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

Insight and practices for difficult times

With James Baraz recorded on February 4, 2018.

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

We are in a race between fear and consciousness. Never before have forces of greed hatred and ignorance enjoyed such a platform of populist divisiveness that instills fear and separation throughout society, endangering our very civilization. And never before has there been as much caring and worldwide commitment to making this a better world.

In these times we’re called upon to bring as much consciousness, love and skillful action as we can into the world. How can we use our practice to stay sane, positive and motivated while keeping our hearts open? How can we use Buddhist practices to not only help us through these challenging times but to give us the energy and aliveness that can help awaken all the goodness inside and in those around us?

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

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together

    As spiritual practitioners faced with the enormity of our world’s problems, we are often left wondering how our individual practice might make a tangible difference in our world. In this gathering, we will explore how contemplative technologies designed for realization of personal freedom can – and must – be applied collectively, delving into a deeper…

    Read More

  • Justine Dawson

    Comfortable with Discomfort: How to be a Bodhisattva

    Our current situation is giving us great practice with discomfort. whether we’re experiencing small inconveniences or significant disruption. Dharma teaches us that this very discomfort is a gateway to realization. Once our efforts to soothe or transcend run dry, we gain the opportunity to develop insight, freedom, and true bodhisattva compassion. Compassion that is at…

    Read More

  • Miles Kessler

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Miles Kessler – Week of 28 October, 2024

    We’re grateful to have Miles Kessler leading our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May they support and enrich your practice.

    This week’s theme is: Practicing Insight In Daily Life

    The practice of mindfulness meditation automatically triggers off a series of developmental insights that gradually develop over time. But how do these “insights” appear in your daily life? In this week of daily meditation practice, Miles Kessler will lead you through an exploration of how the path of insight meditation unfolds on the cushion, but also in your daily life. Join Miles in this week of daily meditations and integrating the “Practicing Insight In Daily Life”.

    Read More

  • Lama Rod Owens

    Love’s in Need of Love: The Practice of Love as Social Resistance

    The great Black American singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder once sang, “Love’s in need of love today.” His words couldn’t be more true as we face a global community struggling with war, poverty, illness, climate instability, and the rise of political authorities and governments who do not seem to be grounded in compassion or kindness….

    Read More

  • How Family and Work Shape Our Character and so Influence Our Path

    Gregory writes: “Obviously our Dhamma practices infuse our lives (if not, something is amiss). We don’t usually talk about how this flows the other direction: the qualities we develop in our personal and professional lives strongly impact our Buddhist path. That’s what I’ll be speaking about, drawing examples from my own life in music, inventing,…

    Read More

  • Nirmala Werner

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of 22 September, 2025

    We’re grateful to have Nirmala Werner guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May they support and deepen your practice.

    This week’s theme is: The Still Heart: Cultivating Equanimity in an Unsteady World

    In a world marked by constant change, uncertainty, and emotional intensity, equanimity can seem like a distant ideal-or even a form of indifference. But in the Buddhist tradition, equanimity (upekkhā) is not cold or passive. It is the spacious, steady heart that knows how to stay open, grounded, and present with whatever life brings.

    In this week we will explore equanimity as a deep source of inner freedom-neither detached nor reactive, but wise, loving, and awake.

    Through daily reflection and embodied practice, we will ask:

    What is true equanimity, and what is it not?

    How can we meet change without losing our ground?

    How do we love and let go-at the same time?

    And how can we live with a still heart in a restless world?

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

    Read More