The present article briefly surveys four developments in Buddhist meditation traditions from the viewpoint of an apparently ongoing interaction between theory and practice: a gradual reduction of the sixteen steps of mindfulness of breathing to just focusing on the breath; an apparent fascination with light and fire imagery leading to investing the mind with intrinsic luminosity and purity; a tendency to grant increasing importance to absorption as indispensable for progress to awakening or even … [Read more...]
Diversity Assumptions, Implicit Values, and Seeking Refuge
Learn more about Lynette’s course at BCBS this coming April 27-30 on Cultivating Ethics: Buddhist Teachings for Mindfulness Program Leaders. Learn more about Lynette’s daylong course at BCBS this April 27 on The Personal is Professional: Buddhist Ethics for Psychotherapy Practice. Insight Journal: You were born in Burma and came to Canada as a refugee when you were young. As a Burmese who has lived in North America most of her life, how do you relate to the conversation around … [Read more...]
Mindfulness in Different Buddhist Traditions
In modern day meditation circles, different understandings of mindfulness frequently exist side by side. Finding a meaningful way of relating one form of mindfulness to another can provide a model for coming to terms with the variety of Buddhist teachings nowadays available in the West. Different Constructs of Mindfulness The theoretical construct of mindfulness and the practices informed by this notion have gone through considerable development over two and a half thousand years of … [Read more...]
Directed and Undirected Meditation (Satipatthana Samyutta 47.1.10)
The venerable Ānanda arose early one morning, and taking up his robe and bowl approached a certain settlement of nuns, where he sat down on a seat that had been prepared. A number of nuns approached the venerable Ānanda, and after greeting him, sat down to one side. So seated, these nuns said this to the venerable Ānanda: ‘There are here, Ānanda sir, a number of nuns who abide with minds well established in the four foundations of mindfulness. Their understanding is becoming ever greater … [Read more...]
Mindfulness: Gateway into Experience
These words are excerpted from a dharma talk given at BCBS on January 18, 1997 as part of the Nalanda Program's weekend retreat. Mindfulness (sati) reveals to us the nature of reality, of our own mind and body in each moment of our experience. When we apprehend any aspect of our experience with mindfulness, we find that experience to be fleeting. Seeing the fleeting nature of all our experiences over a period of time, we become grounded in the wisdom or insight that we cannot rely on any … [Read more...]
Mindfulness
In any moment of mindfulness, we have the beginning, middle and end of the path. From the Bhavana Program, BCBS March 2000 I want to speak a little tonight about mindfulness, perhaps from a slightly different angle than your discussions today with Than Santikaro, but hopefully in a way that is complementary. The word “mindfulness” can have a passive sound to it. It may feel to us at certain points like it's some kind of state that will arise—or not—and there’s really nothing much for us to … [Read more...]
Waking Up In Relationships
One of the primary challenges that most meditators face is how to bring their meditation practice into the world of everyday relationships. On retreats, conditions are specifically created that support our mindfulness practice. As difficult as retreat life may be at times, the environment of silence with lots of sitting and walking practice helps us develop continuity of attention in order to see things as they are. On retreat, we hear over and over again the importance of being in the present, … [Read more...]
The Investigation of What Is Important: The Second Factor of Awakening
Santikaro Bhikkhu is an American-born monk who has been living in Thailand at the Suan Mokh monastery for twenty years. His teacher was Ajahn Buddhadasā, a well-known scholar and practitioner who contributed greatly to the development of Engaged Buddhism through his writing and teaching. These pages are extracted from a seven-day Bhāvana Program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies that took place in March 2000. The Seven Factors The Pali word bojjhaṅgā is usually translated as "factors … [Read more...]
The Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness
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...]
The Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness
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 vipassana 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...]
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