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

Leaning Into Collapse

With Martin Aylward recorded on September 5, 2021.

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

The fires and floods of this summer, and the ongoing pandemic and its complexities, can weigh heavy on the heart, along with the shocking but unsurprising new IPCC report confirming the ‘inevitable and irreversible’ worsening effects of the climate disruption, ecological collapse and existential emergency we are already living through.

This class, led by Sangha live founding and guiding teacher Martin Aylward, is a reflection on collapse, and how to respond wisely. We make room for the grief, fear and anger that easily arise, as well as looking beyond them to wise action: How to stand steady in unstable times? How to love in the midst of death? How can dharma practice support us to live fully, love freely, and collapse fearlessly amidst the tumult of our world.

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

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Deborah Eden Tull - Senior Dharma Teacher

    Luminous Darkness: A Path for Seeing Clearly from the Heart

    One of the gifts of global uncertainty is that it requires us to recognize and release unconscious biases that have been passed down for generations. These include the perception that splits into opposites and values light over dark, speed over slowing down, productivity over attunement, and conclusion over not knowing. Awakening requires that we soften…

    Read More

  • Scott Tusa

    Living From a Sense of Call and Response

    Deep listening goes beyond merely using our ears; it encompasses engaging our eyes, hearts, and bodies as well. As practitioners of meditation, we can also learn to listen with mindful awareness. In this session, we will explore how call and response, a musical concept, also applies to meditation and our daily interactions. Join us, and…

    Read More

  • Nirmala Werner

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of May 22 – 27, 2023

    This week’s topic is “The Steam of a Cup of Tea: Teachings on Generosity, Gratitude and Renunciation”. Can we achieve happiness and wealth by giving? Can we experience abundance through simplicity? In this exploration, we’ll examine how such concepts are possible in today’s world by delving into certain aspects of the 10 Perfections (Paramis), all while embracing our perfectly imperfect nature.

    Read More

  • Lisa Ernst

    How to Recharge Your Practice with a Tried and True Inquiry

    Even if you’ve been meditating for years, you probably encounter old patterns that seem impervious to your mindful awareness. Maybe at times these patterns are dormant, but during challenging moments they reappear and perhaps feel intractable. In this session we’ll explore inquiry practices that can help interrupt and disentangle the mind from its habitual “stuck”…

    Read More

  • Wiebke Pausch

    Fierce & Tender: The Dance of Self-Compassion

    True Self-Compassion is more than just gentle comfort; it is a dynamic balance of nurturing care and protective, motivating strength. While the tender side soothes our pain, the fierce dimension provides the courage to stand up for our needs and take…

    Read More

  • photo of Martin Aylward smiling

    Dharma, Sex, Intimacy and Covid

    We are more physically isolated during these days of Covid. Less physical contact, less access even to each others smiles beneath the masks we wear to care for each others’ health. Contact and intimacy are deeply important to humans, and in this session Sangha Live founding and guiding teacher Martin Aylward explores different forms of…

    Read More

  • The Nonduality of Good and Evil? Buddhist Reflections on War

    Ukraine…Gaza…Iran… Can Buddhist teachings help us understand and respond to these modern conflicts? Quotation: If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil…

    Read More

  • Dave Smith

    Understanding and developing Citta (heart-mind)

    All schools of Buddhism acknowledge that the development of Citta is an essential aspect of the awakening process. Within classical Mindfulness teachings, it encompasses the entirely of the third foundation of practice. At its core, it encourages us to recognize the presence and absence of greed, hatred and delusion. In its fruition it points to…

    Read More