Tell a friend about this talk!

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Google Buzz Tell a Friend About This

related talks on this theme

Dying to Live

by Vidyamala

In this talk, Vidyamala gives a strong account of working with suffering and sorrow in life, and of transforming your experience into one characterized by contentment and a sense of meaning. From her own practice of living with chronic pain comes a sane and unsentimental perspective that affords us all a measure of genuine optimism as we meet the trials of the world: bereavements and losses of all kinds can be met with a kindness and awareness that gently ease the burden, allowing something of peace to enter our lives again.

Please note that there a few introductory phrases missing from the start of this talk. Some small noise artefacts can also be heard occasionally due to a poor original recording.

Talk given at the Western Buddhist Order Women's Convention 2003

Tracks (click play to listen)

Play All

play
1. Introduction - spiritual death and finding freedom through letting go; the FWBO system of meditation as a progressive path (9:11)
play
2. Death and fear; why are we so afraid? Being present with fear in the face of impermanence (5:14)
play
3. Death as loss or death as gateway to freedom; insubstantiality and impermanence (4:08)
play
4. Eternalism and nihilism, the past and the future - strategies for avoiding reality; negotiating with samsara - trying to use spiritual life as an insurance policy (9:13)
play
5. Other reality avoidance strategies, including the dangers of checking the weather forecast! (4:42)
play
6. Facing the truth of spiritual death (1:13)
play
7. Group exercise - being present in the moment (3:27)
play
8. Vidyamala and Osadhi's mindfulness-based pain management work in Manchester (2:59)
play
9. No turning back the clock; Christopher Reeve - "pain is inevitable, misery is a choice"; the relief of no longer running away from pain; enriching life so that pain can no longer commandeer it; spiritual death as liberation (5:22)
play
10. Death and love - the connection between spiritual death and letting go of a fixed sense of self (6:28)
play
11. Spiritual death in the different meditation practices - mindfulness of breathing, metta bhavana, the brahmaviharas, six element practice, visualisation sadhana (9:12)
play
12. Summing up - the FWBO's system of meditation as a way of approaching spiritual death, related to Vidyamala's own experience; (6:23)


Total running time: 1:07:32