Eros is life force, the energy that animates our being. Eros fills our spiritual life with vitality, our minds with creativity, our ideas with embodiment and our relating with rich intimacy. To live full lives we need access to eros; without it we become dry, rigid, flacid and withholding. Yet what place does it have in dharma practice? Traditional teachings caution us when it comes to desire, and the erotic is rarely mentioned in a positive light. This Sunday we’ll explore how to engage eros and desire in a deepening practice of insight and understanding, one that is rooted in the body and in service to life.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Jaya Rudgard – Week of Jan 31, 2022
Embodied and Awake: Meditations for Body, Heart and Mind.
Mind, body and emotion form a constant feedback loop. As the traditional teachings on mindfulness make clear, all three equally deserve our interested, caring attention. When mindfulness is balanced in this way our whole being benefits. Our practice this week will include some gentle movements and mindful breathing practices as a prelude to each day’s meditation. These can be done seated or standing, or adapted for lying down, according to your ability and levels of energy.
Each morning this week we’ll dive into one of the images from the natural world and daily life that the Buddha used to explain his teachings. Let’s see how how these similes and metaphors from the Buddhist texts can support our understanding and enrich our practice. We may also discover how practising with them can enhance our appreciation of the world around us.
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Using the five aggregates as a strategy.
Recorded :
April 9, 2017 The aggregates are a reference to our sense of self. Working with form, feeling, perception, identification, and consciousness as we go through our daily lives will support equanimity. Most importantly, it will help us work with emotions with greater efficiency.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of April 4, 2022
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?”
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The role of the intoxicants (asavas) in driving suffering and allowing release.
Recorded :
November 1, 2015 Worldwide Insight talk from Greg Kramer: “The Role of the Intoxicants (Asavas) in Driving Suffering and Allowing Release”. Guided meditation, Dharma talk and Q&A.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Jaya Rudgard – Week of February 8, 2021
This week’s topic is “Living Slowly”.
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The Fruits of the Spiritual Life
Recorded :
April 17, 2022 2 Kings. Palace Intrigue. A Murder. 500 Elephants. A nighttime visit to see the Buddha. And that’s just the backstory to one of the Buddha’s deepest teachings: his curriculum for spiritual advancement. Join us as we explore the lessons from the 2nd of the Long Discourses and gain a deeper understanding of how morality, concentration,…
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Staying In, Going Inwards: Inner Resources for Indoor Life
Recorded :
April 5, 2020 Martin, the founding and guiding teacher of Sangha Live, leads our regular Sunday session, looking at skilful ways to meet this time of confinement and ‘forced retreat’. He offers various reflections on caring for ourselves and others, and makes plenty of time to share and explore together as a Sangha, as we lean into this…
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Embodied Wisdom: The Self-Preservation of Activism
Recorded :
July 8, 2017 Yes, the world is on fire. And, how do we respond to the rage, anger, and fear that can engulf us? How do we utilize these emotions as catalysts that can move us into action that doesn’t burn us up and destroy us? We investigate the Self-Preservation of Activism by feeling into our body wisdom…
