Freedom is a central concern of all our lives, yet has many different manifestations, some of which run completely contrary to others. This class will explores the importance of social freedoms, inner freedom, personal and collective freedoms. We explore how different perspectives on free-ness shape how we practice; and how we understand life and our own unfolding awakening in the midst of the complex world we inhabit and share.
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Patience: In Praise of an Undervalued Helper
Recorded :
December 4, 2022 Patience can be one of those qualities which we think of as being theoretically helpful but feel little motivation to actually cultivate and strengthen. So much emphasis in our busy world of achieving goals and getting tasks done is about doing, taking action and fixing problems. We will spend this session exploring the benefits of…
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Taking care of myself, I take care of the world.
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March 6, 2016 Join Diana as she explores self-care, mindfulness, and learning to “be peace” amid the demands of our crazy sped up world.
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How to Recharge Your Practice with a Tried and True Inquiry
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October 22, 2023 Even if you’ve been meditating for years, you probably encounter old patterns that seem impervious to your mindful awareness. Maybe at times these patterns are dormant, but during challenging moments they reappear and perhaps feel intractable. In this session we’ll explore inquiry practices that can help interrupt and disentangle the mind from its habitual “stuck”…
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Lucid Dreaming: Awakening While We Sleep
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February 8, 2026 A lucid dream is a dream in which we are actively aware that we are dreaming as the dream is happening. Once we are lucid we gain access to the deepest depths of the unconscious mind which allows us to engage in psychological healing at a level often unattainable in the waking state. And beyond…
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Embodying cultural diversity: dancing with the basket of virtue
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July 2, 2017 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…
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The Two Fundamental Roots
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January 25, 2026 I reflect this Sunday on the profound Surangama Sutra teaching of the Two Fundamental Roots: The root of “beginningless birth and death,” and the “primal bright essence of consciousness.” The Buddha warns that not knowing these two essential principles renders one’s spiritual efforts into a doomed futility, like “cooking sand in the hope of creating…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of Apr 29 – 3 May, 2024
This week’s topic is “Mindfulness of the nervous system: transforming fear, struggle and separation into love and connection”. We humans are social animals and need each other to feel safe and secure, to grow and to nourish ourselves. How can we live with a sense of connection, loving-kindness, and inner family? Our meditation practice allows us to take a break between stimulus and response. When we come into contact with our loved ones, we all too easily lose the inner freedom we think we have achieved and avoid our difficulties, also called spiritual bypassing. This week we explore what supports us to react flexibly to the internal and external world, to relax and to allow closeness and real intimacy. We will look into the first foundation of mindfulness, mindfulness of the body, including harmonizing the body formations and nervous system to meet our difficulties with gentleness.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Christine Kupfer – Week of 15 September, 2025
We’re delighted to have Christine Kupfer guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these sessions support and enrich your practice.
This week’s theme is: Equanimity – A Still Heart Amid the Waves
A living balance of the heart welcomes both joy and storm. This week, from the ground of presence we open to the full tapestry of experience. Through meditation, reflection, and silence, we return to the quiet heart, where openness and steadiness meet, tasting freedom that is deeper than reactivity.
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