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

Two Wings to Fly – Cultivating Both Wisdom and Compassion

With Nina La Rosa recorded on July 25, 2021.

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

In traditional Theravada Buddhism it’s said that for one to truly experience freedom one needs to engage in the practices of both wisdom and compassion. Like a bird that needs two wings to fly, wisdom and compassion are two necessary parts on the path to a well-rounded enlightenment.

At first glance, practices that cultivate loving-kindness might seem quite different from those that develop insight. In this session we’ll explore a powerful practice that nurtures goodness in both the mind and heart.

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

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Deborah Eden Tull - Senior Dharma Teacher

    Compassion, Emergence and Climate Change

    This year, humanity has witnessed the alarming acceleration of climate change… the loss of forests and rivers, animal and plant species… and the potential annihilation of our species. Alongside our profound grief for what is changing globally, however, we are also experiencing Emergence.  Emergence, the organizing principle of Gaia, can help us to stay present as…

    Read More

  • Time and Timelessness: Finding Refuge, Finding Inspiration

    Certain moments, events and experiences open our awareness beyond the everyday to a sense of something more eternally present. Meditation points our attention to just this place, which the poet TS Eliot called ‘the point of intersection of the timeless with time’. Contemplating life from such a perspective we can often find fresh resources of…

    Read More

  • Deborah Eden Tull - Senior Dharma Teacher

    The extraordinary nature of ordinary self

    It is an extraordinary relief to encounter the perfection of ordinary self in a world that is screaming loudly, “There is something better out there! There is something you might be missing! There are standards you need to meet! There is something more you need to prove!” As we remember our inherent goodness, we cease…

    Read More

  • Ralph Steele

    Embodying cultural diversity: dancing with the basket of virtue

    Our Sangha has been predominately white since it branched off from the Asian countries. This Dharma talk offers a path for deeper inquiry and greater insight into how we can embody cultural diversity. The Eight Noble Truths will guide us toward a healthier way of conducting ourselves in the arena of cultural diversity, taking a…

    Read More

  • Nathan Glyde

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of 02 March, 2026

    This week’s theme is: Release The Pressure

    We often feel pressured to become better-pushed to chase the impossible or to be someone always just out of reach. This same strain can seep into our practice. Yet the Middle Way invites us to soften that drive, releasing unnecessary pressure here and now, and uncovering the steadfast flexibility of wise compassion.

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

    Read More

  • Nathan Glyde

    Getting Free: The Infinite Middle of the MiddleWay

    Dharma teachings are sublime, subtle, and onward leading: they are always going deeper and wider than we may first presume. Yet, they also meet us where we are, in the midst of our life. In this session we’ll explore two expressions of the middle-way we can cultivate and develop in our practice and in our…

    Read More

  • photo of Martin Aylward smiling

    On Teachings and Teachers

    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…

    Read More

  • Zohar Lavie

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Zohar Lavie – Week of 09 June, 2025

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

    This week’s theme is: Steadiness, Clarity and Care in Challenging Times

    During this week of practice, we will explore and practice the boundless qualities of compassion and equanimity. Compassion as the heart’s capacity to open and attend to suffering, and equanimity as the heart’s ability to face life in all its aspects with clarity and steadiness.
    These two beautiful qualities complement and nourish each other. They support us to meet experience and act within it in beneficial ways, even in difficult times.

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

    Read More