In an effort to counter tendencies towards striving and over-achieving, many Western approaches to meditation and spirituality emphasize relaxation. While relaxation and ease are essential ingredients on the meditative path, they must be integrated with whole-hearted effort. How do we find inner strength and make a clear resolve that is informed by wisdom and balanced with love? We will explore the power of determination in meditation and daily life.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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The Nonduality of Good and Evil? Buddhist Reflections on War
Recorded :
April 19, 2026 Ukraine…Gaza…Iran… Can Buddhist teachings help us understand and respond to these modern conflicts? Quotation: If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of Sept 26 – 30, 2022
Daily meditations with Martin Aylward.
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Zohar Lavie – Week of March 14, 2022
This week’s theme is: Gathering in the Goodness. ‘Drop by drop the pot of goodness is filled.’ -Buddha. Gathering in community we become more than the sum of our parts. We are each supported by, and supporting others — meditating alone is far less easy. Just so, in each moment of mindfulness we gather body-heart-mind from distraction into presence and open possibilities for greater and greater well-being; not just for ourselves, but for all beings.
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Natural awareness: practicing in daily life.
Recorded :
July 10, 2016 Meditation is often viewed as something restricted to a certain posture or time of day. For most of us, the majority of our life will not be on retreat or even spent in a formal sitting posture. If we want to make best use of our daily life, it’s important to know that being aware…
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Embodying Presence – the Deep Current
Recorded :
January 27, 2019 A river of presence flows through all of life, connecting us with ourselves and each other and the essence of living. In this session, let’s open to a direct experience of this clear, wakeful presence. The practice of embodied, mindful meditation opens the possibility to understand and transform our habits of dissatisfaction and distraction and…
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Is Samsara Fixable?
Recorded :
July 20, 2025 We are going through difficult and uncertain times and we long for relief. There is much we can do to help ourselves and our community. Yet this can also include accessing a more transcendent perspective, in which we take the pains of samsara less personally. Nondual dharma invites us to see life as perfect just…
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I think I am…Understanding self and non-self, through the five aggregates
Recorded :
November 4, 2018 One of the most puzzling and profound aspects of Dharma is the teaching of anatta; translated as non-self. For us living in the modern world, with the emergence of social media and the over emphasis and obsession with self, how can we use this teaching in a way that is constructive, authentic, relevant and realistic….
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Attachment Inquiry and Classical Enlightenment
Recorded :
June 24, 2018 Energizing your householder’s meditation practice often requires some immediate benefit be available to you, even if the long goal is enlightenment. Developing a dynamic social network to support your practice is vital to keep on practicing. Finding a meaningful way to be in the world helps create the time, energy and resources necessary to devote…
