Our founding and guiding teacher Martin Aylward reflects on the importance of being nourished and uplifted by our practice. He looks at the nature of happiness and our sometimes difficult relationship with pleasure; explore opening up to joy, and point to ways in which dharma practice is fulfilling and freeing.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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Opening to the Joy of Interconnection
Recorded :
July 4, 2021 A deeply conditioned habit of the human mind is to experience ourselves as independent and distinct from others and the world that we share. At the heart of Dharma teachings is the invitation to question, inquire into and transform this conditioning of separation, opening us to the joy and possibility of mutuality and interconnectedness. During…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with James Rafael – Week of January 8, 2024
This week’s topic is “New Year Habits and Hindrances”. In this week’s sessions we’ll explore how engaging with the Buddha’s teachings on the ‘5 Hindrances’ can help establish or deepen the habit of a daily meditation practice.
If you’re new to meditation, this framework offers ways to engage with common challenges we may face; “I can’t sit still’, “My mind is just too busy”, “I’m just not sure if this is working”.
If you have a consistent, established practice, revisiting the hindrances can be a gateway to access deeper levels of concentration (samatha), and the subsequent, often profound, insight (vipassana) which follows.
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Cabbages & Condoms
Recorded :
October 24, 2021 During this session we be explore life’s basic necessities and drives, and the critical difference between ‘getting along’ and ‘getting ahead.’ Our meditation practice will be based on the Wise-Heartedness Bhavana to help us cultivate skilful response to distractions in daily life. A transcript of this session is available here.
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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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The Individual-Relational Dharma Paradox and Why it Matters to Your Life
Recorded :
February 16, 2025 Biologically, psychologically, and in common sense there is no doubt that the human experience is both intrinsically individual and intrinsically relational. Our bodies are separate. You will never directly know my inner universe. Also, our bodies evolved to relate. The brain is a relational organ. Our sense of safety and joy, suffering and inquiry, has…
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This Dharma I Have Reached
Recorded :
March 4, 2018 Without a doubt, Buddhism is recognized as one of the world’s great religions. For almost three millennia these ancient teachings have spread rapidly around the globe influencing humanity in a variety of ways. Needless to say, the historic Buddha, (Siddharta Gotama) did not teach Buddhism, he taught the Dharma as a means to overcome suffering…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Wiebke Pausch – Week of November 20, 2023
This week’s topic is “May I be kind to myself”. May I be kind to myself – coming home to kindness and giving ourselves the love and care we need and deserve. What helps us to nurture this love – especially in the most challenging moments? We will explore how we can move towards more tenderness and open heartedness for ourselves and others.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of 8 July, 2024
This week’s topic is “Love and Letting Go: Meeting Life Spaciously and Graciously”. Join us for a series of Daily Meditations where we’ll discover how to meet life with openness and grace. Together, we will explore the profound dance between love and letting go, and cultivate a spacious presence that embraces our experiences with tenderness and wisdom.
Discussion