Gautam Buddha said he gained nothing from complete awakening. What are our everyday experiences of the magic of less? Trying less does not mean less energy, connection or insight. How little effort is needed to hear a sound or to feel the ground? Simply listening to a friend with ease and no answers can leave room for profound breakthrough. Enjoying moments when “it’s not about me,” moments of silence, or living close to the land…. Perhaps “less” does not need to trigger a sense of lack. We might just be tasting an open mind and our path towards awakening.
With Jaya Julienne Ashmore recorded on April 8, 2018.
Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of May 16, 2022
Daily meditations with Martin Aylward.
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Leela Sarti – Week of 24 March, 2025
We’re delighted to have Leela Sarti guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May these sessions support and deepen your practice.
This week’s theme is: Entering the Timeless
We often live caught in a charged and time bound perspective: I need to use my time! I don’t have enough time! time is running out! But as human beings we can also re-discover that time is malleable and through practice, the act of sacred awareness, relax into a sense of no time, deep time and all time.
Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.
-
Daily life practice – the cultivation of virtue in ordinary action.
Recorded :
December 11, 2016 Shaila discusses the cultivation of virtue. Her talk will considers the relationship between virtue practices, and the more popular practices of compassion, mindfulness, and wisdom.
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of 26 January, 2026
This week’s theme is: The Tender Edge of Awareness: Befriending the Unwanted Within
We all encounter emotions we’d rather not admit to ourselves and others. Self-righteousness, rage, ill will, revenge, vanity or greed are just a few of the dynamics the Buddha encouraged us to have a good eye on. In the upcoming week, we will practice how to meet such dynamics with the necessary clarity rather than self-judgement or denial.
Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of Feb 6 – 10, 2023
Daily meditations with Martin Aylward.
-
The Appropriate Response
Recorded :
May 8, 2022 When a monk asked the 10th Century Zen master Yunmen, “What are the teachings of a whole lifetime?” Yunmen replied, “An appropriate response.” What is this appropriate response and how do we know we’ve got it right? Beyond linear formulas, Dharma teachings point to a natural intelligence that guides us in a spontaneous responsiveness to life….
-
Working with Stress and Fear
Recorded :
July 17, 2022 Not all stress is bad. Yet without mindful awareness, anticipatory stress may spiral into reactivity, paralyzing fear and suffering. How do we meet this stress mindfully, use it skilfully, then let go?
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of January 17, 2022
This week’s theme is: Embracing Anger.
How do you deal with your feelings of anger?
Is it okay to be angry at times or do we need to get rid of it once and for all?
Meeting our anger can be a challenge, as it comes with a driving energy and tends to evoke reactions of blame, fear or delight within us. The Buddha encouraged us to familiarize ourselves with all expressions of the heart-mind but equally warned about the destructive forces of ill-will. Let us look deeply into the nature of anger and learn ways to channel it in skilful and liberating ways.
Discussion