The dominant culture treats unpleasant feelings as problems, and pleasant feelings as if we should experience them all the time. This is neither possible nor wise. How can we fully feel the beautiful and painful aspects of our lives so that we are strengthened and enriched by the depth and breadth of this human experience? Equanimity is a wise connection with all that is unfolding. Let’s explore this together.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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The freeing of human consciousness: from seeing the world ‘out there’, separate and alien, to directly knowing, feeling, and living the intimacy of all things
Recorded :
February 18, 2018 The Shurangama Sutra, which points out the foundations of Zen practice, discusses the essential nature of mind as the “primal essence of consciousness that brings forth all conditions.” Implied is the heart-mind (citta) both profoundly intimate with all things while at the same time free and independent of all things. How is it to live…
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The First Duty of Love is to Listen
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February 10, 2019 What is meditation and everyday life mindfulness practice but listening? True listening is neutral, non-judgemental, welcoming and silent. It’s a window to a larger vision and freedom, which gets us out of the narrow jail of self and creates an intimacy with life in which we feel more alive and loving. Join Christelle to explore…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Jaya Rudgard – Week of July 24, 2023
This week’s theme is “Meditations on the Five Great Elements of Nature”. The five elements or energetic properties of nature (earth, water, fire, wind and space) feature frequently in the Buddha’s teaching and are a wonderful support for meditation and insight. This week we will practice with these elements as skilful means for contemplating body and world, and for cultivating the mind.
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On Teachings and Teachers
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March 17, 2018 People often ask about the importance (or not) of working closely with a teacher. One can benefit greatly from general meditation instruction, but personalised guidance from someone who knows you and your practice well can be deeply helpful. In this session, Martin speaks about approaching teachers for guidance and about the dynamics of the teacher-student…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of 06 October, 2025
We’re honored to have Martin Aylward offering our Daily Meditation sessions this week. We hope they are nourishing for your practice.
This week’s theme is: Embracing Complexity and Contradiction
A week of exploring and cultivating a life and practice of radical open-heartedness
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The Out Breath: Unlocking Concentration
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June 16, 2024 Shodo Harada Roshi is known as a “teacher of teachers”, with masters from various lineages coming to sit with him in Japan. If you went to Harada’s monastery, the main meditation technique you’d learn involves slowing the out breath to last one minute. This drastically slows down your physiology, which in turn settles the mind.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of January 4, 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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Changing the Channel: Opening to Goodness
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January 7, 2024 The barrage of frightening headlines often leaves us with feelings of despair, hopelessness, and negativity. While it’s important to feel connected to the suffering all around us, it is equally important to nourish ourselves by opening to the goodness in life–both inside and around us. Our caring can then be held with more spaciousness and…
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