Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

The Appropriate Response

With Justine Dawson recorded on May 8, 2022.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

When a monk asked the 10th Century Zen master Yunmen, “What are the teachings of a whole lifetime?” Yunmen replied, “An appropriate response.” 
 
What is this appropriate response and how do we know we’ve got it right? Beyond linear formulas, Dharma teachings point to a natural intelligence that guides us in a spontaneous responsiveness to life. No matter our doubt or perfectionism, we can engage our practice towards its revelation.

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Ralph Steele

    Noble Right View

    In this session you will gain insight into understanding what makes the Buddhist practice unique. You’ll receive guidance in relation to knowing when you are not on the path of awakening, and gain a deeper appreciation of the skills presented by the Buddha.

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Caverly Morgan – Week of June 22

    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, June 22 Returning to “I don’t know” mind, part 1 Wednesday, June 24 Surrendering to silence Friday, June 26 Collective…

    Read More

  • Nathan Glyde

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of October 24, 2022

    This week’s topic is Subtilising Experience. The Dharma is a path to awakening. Our experience becomes more liberated as we awaken. Similarly, we can notice that our life progresses from the gross to the more subtle in awakening. A path of awakening freedom, then, is a path of subtilising: from perceptions of self and things in the world to space-time and even awareness, all phenomena transition from rigid and gross to fluid and refined, all the way to barely here at all.

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ayala Gill – Week of June 26, 2023

    This week’s topic is “Living in Sacredness”. Meditation is more than a practice of being present. The way in which we are present determines whether we reinforce habits of separation, or re-weave the fabric of sacredness. During this week we will explore the sacredness of body, breath, consciousness, emotions and beliefs. Returned to the embrace of sacredness, we plant seeds of Love in a world of separation.

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Christopher Titmuss – Week of 02 February, 2026

    This week’s theme is: Release First. If Not, Then Explore Renewal.

    Release means liberation, such as person released from prison. Confinement to problemetic history has finally come to an end. Our being knows a full engagement with life. With release, renewal comes naturally, such as entering deep sleep and waking up with renewed energy. Practice includes exploration of renewal while a transcendent view gives primary interest to release.

    Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.

    Read More

  • Antonia Sumbundu

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Antonia Sumbundu – Week of 24 February, 2025

    We are delighted to have Antonia Sumbundu leading our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these sessions support and enrich your practice.

    This week’s theme is:

    Compassion in Action, Wisdom in Practice – Living the Six Paramitas

    This week we will be exploring how the Six Paramitas offer a pathway to living with more awareness, wisdom, and compassion by nourishing the qualities of generosity, integrity, patience, diligence, collectedness, and wisdom. Each day focuses on one or two paramitas, combining instructions for our sitting practice and reflections on how to integrate these qualities into daily life.

    Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.

    Read More