You may have noticed that sometimes breaking old patterns is hard to do! But thanks to surviving ancient Buddhist teachings, we are NOT doomed to being stuck in the rut of the same old painful behavioral and cognitive patterns, and we can create new helpful patterns. This talk explores the nature of the conditioned mind and gives practice tips on how to detangle, reset, and replace unhelpful karmic patterns and ultimately experience more freedom in our daily and spiritual lives.
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The nature of experience. Part 3: Non Self Existence.
Recorded :
January 29, 2017 Today’s session is the third in a special run of three consecutive sessions with Martin, where he looks deeply at the nature of experience through Buddha’s profound descriptions of reality – Impermanence, Emptiness, Non self-existence. The classes point directly to how these themes can come alive in our practice and understanding, looking at the personal,…
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Trust and Faith (Saddha) – The World is Not Against Us
Recorded :
March 7, 2021 How can we develop trust, steadiness and inner freedom, qualities which contribute to our well-being and resilience, and help us to help others? Trust (saddha in Pali) is the first of the Five Spiritual Powers, which are Trust, Energy, Mindfulness, Calm, and Wisdom. Trust is the primary means to dissolve and transform our anxieties, fears,…
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Enhancing Non-Dualism Through The African Ancient Spirit of Ubuntu and Metta
Recorded :
February 2, 2025 We will explore inter-connectedness, inter-beingness and seeing ourselves in others, all beings and Nature to fully co-exist for the better good of the whole. Exploring Ubuntu practices and meta practices to connect and tune with ourselves, extending that connection to connect with all Beings none excluded.
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Love’s in Need of Love: The Practice of Love as Social Resistance
Recorded :
July 1, 2017 The great Black American singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder once sang, “Love’s in need of love today.” His words couldn’t be more true as we face a global community struggling with war, poverty, illness, climate instability, and the rise of political authorities and governments who do not seem to be grounded in compassion or kindness….
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Embracing the Radical Act of Rest
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April 27, 2025 In times of global challenges and uncertainty, we often respond with fear-driven action, guilt, or survival mode. Yet the simple act of resting offers a powerful path to liberation. By connecting with our bodies and trusting the ground beneath us, we cultivate ease that naturally supports the awakened mind. When we act from deep rest,…
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The Two Fundamental Roots
Recorded :
January 25, 2026 I reflect this Sunday on the profound Surangama Sutra teaching of the Two Fundamental Roots: The root of “beginningless birth and death,” and the “primal bright essence of consciousness.” The Buddha warns that not knowing these two essential principles renders one’s spiritual efforts into a doomed futility, like “cooking sand in the hope of creating…
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Reverence is the Nature of My Love
Recorded :
October 9, 2022 The Diamond Sutra, possibly the oldest text on deep ecology, teaches that there are four notions that separate us from life that we must throw away: the concepts of self, lifespan, humans, and living beings. In this session we will learn practices that enable us to go beyond this limited perception of reality to touch how interconnected with all life we are.
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The Practice of the Beautiful: Moving Beyond Fragmentation and Stability
Recorded :
June 2, 2024 Allowing the beautiful to guide us in our practice opens up possibilities beyond our conditioned habits. Awakening to beauty involves being with the messiness and the challenges of our lives. Beauty does not belong to anyone. As we orient away from that which is pleasing to that which is beautiful in ourselves and in our communities, we align ourselves with a path that blossoms into liberation for all beings.
Discussion