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

  • Daily Meditation Recordings with Christopher Titmuss- Week of June 10, 2024

    This week’s topic is “Letting Go. An Act of the Will?”

    We pick up a hot coal in the morning from the wood burner.

    Ouch, we let go immediately. No thought. No desire. Instant letting go.

    The language of letting go has entered into the mind of the meditator.

    It is often not a solution but an ambitious state of mind.

    Letting go reveals an outcome of understanding.

    We can tell ourselves a 1000 times we should let go and it’s to no avail.

    The desire to let go shows we are not ready to let go.

    We will explore the preparation for letting go and wise responses employing at times letting go.

    Read More

  •

    From Dukkha to Freedom: Dharma in Times of War and Crisis

    Recorded : January 28, 2024

    Intense times of war and crisis can and does often lead to intense Dukkha. But a crisis can also serve as a bedrock to spiritual breakthrough, deepening of liberating insights and openness of the heart. The Upanisa Sutta talks about the possibility of stepping out of Samsara: that Dukkha can lead to Sadha, i.e faith and trust,…

    Read More

  • Sophie Boyer

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Sophie Boyer – Week of 30 March, 2026

    This week’s theme is: Allowance and Confidence

    The month of April will be dedicated to the exploration of “trusting the path”. Sophie Boyer will lead our Daily Meditations this week, inviting us to re-attune to presence. The more we allow life to lead, the more trust and confidence can expand. Join us to explore the here and now together.

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

    Read More

  • Dave Smith

    Citta and Right Speech: Cultivating the Voice of Kindness and Wisdom

    Recorded : July 31, 2022

    Dharma practice encourages us to transform our thoughts, words and actions. The primary mechanism for how this is accomplished is vague. What often goes unnoticed is that the use of the term mind has undergone a radical psychologization from the time of the Buddha into present day. During this session we will explore the many nuances of…

    Read More

  • Yahel Avigur

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Yahel Avigur – Week of 14 July, 2025

    We’re delighted to have Yahel Avigur guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these sessions enrich and support your practice.

    This week’s theme is: Metta — Healing All Aspects

    This week, we’ll open to the healing power of metta – loving-kindness, or goodwill – as a transformative force in our lives. We’ll practice offering this gentle warmth first to those we naturally care about, and to ourselves. Gradually, we’ll widen the circle, allowing metta to infuse our relationships with neutral people, those we find difficult, and ultimately all beings. As kindness suffuses more corners of our hearts and lives, we may begin to discover a growing sense of spaciousness and connection – and with it, insight, balance, and inner freedom.

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

    Read More

  •

    Beyond the Self-Improvement Project

    Recorded : April 25, 2021

    It’s common to come to the spiritual path seeking relief from psychological suffering or emotional pain. The modern wellness industry presents mindfulness and meditation as the ultimate antidote to stress and personal foibles. Yet the Buddhist path is about something far deeper than stress reduction or having an agreeable personality. In this session, we’ll explore…

    Read More

  • Christine Kupfer

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Christine Kupfer – Week of July 15, 2024

    This week’s topic is “Freeing The Heart-Mind From Doubt”. Doubt is like any other mind state. But it is a tricky one and can be a sticky one. It’s questioning component is a means for liberation, but it can also suck us into a maze. Lets explore doubt and free the heart-mind this week in the light of the Buddha’s teachings, presence and meditation.

    Read More