The Samadhi Podcast - Meditation & Buddhism | Self Improvement | Personal Growth | Motivation

This is a guided meditation on patient-acceptance, which accompanies the previous episode 43. Using the power of our imagination, we see how approaching challenges with Acceptance, Understanding, Love, and Fortitude, ultimately empower us and bring us greater wellbeing in difficult circumstances.Support the show

In this episode, David explores kshanti, or patient-acceptance, a pivotal concept in Buddhism. This approach is more than mere tolerance or passive resignation. Instead, it is a wholehearted embracing of our reality in those situations we cannot change. In this audio we dive into four aspects of patient-acceptance: acceptance, understanding, love, and fortitude, seeing how they collectively form a resilient mindset that keeps us anchored amid life's storms.Support the show

In this episode, David explores the transformative wisdom of the Tibetan Buddhist practice of the Four Opponent Powers. As tools for purifying negative karma, these four steps offer a pragmatic approach to understanding and amending past behaviours. Whether we'd like to purify negative karma or would like a more mindful way to address personal regrets, these Four Opponent Powers provide a structure for overcoming negative habits.Support the show

In this episode, David explores the profound analogy of seeing life as like a river, and how this view highlights impermanence, acceptance, and the importance of living life in a flexible, fluid way. From understanding the nature of life's rapids to finding serenity in its gentle flows, David discusses how we can embrace the present and navigate life's ever-changing currents with grace and acceptance. Support the show

This is a guided meditation on Tibetan Buddhist practice of 'Body of Light.' This practice provides deep rest and relaxation to the mind and body, helping to relax the energy channels and balance the inner energies. It’s also taught as an entryway into more complex or advanced visualisation meditations.Support the show

In this episode, David addresses a question about how to deal with stressful situations. Firstly, he explores the internal causes of stress and frustration from a Buddhist perspective, and then looks at some opposing minds that can bring us greater peace and wellbeing in such turbulent times. Minds such as acceptance, understanding, and compassion can help us handle stressful situations with greater ease.Support the show

This is a guided meditation on reflecting on our growth in the last year. We often don’t notice the changes and growth we go through on a day-to-day basis, and it’s only when we stop and look where we were that we notice what has changed. In this meditation, spend time reflecting on and appreciating your life in the last year—the happy moments, the struggles, the doubts, the celebrations. Reflecting in this way can help us to cultivate enthusiasm and motivation for our continued spiritual growth. Support the show

This is a guided meditation on Compassion (karuṇā in Sanskrit). Compassion is one of the Four Immeasurables, a rich compilation of practices that open the heart, counter the distortions in our relationships with ourselves and deepens our relationship with others. The essential nature of compassion is a yearning for the person we are directing our attention to be free of suffering. The object of one's compassion may be oneself, another human being, an animal, or any other sentient being. May all beings be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.Support the show

In this episode, David explores how to attend to the sufferings of the world without falling into despair and feeling burdened. Using his own experience of compassion and despair, and inspired by the teachings of the Dalai Lama, he explores why we should cultivate compassion for the sufferings of the world in the first place, and how to avoid this crippling feeling of despair. Support the show

The talk is from one of our weekly online guided meditation & discussion groups. The topic of discussion is 'expectations' - how our attachment causes us to grasp onto certain outcomes and thus results in us becoming upset when these expectations are not met. We invite you to join us live on Sundays to share in the guided meditation and discussion.Support the show

In this episode of The Samadhi Podcast, David is joined by Dr Joanne Cacciatore, an expert and acclaimed public speaker on grief and traumatic death. She is the founder of the MISS Foundation and the Selah Carefarm and a tenured professor and researcher at Arizona State University. She is the author of the best-selling book “Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief” and the most recently published, “Grieving is Loving.”During this conversation, we look at how to bear the unbearable. Exploring Joanne's personal journey with grief, the Selah grief model and hearing her thoughts on some questions from our community.Joanne's insightful words we're sure will resonate with many. 🙏🏻❤️More about Dr Joanne Cacciatore and the Selah Carefarm:https://joannecacciatore.com/https://selahcarefarm.org/https://www.missfoundation.org/Support the show

In this episode of The Samadhi Podcast, David is joined for a fascinating conversation with his teacher, B. Alan Wallace. One of the world’s leading scholars, writers, and teachers of Tibetan Buddhism and its relation to science, Lama Alan was ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and devoted fourteen years to training as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He has written and translated more than 40 books and has been a leading voice in the dialogues and research between Buddhists and scientists. He is the founder and director of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies and the Centers for Contemplative Research. In this conversation, Lama Alan very kindly offers us his thoughts on the nature and potentials of consciousness, the importance of shamatha and contemplative inquiry, and his vision for the Centers for Contemplative Research. This fascinating conversation we're sure will be of benefit to many. 🙏🏻❤️More about B. Alan Wallace & the Center for Contemplative Research:https://centerforcontemplativeresearch.org/https://www.alanwallace.org/http://sbinstitute.com/Image credit: @michellemagriniSupport the show

This is a guided meditation on present centring. This practice is designed to help us bring ourselves back into the present moment when we have become lost in worries of the future or resentments of the past. Present centring is a skill that we need to develop in order to live mindfully and purposefully.Support the show

In this episode, David responds to a question that came through our Facebook Group about how to preserve the calm and peace we find over the holidays when normal life starts again. Responding in the context of The Five Obscurations, which obscure our natural peace and clarity of mind, David stresses the importance of keeping a watchful eye over our mind at every moment and averting afflictions as they arise.Support the show

This is a guided meditation pulled from our Sunday meditation class on September 12th. This meditation allows us to bring a difficult challenge, question or problem we have into our meditation practice. Quite often, the thinking mind tries to work its way through our problems and can obscure our natural intuition and creativity. This meditation is designed to bring clarity to those challenges which often need instead to be held in awareness. Support the show

This is a guided meditation on gratitude. It is best listened to in the morning, to start your day with a clean slate and an intention to express appreciation for all the things in your life, from the small day-to-day enjoyments to your health, and the bigger challenges that help you grow and make you who you are.Support the show

In this episode, David explores the 'superpower' that is gratitude. Gratitude is supremely important for our well-being and can really turn our day around and bring a radical shift to our life.  It’s very easy for us to get fixated on the things that are wrong: what we don’t have, what we need, what isn’t working, what needs fixing.  In the midst of this, we can lose sight of all that we do have, everything that is going well, what is working, what doesn’t need fixing.  Support the show

This is a guided meditation designed to help you unwind and relax your body ready for a good night's sleep.  By bringing awareness into the body and consciously relaxing individual areas of the body, we allow the mind to let go of rambling thoughts and come to settle in a calm, witnessing mode. This soothing meditation will help take you into a deep, restful sleep.Support the show

Inspired by a post on social media, in this episode, David talks about the elusive concept of perfection. By always striving for things to be perfect, we place a great deal of pressure on our self, others and the world around us and bring about our own disappointment and frustration with life. Support the show

This is a guided meditation on Heartful Presence with Neil Seligman. This practice helps you tune into the body with loving awareness and notice what is arising in your awareness. In this practice, we explore the energy of the heart through deep listening, focusing on body sensations, images, feelings, and thoughts. Support the show