Spiritual bypassing is a superficial way of glossing over problems in a way that might make us feel better in the short term, but ultimately solves nothing and just leaves the problem to linger on. This session is an opportunity to begin to understand the concept of Spiritual Bypass (as coined by John Welwood in his book “Toward a Psychology of Awakening”) and how to practice with it.
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Compassion is a Political Act
Recorded :
September 20, 2020 This session is invitation for white practitioners and others to join Vimalasara in a discussion on the theme of liberation, the central tenet of Buddhist teachings. No one is liberated until we are all liberated. What if we made explicit that Black Lives Matter was part of the Bodhisattva vow? How would that impact our…
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Feeling the blessings of your life.
Recorded :
July 26, 2015 We are easily and often exposed to the greed, hatred and delusion that easily directs our own minds, and seems to be running the world. Yet whatever our personal circumstances, there is much we can appreciate and be grateful for. In this session, Martin explores the quality of appreciation – mudita – as a way…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Zohar Lavie – Week of July 5, 2021
This week’s theme is: The Power of Compassion.
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. – Dalai Lama
During this week we will explore how compassion informs and supports meditation practice and the deepening of understanding and wisdom. We will practice and inquire into different aspects of this powerful attitude and intention and taste for ourselves the impact it has on ourselves and the world.
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Love for the world
Recorded :
December 17, 2017 In our last class of 2017, our guiding teacher Martin offers reflections on life, love and liberation, looking particularly at some of the challenging events and elements of worldly life, and pointing towards a skilful, loving and courageous engagement with the world and everyone in it.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of 16 June, 2025
We’re grateful to have Nathan Glyde leading our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May they support and enrich your practice.
This week’s theme is: Stillness Dancing
Meditation cultivates vibrant tranquillity, not frozen silence. Like a stirred pond settling into clarity, we release agitation. Like an owl gliding soundlessly at dusk, we quiet ourselves – not to mute, but to listen deeply. In flowing stillness, we find wisdom and care, opening to a practice that is wholesome and inclusive.
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The Practice of Blamelessness
Recorded :
December 5, 2021 We are deeply conditioned to blame; it’s a survival strategy. Though it can feel necessary, maybe even fruitful to part of us, blaming arises out of suffering, and leads to more suffering. The process of blame is not required but we don’t always know how to put it down. How do we let it go?
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The Jewel of Sangha: We all need Community, Support and Love
Recorded :
September 15, 2019 Martin writes: “Sangha is about community, support and love; it is one of the 3 jewels (Buddha-Dharma-Sangha) of our practice. But in the individualistic cultures and atomised structures in which many of us live, sangha too often gets inadequate attention. This is especially true in the Vipassana / Insight meditation tradition, because while silent meditation…
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Post-election trauma: embracing fear, extending love.
Recorded :
November 27, 2016 It has been a distressing and disorienting time for many of us, and to different degrees. Following recent political events in the US and Western Europe our practice is being challenged in new ways. Spurred by a Trump victory, violent attacks on individuals in marginalized groups are on the rise. The three poisons of Greed,…
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