In this talk Dave discusses the process of integrating heart practices within the four foundations of mindfulness. Mindfulness practice unites the steadiness of concentration with the immediacy of moment to moment experience. As we learn to collect the body and mind, intuitive wisdom arises. This allows us to open to the truth of each moment’s experience within and around us. Metta (kind-friendliness) meditation practice calls forth the beautiful spiritual emotions within our heart: kindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity. Mindfulness of these qualities strengthens and brings them into fruition. This process guides our thoughts, attitudes and behaviors into the direction of awakening to our full potential.
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The Practice of Blamelessness
Recorded :
December 5, 2021 We are deeply conditioned to blame; it’s a survival strategy. Though it can feel necessary, maybe even fruitful to part of us, blaming arises out of suffering, and leads to more suffering. The process of blame is not required but we don’t always know how to put it down. How do we let it go?
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Luminous Darkness: A Path for Seeing Clearly from the Heart
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October 2, 2022 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…
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Nature Awareness Practice in the Anthropocene
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February 6, 2022 For many people, the natural world is a perennial place of refuge, resource and replenishment. It can be a profound support for bringing awareness into the outdoors. Yet, nature is under increasingly under siege. During this session we’ll explore how we can still take refuge in the natural world as a support for our well-being,…
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Letting go of fear; finding courage in the face of uncertainty.
Recorded :
March 5, 2017 Even though we know fear does not serve us, we often allow it to stop or limit us. We might not even be aware of the ways it drives us and makes us smaller than we are. Though we might think we can control life, there is little we can actually control. If we are…
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On Teachings and Teachers
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March 17, 2018 People often ask about the importance (or not) of working closely with a teacher. One can benefit greatly from general meditation instruction, but personalised guidance from someone who knows you and your practice well can be deeply helpful. In this session, Martin speaks about approaching teachers for guidance and about the dynamics of the teacher-student…
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What Can I Do to Help?! I’m At My Limit!
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May 15, 2022 Sometimes as much as we want to help, we feel stuck. When we see children suffering and grandmothers crying in Ukraine, our hearts break, but the enormity of suffering feels like more than we can bear. How can we meet this wall, especially when our own personal resources are low? In this talk, I’ll teach…
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Ask Me Anything: Everything You Wanted to Know about Dharma, but were too Embarrassed / Deluded / Enlightened to Ask
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November 17, 2019 In this session, Martin opened up to dharma questions from the Sangha. He invited questions that were personal or impersonal, about technical aspects of Buddhism or the wider field of Dharma practice, about anything between heaven and earth including both; about life, love and liberation; work, sex, money, power; the depths of meditation and the…
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Receptivity: Deep Listening as an Antidote to Reactivity and Violence
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October 14, 2018 In these hyped up divisive times, there is an ever-greater need for tools to de-condition ourselves from reactivity. The practice of listening – within ourselves and with others – is much more significant than we often acknowledge. The contrast of receptivity against the backdrop of a world conditioned to impose, label, judge, and solve, is…
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