We live in challenging times. Biologists speak of micro-systems where species sequester during times of crisis. They are called refugia. In times of uncertainty and fear, we too need refugia, places of spiritual safety where we can put down roots, grow and thrive. In this Sunday teaching, Willa invites us to explore the concept of refugia, and how it can help expand our conventional understanding of what “refuge” means in the Buddhist context. Refuge, an ancient Buddhist practice of finding sanctuary in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, is not a ritual or initiation. It involves a deep exploration of the role of safety in spiritual life. Refuge is an ongoing inquiry into what refugia looks like for each of us, into our crisis-sanctuaries and how they become a catalyst for our spiritual evolution.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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Befriending the emotions.
Recorded :
October 16, 2016 So often we struggle because we’re resisting, fixing, changing, or even “transcending” our experiences. What shifts when instead of pushing our emotions away, we invite them closer in? What changes when we learn to relate to our emotions like a welcoming friend? And, what changes when we are able to access the place in which…
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Whole body breathing to regulate your mind and body
Recorded :
April 2, 2023 In this session Vidyamala introduces key areas of body awareness where mindful breathing can help to bring about regulation and calm in the body/heart/mind. She calls these the 5 B’s of the breath: Buttocks, Belly, Back, Back of the throat and Brain. She introduces the physiology of these areas and then leads a guided meditation….
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Finding Wholeness & Healing Within Heartbreak
Recorded :
March 1, 2026 Heartbreak is inevitable, yet reconciliation isn’t always possible. Rashid’s session offers a path toward healing when face-to-face forms of reconciliation fall short or aren’t accessible. Through one of Rashid’s new practices, with guided visualization and contemplative work, participants explore how to tend internal wounds, honor grief, and reclaim wholeness—even without external resolution. Within a loving…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of June 8
We’re fortunate that Martin Aylward has generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK this week. Links mentioned during these sessions can be found at the bottom of this page. To find out more about Martin, and view his other recordings on the platform, click here. Due to temporary circumstances…
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Uncertainty, Stability & Love: Everything Comes With Everything
Recorded :
May 12, 2024 Life is never only good or only bad, pleasant or unpleasant, comfortable or uncomfortable, just or unjust. Cultivating a wide spacious perspective within the reality of uncertainty gives rise to a bigger capacity to meet our lives more gently, kindly, and clearly, with more stability and more love. Join us as we explore perspectives and practices to…
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Exploring Karma, Choice and the Mind
Recorded :
June 30, 2024 Karma is action in Buddhism, driven by intention. With practice we cultivate the ability to choose our response and our actions, internally and externally. We might think if our intentions are good our actions will follow, but our intentions are often under the influence of strong conditioning that prevents us from living our choices. But…
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How We Grow Through What We Go Through
Recorded :
January 29, 2023 How can we, and our communities, not just survive but thrive during challenging, post-traumatic times? Spirituality, positive psychology, anthropology, neuroscience, mindfulness and more have boosted human resilience in the face of adversity for generations. Through this session will explore meditation practices that can help us to transform challenges into creative opportunities for growth.
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Nothing is reliable outside liberation.
Recorded :
May 8, 2016 Practice places emphasis on seeing impermanence. Such a practice easily becomes habitual to the degree we miss the point. There is nothing reliable owing to impermanence. There is nothing we can depend upon in this world of mentality and materiality, inner and outer. If we abide deeply clear about this, the stress and fears fade…
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