The Shurangama Sutra, which points out the foundations of Zen practice, discusses the essential nature of mind as the “primal essence of consciousness that brings forth all conditions.” Implied is the heart-mind (citta) both profoundly intimate with all things while at the same time free and independent of all things. How is it to live this paradox as we move within an unbearable evolutionary crisis polarized between human driven destruction and human inspired renewal?
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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The Out Breath: Unlocking Concentration
Recorded :
June 16, 2024 Shodo Harada Roshi is known as a “teacher of teachers”, with masters from various lineages coming to sit with him in Japan. If you went to Harada’s monastery, the main meditation technique you’d learn involves slowing the out breath to last one minute. This drastically slows down your physiology, which in turn settles the mind.
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You are Not Alone: Healing the Myth of Separation
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March 17, 2019 The dharma invites us to face ourselves fully. But through fear, we sometimes distract ourselves, over-fill ourselves, and hold onto external attachments, in order to avoid.…what? The illusion that we are separate and isolated manifests in ways conscious and unconscious, but over time practice reveals to us that it is simply the ego that fears…
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Responding to a World in Crisis with a Strong Heart
Recorded :
March 24, 2024 How do we keep the heart open and strong amidst so much pain and suffering in our world? What does our contemplative practice have to offer in times of upheaval and change? Join author and Dharma teacher Oren Jay Sofer for this session focused on building inner resources to heal our hearts and respond effectively…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of Feb 21, 2022
This week’s topic is: Deeply Rooted, Fully Alive. This week we will explore the profound, yet accessible teachings of equipoise and equanimity. One of the best images for this sensitive balancing relationship with all things is a deeply rooted and flexible tree in a windy storm. The tree, equipoised, does not resist the wind, bending and yielding to its force. Yet, well nourished from the root, it returns to noble uprightness as soon as the pressure passes.
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Mindfulness Approaches to Working with Anxiety
Recorded :
September 16, 2018 Who is not anxious these days? Whether faced with the daily stresses of finances, jobs, responsibilities, parenting, family, or the ongoing anxiety of political events and ecological crisis, most of us are anxious. In the US, anxiety rates have risen to 18% of the population, and 25% in Europe for those struggling with depression and…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of 29 June, 2026
This week’s theme is: Rejoicing in Integrity: Ethics Beyond Guilt and Shame . In this session we explore how an ethical life can be guided by hiri and ottappa – healthy self-respect and respect for others – rather than by guilt or shame. We will also touch into uplifting emotions such as gratitude, admiration and inner integrity as sources of a joyful, sustainable ethical compass. Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Wiebke Pausch – Week of October 31, 2022
This week’s topic is “Awaken Self-Compassion”. For many of us it is easier to be friendly and compassionate with others than with ourselves. Old conditioning, limiting beliefs of not being worthy of love and are confining our hearts. Compassion is an essential part of our true nature. We all know how to be gentle and compassionate with ourselves – this is how we survived situations of suffering and loss in our lives. This week we will be exploring how to awaken Self-Compassion, allowing our hearts to soften and open with care. With a tender heart we begin naturally to respond to the world around us with clarity and compassion.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of May 9, 2022
This week’s topic is Disentangle the Net of Needs. We all have needs. Existential needs, needs for safety, connection, spirituality and much more. Our attitude towards needs, what strategies we choose to meet them and what boundaries we set in place determines to a large extent our happiness and peace of mind. In this week we want to explore skilful ways to handle our needs, feelings and boundaries. We will draw from Buddhist teachings, mindful practices and elements of non-violent communication to support us in our daily lives.
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