Most of us know the Buddha as a revered spiritual sage. Less is known about the person, Siddhartha Gautama, who was also a social revolutionary. In this talk, we will explore how Gautama upended the caste system in India and examine his problematic relationship to women. We’ll see how understanding the Buddha as a human being can help us illuminate and transform ourselves and current systems of racism, misogyny and oppression.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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Soften the hard places: opening our hearts to those we find difficult
Recorded :
May 5, 2019 The teacher Neem Karoli Baba said, “Don’t throw anyone out of your heart.” What about people who have hurt us, or are currently hurting us or others? In this session we explore together practices that help us to transform our resentment, fear and anger toward these difficult people, and learn to open our hearts to…
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Settling Into Your Body In Meditation – December 2023
Recorded :
December 17, 2023 Finding a comfortable body posture when meditating is a crucial element in our practice. We can use our bodies as a way of experiencing change and impermanence. Each time is different. In this session we will be looking at ways to make our bodies comfortable for meditation – both standing (if appropriate for your body)…
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Trust and confidence: one of the five great spiritual powers
Recorded :
June 11, 2017 Trust is like pouring oil on troubled waters; it smooths the way. We don’t need to take so much trouble to build our walls. We can let go and let life sweep through us. It is one of the five powers (Bala) along with energy, mindfulness, serenity and wisdom.
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Joy is Always Available
Recorded :
July 13, 2025 On autopilot, our mind often resists opening to joy with: “But right now in my life, there is …” So we explore what stands in our way of the unexpected ordinariness of joy. We’ll discover how the awakening factor of meditative joy (piti) illuminates our capacity to open to delight and rapture, allowing our hearts…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of June 21, 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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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of 17 March, 2025
We are delighted to have Nirmala Werner guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. This week’s theme is: Sacred Body, Sacred Path: Feminine Principles on the Spiritual Journey. This week, we explore the profound role of the feminine principle on the spiritual journey in Buddhism. We will engage in embodied practices, examining the qualities of the elements and nature, while opening ourselves to what truly serves us on our path to awakening. Where does our practice lead us when we open to an embrace of life, seeing all experience as sacred?
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Equanimity: Dancing with the Unexpected
Recorded :
July 8, 2018 Equanimity is a key spiritual faculty which allows us to face the known and the unknown, the ecstasies and the despairs, with steadiness and lightness. Equanimity helps us engage with life from an unlimited and interconnected perspective. The Buddhist image is of an island in the stormy seas – remembering that all islands are connected…
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Engaged Dharma and Systemic Change: A Dharma Inquiry into the Archetype of Spiritual Warrior
Recorded :
November 22, 2020 As engaged dharma increasingly shifts focus from palliative ministry to systemic change within our times of poly crises, what is Buddhist “Right Action?” This session explores Spiritual Warriorship as Dharma practice from within a Buddhist frame.
