Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

How Does Meditation Support the Path of Awakening?

With Shaila Catherine recorded on December 15, 2019.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

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.

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Kittisaro

    The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings

    On a Full Moon in the early years after the Buddha’s awakening, 1250 enlightened disciples spontaneously gathered to be in the presence of the Blessed One. His succinct teachings on that occasion, known as the Ovada Patimokkha, distill the essence of the Path leading to Nibbana.

    Read More

  • The Noble Search: In the Footsteps of the Buddha

    The pursuit of freedom and happiness in the Buddha’s journey holds significant relevance to our own lives, particularly during challenging times. Embracing uncertainty, stepping out of our comfort zones, maintaining integrity, and risking it all for the love of the Dharma are just a few aspects of his path. What if we were to perceive…

    Read More

  • Moving Beyond the Myth of Loneliness

    What changes as we consciously turn toward our suffering, rather than away? We are conditioned to experience ourselves as separate from life, but in that outward gaze, we often overlook an experience of belonging that is inherent. How does our habit of seeking shift when we recognize that what we long for can never actually…

    Read More

  • Vimalasara Mason-John

    Breath as Medicine

    Join us for our first Sunday Sangha session of the year on January 5th with Vimalasara Mason-John, inviting us to breathe into the new year with equanimity. It was through the potency of the breath that Prince Siddhartha became awake. It’s said that at the time of enlightenment, the Buddha was practicing anapanasati, the mindfulness…

    Read More

  • I Call on My Inherent Wellbeing

    In the territory of inherent health we are all equal. To really know this with the heartmind impacts our practice at all levels. One of the more important shifts in our practice is recognising the depth and sacredness of our shared humanity, goodness and nobility. 

    Read More

  • Chris Germer

    The Power of Self-Compassion

    Most people are more compassionate toward others than themselves when things go wrong. However, burgeoning research shows that self-compassion is good for everybody. Fortunately, it can be learned.  How can we seamlessly bring self-compassion into meditation practice and daily life?  What are two secrets about self-compassion practice that make all the difference?

    Read More

  • Nathan Glyde

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of 02 March, 2026

    This week’s theme is: Release The Pressure

    We often feel pressured to become better-pushed to chase the impossible or to be someone always just out of reach. This same strain can seep into our practice. Yet the Middle Way invites us to soften that drive, releasing unnecessary pressure here and now, and uncovering the steadfast flexibility of wise compassion.

    Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.

    Read More