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

When Less is More

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.

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.

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

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of May 8, 2023

    This week’s theme is “Shedding Light on Darkness”. In the Buddhist tradition, we find three psycho-physical dynamics which bring together suffering, stress and dissatisfaction. Beside aggression and wanting, the root of moha, often translated as ignorance, delusion or blindness, can be tricky to understand and practice. What are we blind to? What do we need to see and understand? How can we potentially see our blind spots? How can we prepare ourselves for that which we might discover? We dedicate this week of practice to discovering the different aspects of ignorance and learn practical steps to look deeply yet with kind eyes.

    Read More

  • Love & Boundaries

    Our practice cultivates qualities of boundless love, whether through loving kindness practice, or opening to the love inherent in deep states of awareness. But can we really love everyone boundlessly? What about political leaders who may be causing tremendous suffering? Or when our boundaries get crossed in any way—personally, at work, in our families, or…

    Read More

  • Nathan Glyde

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of July 18, 2022

    This week’s topic is Perfectly Imperfect. “True perfection seems imperfect, yet is perfectly itself.” – Lao Tzu. Expecting life to be perfect is stressful: a beautiful goal like “getting it right” prevents us from developing when it morphs into “never getting anything wrong.” The non-harming noble-truths path of the Dharma may arouse perfectionism, but if carefully followed, can set us free from such entrapment.

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Catherine McGee – Week of March 6, 2023

    This week’s theme is “Exploring and Developing the Power of a Light Touch”. A light touch can allow our practice to unfold more easefully, make the depths of our hearts more available and create a greater agility in our relationships with the world. With our body as the primary ground for our practice we will explore different ways to cultivate this kind of attention, enjoy the fruits of our efforts and attend to what might hinder this natural capacity

    Read More

  • Vimalasara Mason-John

    Coming Home To The Body with Breath

    The teachings of the dharma originate from meditation, sitting in zazen, in samadhi. Everything we need to know is in the depths of our being, but we must first come home. One breath at a time, until it is safe for us to turn all feelings back on, and be at home in the body….

    Read More