Guided Meditation on using an anchor to settle the heart-mind.

A few words on establishing contact with reality and maintaining it and guided meditation.

Short Reflection & Guided Meditation | Earthworm Practice for the Anthropocene II | Online Wednesday-Mornings.

At the time of the Winter Solstice, our practice (for the Wednesday morning gathering) connects our usual grounding in concentration, mindfulness, and lovingkindness with themes related to the later talk on the Winter Solstice, particularly opening to the unknown and mysterious, and to what is difficult, through mindfulness and compassion.

This dharmette and guided meditation provides an introduction to mudita (appreciative joy) practice.

An Online Dharma Hall session includes a Guided Meditation, a Dharma Talk, and responses to unrecorded questions. A three-part series examining the role of passion, compassion, and dispassion on the Buddha's path to peace. This week, how we get fired up, impassioned, and passionate. Looking at where that is beneficial and when it isn't.

This dharmette and guided meditation includes instruction on metta for the neutral being.

Guided Meditation on Embodiment, Compassion and Impermanence

When our body and mind is relaxed, we become filled with a very awake, dynamic quality of presence. This meditation guides us in relaxing, opening our senses and resting in the vastness and inherent freedom of our own natural awareness.

This dharmette and guided meditation includes instruction on metta for self.

We continue to explore the intersection of our more inner practice and our practice with the larger world, including the U.S. post-election world. Our starting point is seeing how widespread and predominant the emotions of anger and fear are in our society. We look particularly at the nature of anger and how to practice with it, especially in terms of our own anger but also in terms of the anger of others. Anger, it has been said, is the most confusing emotion in Western civilization, seen often over the last 2500 years sometimes as both entirely as negative and sometimes as a quality that manifests, for example, in the Jewish prophets, Jesus, and God. There's a confusion also among Western Buddhists, who may have conditioning related to aversion to anger combined with following problematic translations of terms like dosa (entirely negative in the Buddhist context) as "anger" (not entirely negative in the contemporary Western context). Based on these explorations of the nature of anger, we look at how to practice with anger individually, especially through mindful investigation of anger and how anger can lead either to reactivity and the formation of reactive views of self and/or other, or to skillful action. We also explore practicing with the anger of others through empathy practice. The talk is followed by discussion and sharing, including of the experiences of practicing with anger from several people. The meditation before the talk includes a guided exploration of an experience of anger in the last third of the meditation period (the meditation is also on Dharma Seed).

We begin with basic instructions on settling, developing concentration, and mindfulness, with a few reminders to be present. Around 2/3 into the 40-minute meditation is a guided exploration of an experience of anger (the theme of the talk that follows is on understanding and practicing with anger).

Reflection & Guided Meditation

A gentle body scan guided meditation (Nikki), followed by walking meditation instructions and encouragement (Tuere).

This dharmette and guided meditation provides an introduction to the Brahma Viharas and metta practice, as well as guidance on metta for the "easy being."

A guided meditation on pervading the body and mind with metta (Loving-kindness)

Reflection & Guided Meditation on the Seven Factors of Awakening

Somatic practice and guided meditation

Guided meditation on standing meditation, bringing awareness to the body.

Short Reflection & Guided Meditation | Earthworm Practice for the Anthropocene II | Online Wednesday-Mornings.

Gratitude arises when we are in sacred relationship with life—present, open and receptive. This talk explores how central gratitude is to our physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing, and then looks at the ways we can directly gladden our minds with gratitude. We end with a guided meditation that includes sharings from the group. The audio includes a poem of blessing by John O’Donohue with a brief cut from Robert Gass – Om Namaha Shivaya (from the archives).

Short Reflection & Guided Meditation with Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address | Earthworm Practice for the Anthropocene II | Online Wednesday-Mornings.

After setting the posture and tuning into intentions, we have a short period of settling, typically through the breath or some other anchor. Then there is guidance to tune into the feeling-tone, especially when there is a "moderate" level pleasant or unpleasant feeling-tone, noticing tendencies to move to wanting/not-wanting or grasping/pushing away--the two forms of reactivity. We can also, when there is reactivity, tune into the pleasant or unpleasant "beneath" the reactivity, finding, for example, some compassion when there is underlying pain. Near the end, we also explore being with all feeling-tones for a very short period of a few minutes.

Short Reflection & Guided Meditation | Earthworm Practice for the Anthropocene II | Online Wednesday-Mornings.

Review of the first three foundations of mindfulness, followed by a guided practice using these different objects.

Guided meditation in abiding and radiating joy practice.

Instruction followed by guided meditation in connecting with various doorways to unworldly joy.