Guided Audio

Why am I alive?

April 24, 2017

TEACHER: Avi Craimer
THEME: What is this all about anyway?
MEDITATION: Why am I alive?
INTERACTIVE: Good life mandala

Avi: One of the fundamental questions of philosophy is “What is the good life?”. There’s not just one answer. For the Buddha it was the end of suffering, for Sade it was having sex all the time. If we don’t grapple with this question seriously, our meditation and even our lives risk being dominated by somebody else’s idea of what is truly important. In the second half, we’ll creatively map out our personal good life mandalas, seeking greater clarity and perspective to balance all our competing values.

Inquiry as a Process

April 3, 2017

 | Duration: 35:23

TEACHER: Avi Craimer
THEME: Inquiry as a Process
MEDITATION:  What is a question?
INTERACTIVE: Group inquiry and reactivity

Avi: To kick off our month of inquiry, I’m going to lead us in a meditation to explore the nature of question asking. How does the act of asking a question impact your inner life? In the second half, we’ll examine our reactive patterns around intellectual discussion. What does it bring up for us: Do we worry about not being smart enough or are we afraid of sounding too smart? Do we get competitive, shut-down, bored, fascinated? What kind of inquirers are we?

Attention

March 13, 2017

TEACHER: Avi Craimer
THEME: Attention
MEDITATION: Distractions
INTERACTIVE: Continuity

Avi: In the meditation, we’ll pick a focus and then try to noticeall the spectacular and diabolical ways that our busy mind draws us away. Can  clarity about our distractions help keep them at bay and let us stay longer with our focus? In the second half, we’ll roam around the room together trying to maintain continuous unbroken focused attention in the face of some playful attempts to derail our concentration.

Liberation

January 23, 2017

 | Duration: 33:50

TEACHER: Avi Craimer
THEME: Liberation
MEDITATION:The Buddha’s Three Characteristics
INTERACTIVE:The Secret Life of Experience

Avi: In this week’s meditation, I’ll guide us in a mindful exploration of the Buddha’s three characteristics of existence: impermanence, not-self, and suffering. These things are everywhere! Noticing them really well apparently leads to enlightenment, whatever that is. In the second half, we’ll explore the secret life of experience, the parts that furtively drop out of awareness. Can we sense the empty spaces they leave behind?

Psycho-Somatic

December 19, 2016

 | Duration: 42:37

TEACHER:  Avi Craimer
THEME: Psycho-Somatic
MEDITATION: Body sensation balancing
INTERACTIVE: Touch

Avi:  This week, I will guide us in a meditation that combines elements of mindfulness and concentration in order to learn to shape sensations in the body by working with pairs of opposites such as warm-cool, hard-soft, moving-still. In the second half, we’ll explore reality as experienced through our hands, building up our mindful awareness of various tactile qualities and laughing a lot in the process.