Mindfulness practice has burst out of its Buddhist origins and is hugely impacting the culture at large, particularly in the fields of education, healthcare and business. Some delight in the liberating possibilities of this, and some are concerned about what they see as the ‘dumbing down’ of the practice, or the exclusion of important areas like ethics and going against the stream of greed, hatred and delusion.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Zohar Lavie – Week of May 2, 2022
This week’s theme is: Opportunities for Deepening Compassion and Wisdom. Dharma teachings and practices invite us to use our difficulties and problems to awaken our hearts. Rather than seeing the unwanted aspects of life as obstacles, we can relate to them as the raw material necessary for awakening genuine wisdom and compassion.
The cultivation of wisdom and compassion for ourselves leads naturally to compassion for others. True compassion does not come from wanting to help out those less fortunate than ourselves but from realizing our kinship with all beings. -
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of April 17 – 21, 2023
Daily meditations with Martin Aylward.
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What Exists Beyond Our Boundaries?
Recorded :
February 20, 2022 Spiritual practice is often a journey to discover spaciousness, openness and absorption into everything else. From form to formless. From more spaciousness in the mind to subtle and beautiful limitless states that are clearly described in the Buddhist tradition such as the four formless jhanas or realms. We will explore and practice these states and…
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Soften the hard places: opening our hearts to those we find difficult
Recorded :
May 5, 2019 The teacher Neem Karoli Baba said, “Don’t throw anyone out of your heart.” What about people who have hurt us, or are currently hurting us or others? In this session we explore together practices that help us to transform our resentment, fear and anger toward these difficult people, and learn to open our hearts to…
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Simplicity: The Heart of the Dharma
Recorded :
July 21, 2024 Simplicity underlies Dharma practice. It’s common that when people begin to meditate, even if they have a full life with a job and family, they begin to realize that simplicity is a deep value. Pursuing conventional goals feels less meaningful or satisfying than finding ease and straightforwardness in our approach to life. Simplicity cuts across…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of June 17, 2024
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.
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Light on the path: pleasure, joy, fulfilment and free-ness.
Recorded :
September 24, 2017 Our founding and guiding teacher Martin Aylward reflects on the importance of being nourished and uplifted by our practice. He looks at the nature of happiness and our sometimes difficult relationship with pleasure; explore opening up to joy, and point to ways in which dharma practice is fulfilling and freeing.
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Meditation and Attachment Theory
Recorded :
April 14, 2024 We will discuss Attachment Theory in the context of Buddhist Theravada Practice, exploring the traditional Buddhist path to liberation using descriptions of Attachment conditioning as a way to understand obstacles to practice. We will learn skillful ways of assembling an inner circle of close people to support your path to enlightenment.
Discussion