2 Kings. Palace Intrigue. A Murder. 500 Elephants. A nighttime visit to see the Buddha. And that’s just the backstory to one of the Buddha’s deepest teachings: his curriculum for spiritual advancement. Join us as we explore the lessons from the 2nd of the Long Discourses and gain a deeper understanding of how morality, concentration, and wisdom come together to provide a path towards the end of dukkha.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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Dharma Practice as Play, or, There is no Path until you Walk It!
Recorded :
September 13, 2020 In our troubled world dharma practitioners sometimes become earnest. But beings learn and develop through play, and to play we have to be fluid in mind, heart and body. Play fertilizes the human spirit and makes us feel a sense of belonging. Welcome to a session exploring dharma practice as original play and creativity.
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The Art of Savoring
Recorded :
November 23, 2025 In the practice of meditation, we are often focused on the task of getting to the cushion and paying attention, but how much of this task are we actually enjoying? To really enjoy ourselves in meditation, we need a practice that goes beyond attention and mindfulness alone. We need to find joy in the micro…
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The Supramundane Nature of Emptiness
Recorded :
September 15, 2024 Emptiness can be a loaded word for lay practitioners. It can bring up a sense of isolation and annihilation. The dharma of emptiness, however, is a fundamental part of practice. Even in the most mundane tasks of our ordinary lives, we can access emptiness and feel the freedom that comes with it. It’s not about…
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The full range of the heart.
Recorded :
December 18, 2016 We call this ‘the season of goodwill’. A reminder to care for one another, and to wish each other well. This year, we find ourselves in more need of understanding and expressing our common humanness than ever. We use this week’s session to honour the human heart; to reflect together on both how we respond…
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Cabbages & Condoms
Recorded :
October 24, 2021 During this session we be explore life’s basic necessities and drives, and the critical difference between ‘getting along’ and ‘getting ahead.’ Our meditation practice will be based on the Wise-Heartedness Bhavana to help us cultivate skilful response to distractions in daily life. A transcript of this session is available here.
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Emptiness: Surmounting the Limitations of the Intellect
Recorded :
February 11, 2024 The Suttas, Sutras and Shastras tell us that we can dislodge and extinguish what the deluded mind has created. There is a common thread through them all… we should realize the emptiness of all conditioned phenomenon. Let’s step into this discussion together to look deeper into the mind that realizes emptiness as the gateway to…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of 16 – 20 October, 2023
Daily meditations with Martin Aylward.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of March 8, 2021
This week’s topic is The Freedom of an Unassuming Mind.
The Buddha used the image of a tangled and knotted thread to represent the complex roots of human suffering and distress. It takes sensitivity, persistence, and care to disentangle the tangle of ‘dukkha’. A tricky part of this is that our assumptions about the world radically shape the way the world appears, while remaining quite hidden to us. Fortunately, wisdom teachings and practices bring assumptions into view and support the untying of these unseen knots, opening us into a wide and free existence.
