Practicing mindfulness together with the four Divine Abidings (loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity), we develop our ability to bring relief to even the most challenging moments of our lives. We begin by strengthening our habit to increase our mindfulness as stress increases and then apply the Divine Abiding that is most appropriate for a particular situation. The result is a soothing balm and an increased ability to respond more wisely and effectively on any level from the personal to the global.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
-
The practice of pleasure and delight (or the spiritual art of having fun).
Recorded :
April 22, 2018 Dharma teachings importantly emphasise suffering, compassion, renunciation, desire, non-reactivity, peacefulness. All these are potent themes, yet ones which can make our practice feel overly heavy, unnecessarily serious, maybe even uptight! Dharma practice equally points us towards a playful nature, light-heartedness and ease, delight and the capacity to really enjoy life. Especially when we can get…
-
The Delusion of Separateness
Recorded :
October 27, 2019 There seems to be a sense of disorientation, disjointedness and overall running around in circles happening in the world today. And for some reason, many of us think that we’re the only ones who are feeling it; as if it’s our own personal failing. As we move into the changing of seasons, this is the…
-
Joy is Always Available
Recorded :
July 13, 2025 On autopilot, our mind often resists opening to joy with: “But right now in my life, there is …” So we explore what stands in our way of the unexpected ordinariness of joy. We’ll discover how the awakening factor of meditative joy (piti) illuminates our capacity to open to delight and rapture, allowing our hearts…
-
The Roots of Discouragement
Recorded :
September 12, 2021 Progress in meditation may be slower than we anticipate. Discouragement develops when the comparing mind holds unrealistic expectations, demands perfection, and craves for measurable progress, predictable results, or signposts of success. This talk explores the obstacle of discouragement and its roots in conceit and the comparing mind. To prevent discouragement, we develop skillful ways to…
-
Growing the Good, Moment by Moment
Recorded :
January 11, 2026 Goodness does not appear all at once; it grows through small, intentional acts. In this Sangha Sunday, we explore how mindfulness helps us recognize and tend what is already wholesome within us, offering a preview of the practices and reflections that will be covered in the course Growing the Good. Further resources from Kaira Jewel:…
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of May 3, 2021
We’re fortunate that Martin Aylward has generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK this week. To find out more about Martin, and view his other recordings on the platform, click here.
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Miles Kessler – Week of February 19, 2024
What is your relationship to fear? When fear arises, is your tendency to collapse into it, or to resist and struggle with it? Or do you deny it? How do you know if you need to face fear with courage, or simply surrender to its inevitability? What does it mean to practice with fear? In this week of Daily Meditations, you are invited to join Miles in an exploration into the human experience of fear, and how it arises in your life, relationships, and practice. You will learn how to work with fear by cultivating courage and surrender, the core qualities of the Spiritual Warrior.
-
The ‘Self’ is Insubstantial
Recorded :
February 5, 2023 Humans live in the spell of the self, as if it had substantial existence.
Dharma offers a reflection/meditation/inquiry into this phenomenon.
One who asks ‘Who Wakes Up?’ lives in the spell.
Teaching will offer ways to a non-intellectual realisation of emptiness of self.
Be devoted to this in daily life – until obvious as seeing colour for one with sound eyesight.
To wake up from the dream of self is liberating.
Discussion