It is an extraordinary relief to encounter the perfection of ordinary self in a world that is screaming loudly, “There is something better out there! There is something you might be missing! There are standards you need to meet! There is something more you need to prove!” As we remember our inherent goodness, we cease to have an appetite or artificial need to participate in the outer focus, the conditioning that is telling us that what we have and who we are simply ARE not enough. Embracing our essence ends the charade of the conditioned mind, and all that is left is acknowledgement of the preciousness of our unique expression of life and all forms of life. We finally relax, aware that there is nothing to do and nowhere to get to that is worth more than being who and where we already are.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of Jan 16, 2023
This week’s theme is “Change, Loss and Dying: Meeting the Common Denominator”. When we come in touch with the fragility of our existence, it is only natural that fear or sadness might well up. The constant inward and outward change contrasts with our lack of control. To experience change, loss and death, is a substantial challenge for all of us. The Buddha did not shy away from these common human denominators, but offered perspectives and practices which allow us to meet them with compassion, while enabling the heart to rest in love and peacefulness.
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Opening to the Joy of Interconnection
Recorded :
July 4, 2021 A deeply conditioned habit of the human mind is to experience ourselves as independent and distinct from others and the world that we share. At the heart of Dharma teachings is the invitation to question, inquire into and transform this conditioning of separation, opening us to the joy and possibility of mutuality and interconnectedness. During…
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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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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of January 11, 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.
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Running the Middle Way
Recorded :
July 29, 2018 What do sitting on the meditation cushion and running have in common? How might this form of movement be included in our mindfulness practice? Brian Dean Williams, both an insight meditation teacher and an avid trail runner, explored this with us at our weekly Sunday session.
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Mindfulness of feeling tone (vedana).
Recorded :
April 12, 2015 During this session Martine practices and explores mindfulness of the feeling tones, which is the second foundation of the practice of mindfulness. First, she guides a meditation on mindfulness of the feeling tones. Afterwards she tries to define feeling tones and how to be mindful of them in our daily life. The Pali term Vedana…
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Death is Before Me Today
Recorded :
November 13, 2022 During this Sunday Sangha we will explore the peace of emptiness, the malleability of time and the loving care of oneself and all life.
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Nature as Dharma, Nature as Refuge
Recorded :
March 9, 2025 In this session we will explore how the natural world is not only a place to develop resilience in stressful times but also a profound source of wisdom, joy and equanimity, which are essential qualities that can nourish us when the world around us is in upheaval. We will draw on qualities of the earth…
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