Scientists have documented some significant and measurable changes that occur as a result of meditation. But Buddhist practice is not limited to calm, pleasant, relaxing states of meditation. The liberating path includes a broad range of practices that produce a wide variety of benefits. We learn how we encounter the world of the senses; we unravel distortions of perception. We weaken defilements. We learn to let go. In this talk, Shaila Catherine points to the liberating potential of the path.
With Shaila Catherine recorded on December 15, 2019.
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Discover more from the Dharma Library
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The freeing of human consciousness: from seeing the world ‘out there’, separate and alien, to directly knowing, feeling, and living the intimacy of all things
Recorded :
February 18, 2018 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…
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Flesh, blood and bones. It is here we awaken.
Recorded :
February 22, 2015 Worldwide Insight talk from Catherine McGee: “Flesh, Blood and Bones. It is Here we Awaken”. Guided meditation, Dharma talk and Q&A.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Yahel Avigur – Week of 28 July, 2025
We are delighted that Yahel Avigur is leading our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these sessions support and enrich your practice.
This week’s theme is: Equanimity: An Unshakable Heart
Equanimity is the unshakability of the heart in the face of all conditions and experiences. It embodies depth and spaciousness, fearlessness, responsiveness and natural compassion, rooted in virtue and insight. It is a natural capacity of the human heart, a home that is always there for us to return to. In this week of practice, we will nurture the conditions that allow equanimity to arise and mature. Supported by practice, community, and teachings from the Buddhist tradition, we will meditate to cultivate kindness and insight.
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Neuro-Somatic Mindfulness (NSM): An Accelerated Path for Healing & Awakening
Recorded :
February 4, 2024 Roshi Fleet Maull, PhD will offer a brief talk and guide a session of his deeply embodied, neuroscience and trauma-informed approach to classic mindfulness & awareness meditation followed by Q&A. NSM facilitates the transition from self-directed self-regulation to the body’s capacity for auto-regulation, flow, and effortless mindfulness, as well as the shift from witnessing mindfulness to nondual…
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Return to Oneness – Resting in Luminous Being
Recorded :
February 9, 2025 Who is it that suffers? And why is asking that question valuable in our spiritual practice? In this Sunday session, we’ll explore these questions, and more. Following a guided meditation and teaching from Caverly’s book, The Heart of Who We Are, there will be plenty of time for discussion. All welcome.
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Relational mindfulness: how to stay awake in our daily interactions and relationships.
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October 2, 2016 It is one thing to deepen our practice through silent sitting meditation or on retreat, but how do we bring our practice into the dynamic, messy, and beautiful field of human relationship? What if our daily interactions offer the perfect gateway for awakening? This dharma talk is about letting go of the needless efforting of…
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When did you stop breathing?
Recorded :
June 4, 2017 We could say that the Buddha was teaching us to breath again. It’s said that the prince Siddhartha was sitting under a Bodhi tree, practicing the anapanasati (the mindfulness of breathing) when he gained enlightenment and became awake, a Buddha. He was aware of the whole experience of breathing. Through breathing he trained the mind…
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Self and Not-Self: Who (What) are You?
Recorded :
October 25, 2020 This talk explores classic Buddhist teachings about anatta: self and not-self as well highlighting how other traditions and modalities recognized self and what it means to be free from self. We investigate self and not-self through spiritual, poetic cultural and personal perspectives.