Guided Heart Forgiveness And Compassion meditation by Tara Brach

This guided meditation by Tara Brach was used at our Autumn meditation retreat.



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Your Best Brain by Rick Hanson

Rick Hanson is a neuropsychologist and has written and taught about the essential inner skills of personal well-being, psychological growth, and contemplative practice – as well as about relationships, family life, and raising children.

An authority on self-directed neuroplasticity, Dr. Hanson’s work has been featured on the BBC, NPR, CBC, FoxBusiness, Consumer Reports Health, U.S. News and World Report, and O Magazine, and his articles have appeared in Tricycle Magazine, Insight Journal, and Inquiring Mind. He has several audio programs with Sounds True, he edits the Wise Brain Bulletin, and his weekly e-newsletter – Just One Thing – has over 75,000 subscribers, and also appears on Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and other major websites.




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Daoism

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Daoism. An ancient Chinese tradition of philosophy and religious belief,
Daoism first appeared more than two thousand years ago. For centuries it was the most popular religion in China; in the West its religious aspects are not as well known as its practices, which include meditation and Feng Shui, and for its most celebrated text, the Daodejing.

The central aim in Daoism is to follow the 'Dao', a word which roughly translates as 'The Way'. Daoists believe in following life in its natural flow, what they refer to as an 'effortless action'. This transcendence can be linked to Buddhism, the Indian religion that came to China in the 2nd century BC and influenced Daoism - an exchange which went both ways. Daoism is closely related to, but has also at times conflicted with, the religion of the Chinese Imperial court, Confucianism.

The spirit world is of great significance in Daoism, and its hierarchy and power often take precedence over events and people in real life. But how did this ancient and complex religion come to be so influential?



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The Nuns of Drapchi Prison

This item was originally posted on Monday, 24 March 2008. I have recently been able to add an embedded audio player and so am repeating the post here.


While I was driving back from Newport the other day, Saturday, I turned on the car radio and found myself in the middle of the Women's Hour weekend omnibus edition, not something I normally listen to. Before I could change channels or switch off, the program started its next item "Tibetan Unrest and the Drapchi Nuns"....... the story of how, in 1993, a group of Tibetan nuns, in the notorious Drapchi prison in Lhasa, secretly recorded songs of freedom. Against all odds, the recordings were smuggled out of prison and the songs were heard by the outside world. The Drapchi 14, as they became known, were beaten for their actions and their sentences extended - by between five and nine years each.

This program is not easy listening but I urge you to hear it out, it is saddening but also hugely inspiring..........



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Oh, by the way, the petition now stands at 1,690,484 signatures.