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

Search Sangha Live

This is, because that is

With Kaira Jewel Lingo recorded on October 29, 2017.

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

“This is, because that is. This is not, because that is not. This comes to be, because that comes to be. This ceases to be, because that ceases to be.” – The Buddha

When conditions are sufficient things manifest. But if there aren’t enough conditions, things cannot yet manifest. How can we skilfully live in the midst of the truth of the uncontrollability of life while also believing in our capacity to change and transform ourselves and our society?

In today’s session we explore the great freedom that exists in accepting that we only have a limited influence in any given situation – because everything comes to be because of numerous causes and conditions. This freedom allows us to continue to practice steadily and engage wholeheartedly, without falling into despair or taking things personally, no matter the outcome. We can let go of the struggle and relax, remaining confident that each of our actions, words and thoughts do have an impact.

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 Jaya Rudgard – Week of Nov 22, 2021

    This week’s theme is Similes and Images from the Ancient Texts .Each morning this week we’ll dive into one of the images from the natural world and daily life that the Buddha used to explain his teachings. Let’s see how how these similes and metaphors from the Buddhist texts can support our understanding and enrich our practice. We may also discover how practising with them can enhance our appreciation of the world around us.

    Read More

  •

    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.

    Read More

  •

    The Wisdom of Equanimity

    Recorded : June 4, 2023

    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?…

    Read More

  • James Baraz

    Awakening Joy: Practice as a Path of Happiness

    Recorded : January 13, 2019

    Joy is both a Factor of Enlightenment and one of the four Divine Abodes. Today, as we are bombarded with news that heightens our fear and sadness about the world, more than ever it’s vital to understand the importance of joy as a central aspect of spiritual practice. We need to remember how to stay…

    Read More

  •

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Jaya Rudgard – Week of 21 April, 2025

    We’re delighted to have Jaya Rudgard guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these sessions support and deepen your practice.

    This week’s theme is: Still Here, Still Now: Waking Up to Life

    As we develop our ability to remain present to experience our insight into the nature of that experience deepens. We’ll continue to explore this week how mindfulness can lead not just to less stress here and now but to the kind of seeing that will eventually free the heart-mind from all its self-created suffering.

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

    Read More

  • photo of Martin Aylward smiling

    The art of enquiry: how to explore experience for wisdom and liberation.

    Recorded : May 15, 2016

    Dharma teachings and practices invite us to open up to our experience in order to see and understand its true nature. This class with Worldwide Insight guiding teacher Martin Aylward explores how we can inquire fruitfully, staying present and curious, without on the one hand getting lost in the story of our inner drama, and…

    Read More

  • Pamela Weiss

    True Refuge

    Recorded : July 7, 2024

    This talk will explore the Three Refuges — Buddha, Dharma and Sangha — as sources of true refuge in difficult times. The teaching of the Refuges is found within all schools of Buddhism and offers clear guidance for responding to our beautiful, aching world with skill and kindness.

    Read More

  • George Haas

    The meaningful life

    Recorded : November 11, 2017

    How can we use our meditation practice to repair attachment disturbances caused by our early conditioning, so that we can be completely ourselves in our relationships with others and in our work, as we pursue the path of awakening?

    Read More