dhammesu dhamm-ānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā-domanassaṃ One abides contemplating mental objects as mental objects, ardent, fully aware, mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. —Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta The Bhāvana Program is a seven-day vipassanā retreat of sitting and walking practice which includes a textual study session each morning. This new model, unique to BCBS, allows for an in-depth investigation of the Dhamma using both … [Read more...]
Resistance in Meditation
Bill Morgan, Psy.D., a Boston-area psychotherapist and Buddhist practitioner, is a member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy (IMP). These remarks are excerpted from a talk given at a joint BCBS/IMP program called "Buddhist Psychology in Contemporary Perspective" in Cambridge, MA in the fall of 2001. There is a saying in Buddhism, “Meditation is good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end.” I don’t know how it is for any of you, but my experience has been … [Read more...]
The Visuddhi Magga on the Brahma-Vihāras
Teaching Buddhism in America
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...]
Life is a Retreat
Can you tell us something about your jataka, your life story, where you came from and how you got into all this? I grew up in New York, was married when I was 18 years old, graduated from college a year or so later, and had four children in five and a half years (they are all grown, now). I always thought I would die very young because I did everything in such a hurry. I figured I’d be finished with all my things and there wouldn’t be anything else left to do, any people tell a story that … [Read more...]