Wisdom of the Masters

Latest Episodes:

Hazrat Inayat Khan ~ Music of the Absolute ~ Sufi Mystics Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882 –1927) was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. He initially came to the West as a representative of several traditions of classical Indian music, and established an order of Sufism (the Sufi Order) in London in 1914. By the time of his death in 1927, centers had been established throughout Europe and North America, and multiple volumes of his teachings had been published.Inayat Khan's teaching emphasized the oneness of God (tawhid) and the underlying harmony of the revelations communicated by the prophets of all the world's great religions. His discourses treated such varied subjects as religion, art, music, ethics, philosophy, psychology, and health and healing.

Music: Uppbeat Licensed Music

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Resting the Mind ~ Samaneri Jayasara Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

This meditation guides you to rest and relax the mind and body, not through force or coercion, but simply by recognising the ever present state of the mind in it natural awareness. Rediscovering our inherent, natural peace within the mind is key to learning how to rest into our meditation practice where "practice" becomes effortless. One can then practice easefully anywhere with eyes open when moving through the world.

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The Fire Sermon ~ Teachings of the Buddha Sep 04, 2026

Show notes

Ādittapariyāya Sutta, popularly known as "The Fire Sermon", is the third major discourse delivered by the Buddha. Spoken on top of the Gayasisa Hill to a gathering of 1,000 newly converted ascetics, the sermon provides a psychologically acute formula for breaking free from worldly attachments.This reading is an amalgam of translations including those of Bhikkhu Bodhi, Bhante Sujato, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu and Ayya Jitindriya.

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The Mandukya Upanishad ~ Advaita Vedanta Aug 29, 2026

Show notes

The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣhad is one of the later and shortest of the principal Upaniṣads, consisting of just twelve remarkably dense verses. It belongs to the Atharvaveda and is traditionally attributed to no single author, emerging from the ancient contemplative tradition of India.Though brief, it became one of the most influential texts of Advaita Vedānta. Its central teaching explores the four dimensions of consciousness — waking, dreaming, deep sleep and Turīya, the “Fourth,” which transcends and underlies them all. Through the symbolism of OM, the Upaniṣad points toward that which is beyond all changing states of experience.Through remarkably concise and penetrating verses, the Upaniṣhad points beyond the mind, beyond experience and beyond every concept of who we believe ourselves to be. What remains when waking, dreaming and deep sleep are understood as passing appearances? What is that which knows them all?The answer cannot be grasped merely as an idea. The Māṇḍūkya invites us to turn inward and discover directly the silent awareness that is present before, during and beyond every changing experience.Music: Divine Om Chant

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Max Picard ~ A Meditation on Silence Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

Max Picard (1888–1965) was a Swiss-German philosopher, physician, and mystic whose profound vision and work speaks with extraordinary force to our increasingly noisy and distracted age —yet whose voice seems more necessary now than ever.

Born in Schopfheim, Germany, near the Swiss border, to Jewish parents, Picard trained as a physician before abandoning medicine in 1918. Increasingly disenchanted with the mechanistic direction of modern science, he turned away from clinical life and withdrew to the quiet landscapes of southern Switzerland, settling in Caslano and neighbouring villages, where he devoted himself to contemplative writing and exploring silence, solitude, presence, and the sacred power of the human word. In 1939, Picard converted to Roman Catholicism from the Judaism of his youth.

A deeply original thinker, his life and work were marked by an uncompromising simplicity and inwardness. He deliberately avoided academic institutions, intellectual fashion, and public prominence, yet maintained friendships and correspondence with some of the most perceptive minds of the twentieth century, including Hermann Hesse, Gabriel Marcel, Gaston Bachelard, and Rainer Maria Rilke.

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Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi) ~ The Return ~ Taoism Aug 11, 2026

Show notes

Selected teachings from Chuang Tzu excerpted from 'The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu' - translated by Burton Watson. Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi) c. 369–286 BCE was one of ancient China’s greatest Daoist sages. Living during the turbulent Warring States period, he rejected worldly ambition and chose a life of simplicity, freedom and contemplation. His teachings are filled with brilliant paradoxes, humour and stories that challenge our deepest assumptions about reality, identity and the self.His timeless work, the Zhuangzi, points toward a life of effortless harmony with the Dao—and freedom from the limitations of the thinking mind. His teaching invites us to let go of fixed ideas, surrender our struggle with life, and awaken to the freedom of simply being.Music: Swami Madhuram (Time for Peace) - with thanks to Swami for his beautiful gifting of music for this channel.https://insighttimer.com/swamimadhuram

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The Path of Immediate Liberation ~ Dzogchen Meditation Jun 24, 2026

Show notes

This is a guided Dzogchen meditation pointing to recognising the natural state of the enlightened mind, free from conceptual proliferation, and practising to rest in it. The instructions are based on various teachings and pointers from Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) and taken from numerous texts.

Dzogchen (often translated as "Great Perfection") is a contemplative tradition primarily associated with the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, though it is also found in the Bön tradition. In essence, Dzogchen teaches that our fundamental nature is already complete, pure, and awake. The aim is not to create enlightenment through effort, but to directly recognize this ever-present awareness and become familiar with abiding in it.

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Sayings of the Desert Mothers ~ Christian Mystics Jun 16, 2026

Show notes

This is a reading for meditation of selected teachings/sayings of the Desert Mothers, taken from 'Apophthegmata Patrum' (Sayings of the Desert Fathers & Mothers) translated by Benedicta Ward; and Philokia: compiled in the eighteenth century by Macarius of Corinth (1731-1805). The teachings spoken here are from the Mothers - Amma Theodora, Amma Syncletica and Amma Sarah.The Desert Mothers lived primarily in the fourth and fifth centuries, withdrawing to the arid regions of the eastern Mediterranean at a time when Christianity had become legally protected and increasingly institutionalized. Like their male counterparts, they sought the desert as a place of stripping away — a landscape where distractions fell silent and the soul was exposed before God.Some lived in loose monastic communities; others inhabited abandoned tombs, caves, or simple mud-brick cells. Their days were shaped by prayer, fasting, manual labor, and long periods of silence. Water was scarce, food minimal, and illness common. The desert was not romantic — it was a place of bodily weakness and spiritual testing.They were called ammas, meaning “mothers,” a title that conveyed both intimacy and authority. This was not sentimental language. To be an amma was to be recognized as someone whose life had been tested and whose counsel could be trusted.

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Ajahn Chah ~ A Guided Meditation ~ Thai Forest Tradition Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

This is a guided meditation formatted from instructions provided in the text, "On Meditation Instructions from talks by Ajahn Chah."The text can be downloaded for free from here: https://www.abhayagiri.org/media/book...Ajahn Chah (1918–1992) was one of the most influential Buddhist meditation masters of the modern era and a key teacher in the Thai Forest Tradition. Renowned for his simplicity, wisdom, and emphasis on direct experience, he taught a path of mindfulness, ethical living, and inner freedom grounded in the teachings of the Buddha. His teachings have inspired practitioners worldwide and led to the establishment of numerous monasteries in Thailand and across the globe. He was reputed to be an Arahant.

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Nisargadatta ~ Be Like Space ~ The Final Talks May 28, 2026

Show notes

This is a selection of teachings of Nisargadatta's taken from the text 'Consciousness and the Absolute: The Final Talks - Jean Dunn (editor).The text, 'Consciousness and the Absolute' were the last teachings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, and contain the final dialogues he had with the people who had come from all over the world to hear his words. These talks, coming during the last days of his life, were the culmination of the rarest teachings he had to give; they were the summit of the heights of his wisdom.Nisargadatta Maharaj (17 April 1897 – 8 September 1981), born Maruti Shivrampant Kambli, was an Indian guru of nondualism, belonging to the Inchagiri Sampradaya, a lineage of teachers from the Navnath Sampradaya and Lingayat Shaivism.Music: State Azure - 'Beyond the Gates of Kunlun'https://stateazure.bandcamp.com/

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