Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

Search Sangha Live

The practice of pleasure and delight (or the spiritual art of having fun).

With Martin Aylward recorded on April 22, 2018.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

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 bogged down in the circumstantial reality of both our personal struggles and of world affairs, we need uplift for the heart. Joy as resilience. A buoyant heart, that though it may get pushed under, cannot be sunk.

In this class, our founding teacher Martin reflects on ways to cultivate that buoyancy, to explore our capacity for pleasure, to enjoy the gift of life.

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Willa Blythe Baker

    Loving Awareness: Finding Freedom Within

    Recorded : February 26, 2023

    “This thing person called “me”, the one who is sensing, thinking and perceiving right now….who or what is it? This is an age old question that the traditions of the East, especially Buddhism and Hinduism, have held as the heart of their traditions. The answer to that question, in some scriptures, is “awareness”, a part of us that is already wakeful, attentive, open, free and loving. In this Sunday teaching, we consider what it means to encounter awareness, and why it might be important, not only for our practice of meditation, but for the fulfilment of our life’s purpose.

    Read More

  • Wiebke Pausch

    Embracing the Radical Act of Rest

    Recorded : June 15, 2025

    Global challenges, economic uncertainty, and information overload can trigger fear and anxiety, leading us to overactivity and survival mode driven by guilt or inadequacy. The simple act of resting offers a powerful path to liberation: connecting deeply with the body, trusting gravity, and finding the ease that naturally supports an awakened mind. What holds us…

    Read More

  • Zohar Lavie

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Zohar Lavie – Week of February 13, 2023

    This week’s topic is “Awakening in the Midst of Life”. Our relationship with life is revealed through our words, thoughts and actions. Reflecting on these in the light of the Dharma opens up possibilities of transformation and wellbeing. During this week we’ll explore ways of perceiving and engaging with experience that can help us to deepen our understanding and awaken to a fuller way of being in the world.

    Read More

  • chris crotty

    Confidence in the Dhamma, Confidence in Yourself

    Recorded : March 24, 2019

    As we attune to the truth of impermanence (anicca) the very preciousness of life itself begins to penetrate our awareness: the flowers will not last forever, our dear friends will come and go, those we love will grow old. Even how we chop our vegetables matters if we wan’t to be touched by the the…

    Read More

  •

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Shireen Jilla – Week of 10 March, 2025

    We’re delighted to have Shireen Jilla guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May her teachings support and enrich your practice.

    This week’s theme is: The Ease And Simplicity Of Letting Go

    The invitation this week is to explore Wise Intention. When we lean into letting go, we experience the simple clarity it brings. Every moment we drop fussing, fretting and freaking out over our experience deepens our practice in our daily lives. The intention of opening our hearts and harmlessness leads us beautifully towards the bliss of blamelessness.

    Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.

    Read More

  • Shaila Catherine

    Lovingkindness in the Little Things

    Recorded : September 10, 2023

    In this session Shaila Catherine explored the practice and purpose of lovingkindness (mettā) meditation. She clarified what mettā is, and what mettā is not. Mettā is more than merely an antidote to apply on occasions when fear and ill will arise. Mettā can become a skillful and liberating way to experience all moments of life.

    Read More