Striving for Perfection
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.
The Keys to Happiness in Daily Life
In this episode, David talks about the keys to happiness in daily life. By taking the time to understand and cultivate the three pillars of genuine wellbeing identified by contemplatives for generations, we can simplify our daily practice and make progress every day towards a happy and meaningful life. Listen now on your favourite app… Apple […]
Saying No to Self-Criticism
In this episode, David talks about saying no to the inner self-critic. Self-criticism, low self-esteem and thoughts of being not good enough can be really debilitating and hold us back from achieving our dreams and highest aspirations. Talking from the perspective of Buddhist psychology, David talks about what leads to overly critical thoughts and beliefs and provides some ways of letting go of these thoughts and building our self-confidence.
Changing Negative Habits and Cultivating Positive Ones
In this episode, David addresses a question regarding changing habits – becoming aware of them, breaking damaging habits, and embedding new positive ones. Talking practically from his own experience, and using the analogy of a bus station and a road network, David talks about how habits are formed and suggests some helpful ways we can use conscious effort and self-awareness to overcome these negative habits and to cultivate positive ones.
Developing a Daily Meditation Practice
In this episode, Dassetu explores the idea of developing a daily meditation practice. It is common to think of meditation and mindfulness as a remedy to life’s problems, like paracetamol for a headache, but really, meditation extends far beyond an activity done sitting down in the traditional way we think of. With simple changes in our life, we can be cultivating our heart-mind every moment of every day.
Dealing with Frustration
In this episode, Dassetu explores a common emotion that many of us experience on a regular basis: frustration. Frustration comes from non-acceptance and our ‘grasping’ at our expectations. It comes from not wanting things to be a certain way and being unable to accept things the way they are. But, as we’ll see, frustration is not an inherent part of our mind and is something we can reduce and remove altogether. The Buddha offered a range of simple methods to calm ourselves and let go of our frustrations so that we’re not so irritated and angry throughout the day, and to help us transform our minds completely.
The Key to Happy, Healthy & Loving Relationships
In this episode, Dassetu talks about love and attachment, and the key to happy, healthy and loving relationships from a Buddhist perspective. For a lot of us, if someone was to ask us “what would make your relationship with your partner better?” our answer would be something that our partner should do differently. It may even be a whole list that we have prepared. But as we venture on the path of meditation and self-inquiry, we realise that, as with everything, our relationships are subjective and the happiness, joy and love we seek must come from within. By bringing love and joy to the world and avoiding the extremes of aversion and craving, we can have happy, healthy and loving relationships with everyone we meet.
How to Stop Thoughts in Meditation
In this episode, Dassetu addresses the question ‘how to stop thinking 1000 thoughts during meditation?’ Talking practically from his own experience and what’s been taught by contemplatives for thousands of years, he explores key practices for those prone to rumination and suggests some helpful tips.
What to Do When You Feel Sad
In this episode, Dassetu addresses the question: what to do when I feel sad and overwhelmed? In modern life, in the pursuit of a successful and happy life, we have a tendency to abuse the mind without even realising it. This leaves us feeling unbalanced, detached, unhappy, easily overwhelmed, and at times unable to function. These are symptoms of an unbalanced mind that is being abused. Now is the time to learn the art of grounding yourself, countering this abuse by cultivating emotional balance, and ridding ourselves of negative minds.
Why You Should Meditate
In this episode, Dassetu answers the question ‘Why Meditate?’ and explains why everyone should meditate. When we first try to meditate, we notice that our mind is all over the place. This experience shows us how little control we have over our mind. Having so little control over our mind is the reason why we experience negative feelings and are not able to be happy. Meditation is more than just a fun way to relax, it is essential if we want to experience our deepest wish which drives our day-to-day life – the wish for lasting happiness and freedom from painful feeling.
