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

Why Meditate?

With Peace Twesigye recorded on February 18, 2024.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

Many people have encountered the Buddha’s teachings when learning to meditate. Many more people in the world, however, have learned about the Buddha through stories imparting lessons about how to live wisely. Why is there so much emphasis on meditation? What else is there in the teachings to support wise and ethical living?

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

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Ven. Pannavati Bikkhuni

    Developing insight into power.

    The Buddha talked about eight qualities of one who has transformed insight into a power. We examine these eight and apply introspection to assess where we are on the path to awakening and what is needed for completion.

    Read More

  • Shaila Catherine

    Protecting the Mind

    The encounter with sensory experiences can lead to insight and calm, or reactivity and suffering. How do you guard your mind in the midst of a daily barrage of sensory input? How do you protect your mind so that tranquility and wisdom will be well established? The Buddha encouraged restraint of the senses, but this…

    Read More

  • Zohar Lavie

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Zohar Lavie – Week of June 3, 2024

    This week’s topic is “Letting Go, Cultivating Deep Peace”. The Buddha’s teachings offer a profoundly pragmatic, compassionate and wise response to the human condition. During this week we will explore the art of pausing, looking deeply into our own lived experience and letting go of clinging, as foundations for developing a peaceful heart. This supports the possibilities for both our own well-being, as well as peace in the external world.

    Read More

  • Dave Smith

    Liberation through the Heart (Citta Vimmuti)

    Most people associate Dharma practice with the concept of Wisdom. Here, the idea is that we need to “know” something that we don’t already know. For English thinking minds this can become very problematic and can turn our practice into a cognitive or intellectual endeavor. With the earliest teachings of the Dharma we see that…

    Read More

  • Nathan Glyde

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of Feb 21, 2022

    This week’s topic is: Deeply Rooted, Fully Alive. This week we will explore the profound, yet accessible teachings of equipoise and equanimity. One of the best images for this sensitive balancing relationship with all things is a deeply rooted and flexible tree in a windy storm. The tree, equipoised, does not resist the wind, bending and yielding to its force. Yet, well nourished from the root, it returns to noble uprightness as soon as the pressure passes.

    Read More

  • James Baraz

    Celebrating earth day: calling all Eco-Sattvas.

    With Earth Day here, James reflects on the preciousness and generosity of our wonderful planet, the current situation of climate change and how our Dharma practice can help us transform despair into meaningful and inspiring action.

    Read More

  • Scott Tusa

    Living From a Sense of Call and Response

    Deep listening goes beyond merely using our ears; it encompasses engaging our eyes, hearts, and bodies as well. As practitioners of meditation, we can also learn to listen with mindful awareness. In this session, we will explore how call and response, a musical concept, also applies to meditation and our daily interactions. Join us, and…

    Read More

  • Anna-Brown Griswold

    Glimpses of Interbeing: An Introduction to Insight Dialogue

    Based in the Buddhist tradition, Insight Dialogue harnesses the power of relationship to amplify, refine, and accelerate the development of mindfulness. Consisting of 6 meditative guidelines practiced in dyads or more, the practice supports the wisdom of dharma to enter the heart and mind in an embodied way that is immediately applicable in daily life. Join…

    Read More