self-hatred and self-judgment. Self-compassion is so deeply needed in these times, and brings together mindfulness, loving kindness practices, and a recognition of our shared humanity. This session explores the cultivation of this core set of practices.

    Read More

  • Zohar Lavie

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Zohar Lavie – Week of March 14, 2022

    This week’s theme is: Gathering in the Goodness. ‘Drop by drop the pot of goodness is filled.’ -Buddha. Gathering in community we become more than the sum of our parts. We are each supported by, and supporting others — meditating alone is far less easy. Just so, in each moment of mindfulness we gather body-heart-mind from distraction into presence and open possibilities for greater and greater well-being; not just for ourselves, but for all beings.

    Read More

  • Stephen Fulder

    Equanimity: Dancing with the Unexpected

    Equanimity is a key spiritual faculty which allows us to face the known and the unknown, the ecstasies and the despairs, with steadiness and lightness. Equanimity helps us engage with life from an unlimited and interconnected perspective. The Buddhist image is of an island in the stormy seas – remembering that all islands are connected…

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ayala Gill – Week of June 26, 2023

    This week’s topic is “Living in Sacredness”. Meditation is more than a practice of being present. The way in which we are present determines whether we reinforce habits of separation, or re-weave the fabric of sacredness. During this week we will explore the sacredness of body, breath, consciousness, emotions and beliefs. Returned to the embrace of sacredness, we plant seeds of Love in a world of separation.

    Read More