The communicative loop of listening and speaking forms a powerful karmic workshop. Language taps into our karmic archive, sankhara. It reaches other people and, if they are listening, there is mind-to-mind contact. Relational contact is intrinsically powerful because humans are intrinsically relational: when we engage together, our mutual responsiveness amplifies our efforts. Speaking and listening together empowers us to do good works, or drives us towards anger and fear. Sila. It empowers our development of mindfulness and calm concentration, or it is a channel for distraction. Samadhi. It carries wisdom and deep inquiry or driveling trivia. Panna. All of these are enfolded in meditation in which the doorway to speech is opened.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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Angulimala: an ethical transformation
Recorded :
December 10, 2017 Shaila tells the life story of Angulimala and his transformation from notorious robber and murderer to a peaceful, compassionate, truthful, and awakened monk. It is an inspiring example of the power of restraint, and the potential for redemption. Habits and dispositions do not need to control our lives. We can stop unwholesome, unhealthy, and harmful…
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Right view – a path to liberation.
Recorded :
November 6, 2016 The practice and realizaton of Right View is the first of the eightfold path. Holding to views and opinions is a sure way to suffering, says the Buddha. But can we live with no views at all? To realize Right View we have to look deeply into life, in order to free ourselves from wrong…
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The Paradox of Being: Alive & Aware
Recorded :
February 17, 2019 “The World is its Own Magic” – Suzuki Roshi As we practice and our understanding deepens, we’re often surprised by paradox. We begin to discover what the Laṅkāvatāra Sutra pointed to: Things are not what they seem… Nor are they otherwise. We intuitively know that there is more to life/reality then the usual, the familiar…
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Running the Middle Way
Recorded :
July 29, 2018 What do sitting on the meditation cushion and running have in common? How might this form of movement be included in our mindfulness practice? Brian Dean Williams, both an insight meditation teacher and an avid trail runner, explored this with us at our weekly Sunday session.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of Nov 21 – 25, 2022
Daily meditations with Martin Aylward.
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What does Liberation Mean?
Recorded :
June 22, 2025 Buddha-Dharma teachings offer unparalleled insight into Truth, both ultimate and relative. Yet many practitioners fall into the belief that regular meditation alone will lead to breakthrough experiences and liberation-reinforced by the image of Buddha sitting under the Bodhi Tree.True liberation requires more than mindfulness practice. It transforms our entire conditioning: our ethics, how we view…
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The Four Sights
Recorded :
December 21, 2025 What truly inspires us to change our lives? Are aging, sickness, and death enough to make us turn things around? Today, we’ll explore the inspiration that drove the Prince on his journey, and ask whether it holds the same power for us. (Please note that unfortunately the guided meditation and start of the dharma talk…
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Transformation Lives in the Butterfly Garden
Recorded :
March 5, 2023 We are living in a time of change that is evolutionary in its mystery, scope and depth. Emerging values of wellness of the self, Earth and society call us beyond the trance of colonial imprints, into the profound dimensions of embodied and expanded consciousness. It may be that the transformation that this time demands from us could only be met now.
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