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

Why we practice: reclaiming authority, ending dissatisfaction, and engaging wholeheartedly

With Deborah Eden Tull recorded on February 25, 2018.

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

So many people are asking the potent question, How can I make an impact in a time of such adversity? How can I contribute to positive change in our world? How can I stay rooted in presence and well-being during such tumultuous times?

Presence itself is enough. Just to have a practice and affirm the authority of the heart is a subversive act. Compassionate awareness makes us available for the clear seeing and skilful action that allows us to respond consciously, rather than react habitually, to the challenges we face – individually and collectively. During an age of so much fear and reactivity, let us remember why we practice, and the profound impact that practice can have in our world.

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

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Deborah Eden Tull - Senior Dharma Teacher

    Dharma, Intuition, and Imagination in Times of Change

    In this session, we explore the power of intuition and conscious use of the imaginal realm, on behalf of collective awakening. We are utilizing our imaginations all the time, by feeding conditioned thoughts, limiting assumptions, duality, and fear. What is the value of exercising our moral imagination in this time of collective change, as we…

    Read More

  • How to Find Equanimity Amidst Upheaval

    We are deeply habituated to seek equanimity as if it’s a state to be found. In times of crisis, stakes are high. We try harder. The more desperate we feel, the more effort we put in. In this striving, we forget to ask: “Who is it that’s striving?” This question isn’t about finding the right…

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Milla Gregor – Week of September 4, 2023

    This week’s theme is “Which comes first, your practice or your life?” Does your life support your practice, or your practice your life? For me, things have been shifting recently, leaving me with lots to contemplate, particularly around the overlap between practice and systemic change. I’ll share some ideas and embodied relational techniques for working at these interesting edges, whilst giving you lots of open quiet meditation time, over our five mornings together.

    Read More

  • Simplicity: The Heart of the Dharma

    Simplicity underlies Dharma practice. It’s common that when people begin to meditate, even if they have a full life with a job and family, they begin to realize that simplicity is a deep value. Pursuing conventional goals feels less meaningful or satisfying than finding ease and straightforwardness in our approach to life. Simplicity cuts across…

    Read More

  • Death is Before Me Today

    During this Sunday Sangha we will explore the peace of emptiness, the malleability of time and the loving care of oneself and all life.

    Read More

  • Clear Presence, Sweet Absence

    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…

    Read More

  • James Baraz

    Changing the Channel: Opening to Goodness

    The barrage of frightening headlines often leaves us with feelings of despair, hopelessness, and negativity. While it’s important to feel connected to the suffering all around us, it is equally important to nourish ourselves by opening to the goodness in life–both inside and around us. Our caring can then be held with more spaciousness and…

    Read More