In this session Martine leads a guided meditation on the question “What is this?”, and then explores this questioning practice as a means to encounter each moment with awareness and as a means of developing a stable and open heart.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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The Happiness of a Liberated Heart
Recorded :
June 16, 2019 What is pleasure and what is happiness? Why is my pursuit of happiness not working? Is there any lasting happiness? Together we inquire into the nature of happiness. We reflect on different attempts in our lives to find happiness and what stops us from being contented. Inspired by the Buddha’s own quest for a genuine…
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Don’t be realistic. Be real
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March 18, 2018 Through the cultures within family, education and work, we are constantly orientated towards ‘realistic’ expectations and visions for our lives. Dharma practice asks us to abandon the realistic in favour of the real; listening deeply to life and to how things actually are, so as to respond wisely and lovingly, fully and freely. In this…
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The extraordinary nature of ordinary self
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May 24, 2017 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…
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On Meeting Conflict and the Incompatible
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December 11, 2023 “When you can’t go forward, when you can’t go back, and when you can’t stand still – where do you go? This is your place of non-abiding. The things you love and the things you hate: these are your teachers.” – Ajahn Chah How do we perceive conflict? We often see it as disturbing, but…
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Two Wings to Fly – Cultivating Both Wisdom and Compassion
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July 25, 2021 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…
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Blunt Suffering
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April 29, 2018 Let’s not flinch when we look at the lived experiences of illness, confusion, and relational pain. Let’s allow the texture of hurt to be known. Awareness remains brilliant, for sure. Any of us can experience this. Maybe the more we allow the blunt pain of the body-mind, the more we can sit squarely in awareness….
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Imagination: An Integral Aspect of Liberating the Heart
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May 21, 2023 Our heart/mind is naturally creative; it foresees, remembers, dreams, and perceives. The products of our imagination shape our intentions, expanding the realm of possibilities beyond what we’ve learned, seen, or experienced thus far. We can give ourselves permission to imagine and co-create our lives. And once this is cultivated and the doors of perception are…
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Clear Presence, Sweet Absence
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March 1, 2020 Dharma practice encourages us to see the present moment clearly – to meet and respond to it well. What is here in this moment? Another dimension of practice is to learn to appreciate absence: What is this moment free from? Having skill in both these dimensions brings us closer to the joy and peace that…
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