When we engage in the distortion that the relative plane is separate from the absolute – that it is something to transcend or ‘just an illusion’ – we ignore the reality of the illusion. When we know ourselves as a whole which subsumes everything, we cease to diminish or dismiss the mystery of being human. We experience viscerally that “the world is my family.” From this understanding, we recognize that liberation is not a singular experience and ease our suffering in this remembering.
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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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The Dharma and the Drama of Sex: Everything you Wanted to know about Dharma and Sex but were too Spiritual to Ask
Recorded :
November 18, 2018 Sex is everywhere. It’s how we got born, it teases us from advertising boards on every city street, it drives some of the biggest industries, and it provokes some of the most intense stimuli in body, heart and mind. Yet dharma teachings, even in a lay context, mostly ignore sex. It is not spoken about…
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Acting on Behalf of Consciousness
Recorded :
January 10, 2021 As we move into this new year, most of us are ready to leave 2020 behind. So much hardship, for so many, has arisen in the last year. Many of us felt more isolated, more separate, than ever before. As we transition into 2021, rather than live and act on behalf of that felt sense…
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Apply as Needed; the Benefits of Skillful Means
Recorded :
November 8, 2020 Becoming quiet allows for deeper listening – to the whispers of the body, heart and mind as parts of a whole and as harmonic convergence. How we tune our instruments depends on what we hear. Skillful means provide a variety of tools to self prescribe and address what is needed in the moment. We’ll practice…
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The spectrum of awareness practices
Recorded :
April 15, 2018 This session explores different ways in which attention works and associated meditation practices: from focused awareness, to flexible awareness, to natural awareness. We do a number of fun experiential practices in hopes of understanding a variety of ways to meditate and how we can refine our own practice.
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Nothing is reliable outside liberation.
Recorded :
May 8, 2016 Practice places emphasis on seeing impermanence. Such a practice easily becomes habitual to the degree we miss the point. There is nothing reliable owing to impermanence. There is nothing we can depend upon in this world of mentality and materiality, inner and outer. If we abide deeply clear about this, the stress and fears fade…
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The Wheel of Life
Recorded :
April 11, 2021 Understanding the mental states that we cycle through moment to moment. Links referred to during the session: The Wheel of Life Five Basic Needs of the Heart meditation
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Refuge, resilience and response in uncertain times
Recorded :
October 15, 2017 By now, we can consciously acknowledge that our planetary state of emergency and ineffectual political response is impacting and fast changing our Dharma curriculum. We are being mercilessly shaken awake while at the same time facing overwhelming uncertainties. In this session, Thanissara explores how the Dharma, its practices and guidelines, can come to our aid…
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