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

The Roots of Discouragement

With Shaila Catherine recorded on September 12, 2021.

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

Progress in meditation may be slower than we anticipate. Discouragement develops when the comparing mind holds unrealistic expectations, demands perfection, and craves for measurable progress, predictable results, or signposts of success. This talk explores the obstacle of discouragement and its roots in conceit and the comparing mind. To prevent discouragement, we develop skillful ways to uplift the discouraged mind, nurture patience, and trust in the unfolding of the path.

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

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Transformation Lives in the Butterfly Garden

    We are living in a time of change that is evolutionary in its mystery, scope and depth. Emerging values of wellness of the self, Earth and society call us beyond the trance of colonial imprints, into the profound dimensions of embodied and expanded consciousness. It may be that the transformation that this time demands from us could only be met now.

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ayala Gill – Week of December 11, 2023

    This week’s topic is “Embracing challenging emotions”. There are no negative emotions, only ones that we find challenging to embrace, like anxiety, anger, grief and fear. When we relate to them in distorted ways, their expression is indeed negative. Over this week (at a time of year where they may be particularly triggered!) we will explore how to come into a sacred relationship with each of these challenging emotions.

    Read More

  • Embodying Presence – the Deep Current

    A river of presence flows through all of life, connecting us with ourselves and each other and the essence of living. In this session, let’s open to a direct experience of this clear, wakeful presence. The practice of embodied, mindful meditation opens the possibility to understand and transform our habits of dissatisfaction and distraction and…

    Read More

  • Dave Smith

    I think I am…Understanding self and non-self, through the five aggregates

    One of the most puzzling and profound aspects of Dharma is the teaching of anatta; translated as non-self. For us living in the modern world, with the emergence of social media and the over emphasis and obsession with self, how can we use this teaching in a way that is constructive, authentic, relevant and realistic….

    Read More

  • Pamela Weiss

    An Appropriate Response

    What does it take to respond rather than react to the increasing complexity and divisiveness of our world? This talk will explore Buddhist teachings that illuminate the sources of our fundamental reactivity, and reveal ways to help us see and see through it.

    Read More

  • The Individual-Relational Dharma Paradox and Why it Matters to Your Life

    Biologically, psychologically, and in common sense there is no doubt that the human experience is both intrinsically individual and intrinsically relational. Our bodies are separate. You will never directly know my inner universe. Also, our bodies evolved to relate. The brain is a relational organ. Our sense of safety and joy, suffering and inquiry, has…

    Read More

  • Stephen Fulder

    Trust and Faith (Saddha) – The World is Not Against Us

    How can we develop trust, steadiness and inner freedom, qualities which contribute to our well-being and resilience, and help us to help others? Trust (saddha in Pali) is the first of the Five Spiritual Powers, which are Trust, Energy, Mindfulness, Calm, and Wisdom. Trust is the primary means to dissolve and transform our anxieties, fears,…

    Read More