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

The Beauty of Being

With Leela Sarti recorded on May 27, 2018.

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

Leela says: “Over the years my interest in awakening has be reformulated as how to be a real human being. In this session I invite you to explore, with me, the possibility of being grounded in the natural goodness of being. We will inquire how to live a full life from the ground of presence, and being yourself in peace with others.

A human life infused with natural beauty, a fulfilling life, means to develop a taste for certain values; a taste for truth, dignity, depth and simply being. These qualities are present all the time, you don’t have to achieve them, you just need to appreciate them and orient yourself towards them so that you allow yourself the time and opportunity for them to emerge.”

The poem Leela reads out is “Having loved enough” by Mark Nepo.

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

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Ronya Banks

    Inner Peace – Even in a Chaotic World

    “Anyone can build a house of wood and bricks, but the Buddha taught that that is not our real home. Our real home is inner peace.” – Ajahn Chah How can you possibly experience inner peace at a time when human-kind and our planet appears to be tumbling deeper into “chaos”? Can inner peace even…

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of July 10, 2023

    This week’s theme is “The Compassionate Heart”. Karuna, usually translated as compassion, is our hearts’ ability to relate with care towards ourselves, others and experience in general. Living in a complex world with imperfect others and self, an attitude and practice of compassion can be an immense support. But when misunderstood, it can equally turn into pity, generate overwhelm, make us lose balance and create friction with the concept of responsibility. We will therefore dedicate this upcoming week to an indepth exploration into the concept of compassion.

    Read More

  • Leslie Booker

    Embodied Wisdom: The Self-Preservation of Activism

    Yes, the world is on fire. And, how do we respond to the rage, anger, and fear that can engulf us? How do we utilize these emotions as catalysts that can move us into action that doesn’t burn us up and destroy us? We investigate the Self-Preservation of Activism by feeling into our body wisdom…

    Read More

  • Shaila Catherine

    How Conduct Bears Fruit: Training in Not-Killing

    In this session Shaila Catherine explores the fruits of karma and the consequences of action through a detailed consideration of why and how we practice ethical precepts. The focus for this talk is the commitment to not kill.

    Read More

  • Kaira Jewel Lingo

    Reverence is the Nature of My Love

    The Diamond Sutra, possibly the oldest text on deep ecology, teaches that there are four notions that separate us from life that we must throw away: the concepts of self, lifespan, humans, and living beings. In this session we will learn practices that enable us to go beyond this limited perception of reality to touch how interconnected with all life we are.

    Read More

  • Brian Dean Williams

    The Power of Connection

    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,…

    Read More

  • 2026: Where to Now? Dharma Practice in Times of Crisis

    As we enter a year marked by global uncertainty, collective grief, and profound transition, many wonder: How do we practice now? We’ll explore how Dharma can serve as a living refuge, not as withdrawal from the world, but as a steady ground for clarity, compassion, and ethical response. And how response to suffering, our own…

    Read More