The encounter with sensory experiences can lead to insight and calm, or reactivity and suffering. How do you guard your mind in the midst of a daily barrage of sensory input? How do you protect your mind so that tranquility and wisdom will be well established? The Buddha encouraged restraint of the senses, but this restraint does not require avoidance of sensory contacts or control of the external environment. In this talk, Shaila Catherine will describe how mindfulness allows us to meet the experiences of sensory contact – of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking with a mind free of reactivity. Mindfulness protects the mind so that it does not come under the sway of defilements. Mindfulness is a special quality of attention that is balanced in the moment of observing experience. Before looking, before reaching, before speaking, before any activity, we can establish the intention of mindfully meeting the experience without giving rise to anger, irritation, lust, fear, or any defilement. The practice of sensory restraint leads to a life of happiness and joy, and lays the foundation for experiences of deep concentration and awakening.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Caverly Morgan – Week of May 25
We’re very grateful to have Caverly Morgan hosting our Daily Meditation Series for North America. To find out more about Caverly, and to view her past recordings and contributions to Sangha Live, click here. Monday, May 25 Releasing conditioned processes of suffering (part 3) Wednesday, May 27 Knowing awareness, experiencing being Friday, May 29 Embracing…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of 22 June, 2026
This week’s theme is: The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Happiness in Enoughness . Stepping out of the pressure to keep up, we turn toward the simple joys of presence, gratitude, and generosity. Together we explore how contentment and letting go can open the heart to a more quiet and sustainable happiness. Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.
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The Power of Connection
Recorded :
October 10, 2021 The pandemic has highlighted now, more than ever, how interconnected we are with life on this planet, and also the importance of human connection for us as social animals. The preciousness of relationship is at the heart of Buddhist teachings. How can our meditation practice help us to remain connected and integrated with ourselves, others,…
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A Relational Dhamma
Recorded :
October 17, 2021 If humans are intrinsically relational creatures, how do we integrate this understanding with the Buddha’s teachings on suffering and its cessation? Relational suffering and craving? Dependent origination? In this session, we explore the power and necessity of a relational understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. We discuss and practice relational aspects of the path, including the…
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Working with the first stage of loving-kindness.
Recorded :
September 6, 2015 Worldwide Insight talk from Vimalasara Mason-John: “Working with the First Stage of Loving-Kindness”. Guided meditation, Dharma talk and Q&A.
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Vesak 2568: The Radical Message of Siddhattha Gotama
Recorded :
May 18, 2025 On the Theravāda holiday of Vesak, 2568 years after the Buddha’s death, we honor the ancient ascetic named Siddhattha Gotama, whose insights into the nature of suffering and freedom have inspired fierce disciplines, soaring poetry, subtle psychological and philosophical investigations, and social movements for nonviolence, and social justice. We’ll meditate, learn traditional verses celebrating the…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Sophie Boyer – Week of 18 May, 2026
This week’s theme is: The Unfolding of Presence
This week, Sophie Boyer invites us back to the heart of daily meditation: just practice. It’s a practice where no effort is needed to be present, for presence is already here. Let us simply return to it.
Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.
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What Am I Doing In Here
Recorded :
April 3, 2022 The practice of Mindfulness from breath to breath is essential. If you have knowledge of the Four Noble Truths then you have the foundation; only practice is needed to gain insight into the Dharma. As we go through our daily activities, working with the masculine and feminine elements within us, it takes the Right View…
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