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.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of 06 October, 2025
We’re honored to have Martin Aylward offering our Daily Meditation sessions this week. We hope they are nourishing for your practice.
This week’s theme is: Embracing Complexity and Contradiction
A week of exploring and cultivating a life and practice of radical open-heartedness
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Noble Right View
Recorded :
September 22, 2019 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.
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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…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of July 19, 2021
This week’s theme is: Identifying the Many Masks of the Inner Critic
Often we think of the inner critic as the constant nagging inner discourse which dismisses our good qualities, questions our lovability, and our potential for goodness. Being a master/mistress of disguise, the inner critic takes on many forms; it wraps our decision making process in veils of doubt, pushes us into compulsive activity, traps us in paralysis, and distorts our views on others.
Luckily, the Dharma path offers us tools to meet this painful heart-mind dynamic. This week we will practice summoning qualities like wisdom, kindness, equanimity, concentration, appreciation, compassion and inquiry, in order to meet our inner critic in a skilful way.
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A Relational Dhamma
Recorded :
October 17, 2021 If humans are intrinsically relational creatures, how do we integrate this understanding with the Buddha’s teachings on suffering and its cessation? Relational suffering and craving? Dependent origination? In this session, we explore the power and necessity of a relational understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. We discuss and practice relational aspects of the path, including the…
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From Freeze to Flow: Transforming Your Fear in the Midst of Pandemic
Recorded :
March 29, 2020 Rarely has our inherent interdependence been more exposed than it is right now. As a society, we are depending on one another not only to wash our hands and keep our distance. We are depending on each other to take care of our minds and hearts, to transmit clarity and compassion rather than powerlessness and…
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Natural Wisdom
Recorded :
July 5, 2020 In the modern world, it’s easy to forget our intimate connection with all of life. But with recent global events and movements, we’ve been both confronted and inspired by the deep impact our actions have on one another. From a Buddhist perspective, being aware is our true nature. What role might the natural world play…
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We were made for these times: touching our true home in the here and now
Recorded :
June 18, 2017 In this class, we come home to ourselves to access our strength, wisdom, courage and joy, so needed for us to meet these difficult times with freedom and clarity. We explore ways to stay engaged without burning out and how we can pause regularly to make sure our action is coming from a place of…
Discussion