Excerpted from Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi's remarks to the Community Dharma Leaders program at BCBS, June29, 2006. I have been thinking about the discussion we had yesterday on the problems you’ve encountered in teaching Buddhism in America. I would like to offer a few of my own thoughts on this subject. As we go along, I will also share with you the general outlines of one scheme I’ve worked out for pulling the Buddha’s teachings together into a single, all-embracing whole. In my view one of the … [Read more...]
The Path of Concentration and Mindfulness
This article is adapted from a workshop offered at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, February 23-25,1996 by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Abbot of Metta Forest Monastery, San Diego County, California. Many people tell us that the Buddha taught two different types of meditation: mindfulness meditation and concentration meditation. Mindfulness meditation, they say, is the direct path, while concentration practice is the scenic route that you take at your own risk because it's very easy to get … [Read more...]
“Seeing” the Āsavas
The Sabbāsava Sutta (M 2) is one of the most important and practical teachings in the Pāli Canon. It summarizes our most deeply entrenched patterns of delusion and suffering and it points to the methods by which these are managed and overcome. This is what it's all about—seeing our patterns and working with them skillfully. Thus, one might say that the Sabbāsava Sutta outlines the whole of the practice. The key word here is āsava, often translated as "taint" although there have been … [Read more...]
Mindfulness & the Cognitive Process
If sati, mindfulness, is not there in ordinary life, it is not working. If it is only there on retreat, and absent in your daily life, this is also problematic. What makes this integration so difficult is that taṅhā, desire or craving, is not just something added to our experience: It is literally built into our cognitive process. We are, if you will, born with the pathology of desire. Part I: The Pathology of Desire Craving, or taṅhā in Pali, is the central problem identified by the … [Read more...]