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

  • Kaira Jewel Lingo

    Reverence is the Nature of My Love

    The Diamond Sutra, possibly the oldest text on deep ecology, teaches that there are four notions that separate us from life that we must throw away: the concepts of self, lifespan, humans, and living beings. In this session we will learn practices that enable us to go beyond this limited perception of reality to touch how interconnected with all life we are.

    Read More

  • Nicola Redfern

    Relational Dharma

    What does the Dharma have to say about how we relate: to ourselves, to each other and to the environment? How might we touch in to the energizing potential of waking up together? This session will draw from the inherently relational practices of both the Zen koan tradition and Insight Dialogue to consider ways that…

    Read More

  • JD Doyle

    Reflections on Time and Timeless Awareness

    What if the concept of time is part of our suffering? In this talk, we’ll look at the impact of our attachment to schedules and productivity and explore the ways that Buddhist teachings challenge these conventional understandings. By investigating our relationship to time, we learn ways to practice and to cultivate liberation from suffering for…

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Milla Gregor – Week of 11 November, 2024

    This week’s theme is: Warm Solitude, Beautiful Nature

    There are many ways to be solitary, whether alone or in company. How might we cultivate a warm, friendly solitude? Nature is beautiful, both ‘out there’ and ‘in here’. How might we appreciate and support nature’s beauty? This week we’ll explore these questions together through practice, reflection and experiment.

    Read More

  • Abandoning the Future – Caring for All Days to Come

    To care for our lives, the lives of all beings and the earth is all at the heart of what it means to be a human being. Yet, speculating about the future, and tensing up in fearful anticipation of days to come, are not skillful expressions of care and wisdom. There is a better way….

    Read More

  • Wiebke Pausch

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Wiebke Pausch – Week of October 31, 2022

    This week’s topic is “Awaken Self-Compassion”. For many of us it is easier to be friendly and compassionate with others than with ourselves. Old conditioning, limiting beliefs of not being worthy of love and are confining our hearts. Compassion is an essential part of our true nature. We all know how to be gentle and compassionate with ourselves – this is how we survived situations of suffering and loss in our lives. This week we will be exploring how to awaken Self-Compassion, allowing our hearts to soften and open with care. With a tender heart we begin naturally to respond to the world around us with clarity and compassion.

    Read More

  • Shaila Catherine

    Becoming Content with Emptiness and Voidness

    Shaila Catherine asks “Will nothing be enough?” as she explores how identification with our experience can create discontent with the basic fact that matter and mind is empty of self. Mindfulness will not demolish ego; instead, we mindfully recognize…

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of October 23, 2023

    This week’s theme is “Touched by Dukkha”. Living life involves being in touch with various experiences, some of which are challenging. These challenging experiences, referred to as ‘dukkha’ by the Buddha, inevitably stir the heart-mind. Our sensitive nature is touched by dukkha, manifesting in ripple effects like impulses, emotions, and thoughts. This week, we’ll explore together what the Buddha called the second noble truth, to understand how our reactions and responses to dukkha shape our lives.

    Read More