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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Sustaining Ourselves with Joy
Recorded :
May 16, 2021 The Buddha taught about many forms of joy as both the path of practice and its fruit. In this session, we’ll explore the practice and discipline of cultivating and savoring joy in our life and our practice. Joy is an important balancing factor as we honestly face the suffering of the world and commit to…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Miles Kessler – Week of 21 July, 2025
We’re grateful to have Miles Kessler guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these sessions support and enrich your practice. This week’s theme is: Dharma Practice in a Polarized World: Moving from Dissonance to Resonance and Coherence. In this week of Daily Meditations, you are invited to join Miles in an exploration into how our inner conflicts mirror our relational conflicts, and how our relational conflicts mirror the conflicts we see in the world. You will learn how your practice evolving on the cushion is the same process for healing conflicts in the world.
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Why we practice: reclaiming authority, ending dissatisfaction, and engaging wholeheartedly
Recorded :
February 25, 2018 So many people are asking the potent question, How can I make an impact in a time of such adversity? How can I contribute to positive change in our world? How can I stay rooted in presence and well-being during such tumultuous times? Presence itself is enough. Just to have a practice and affirm the…
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Faith and confidence: the first spiritual faculty.
Recorded :
September 4, 2016 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.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Zohar Lavie – Week of May 1, 2023
This week’s topic is “A Path of Wisdom and Compassion”. Practicing Insight Meditation supports an understanding of how wellbeing is nourished, and how ill-being is conditioned. Attending to our own heart and mind with compassion and wisdom opens possibilities of freedom. Over this week of practice, we’ll develop wisdom and compassion, exploring creative responses to habits that appear to obscure these beautiful qualities.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of 08 September, 2025
We’re delighted to have Nathan Glyde leading our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these sessions support and deepen your practice.
This week’s theme is: Radiant Non-Reactivity
Disentangling from the web of stress and distress is like meeting life with an open palm. This liberation shines with unequalled radiance and unfolds into the profound peace that our hearts and the world deeply long for.
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Surrendering to awareness.
Recorded :
April 10, 2016 Often in spiritual practice there is the encouragement to observe. From that place of observation we attempt to “be with” what arises. When does that intention get colonized by the ego? Who is it that is “being with”? What is it that is “being with”? What shifts in our practice when we surrender what is…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of 13 October, 2025
We’re delighted to have Ulla Koenig guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these gatherings enrich your practice.
This week’s theme is: Metta in Action
To be met with metta is to be received with basic respect and a sense of intrinsic worth-simply because we exist. It’s not something we earn or measure; it’s a fundamental recognition of our being. This week, we explore how to extend such warmth toward ourselves. And we’ll look at how metta supports accountability, nurtures integrity, and helps us respond to criticism with clarity and compassion-opening the door to deeper self-understanding and genuine growth.
Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.