Most practitioners of insight meditation are familiar with the four foundations of mindfulness, and know that the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (M 10; D 22), the Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness is the cornerstone of the vipassanā [insight meditation] tradition. The first foundation, mindfulness of the body, has to do with bringing awareness, attention, or focus to breathing and to bodily sensations. The second foundation of mindfulness, mindfulness of feeling, involves noticing the affect … [Read more...]
Understanding the Hindrances
Food for Awakening: The Role of Appropriate Action
The Myth of Bare Attention The Buddha never used the word for “bare attention” in his meditation instructions. That’s because he realized that attention never occurs in a bare, pure or unconditioned form. It’s always colored by views and perceptions—the labels you tend to give to events—and by intentions: your choice of what to attend to and your purpose in being attentive. If you don’t understand the conditioned nature of even simple acts of attention, you might assume that a moment of … [Read more...]
Mindfulness for Educators
The most practical thing we can achieve in any kind of work is insight into what is happening inside us as we do it. The more familiar we are with our inner terrain, the more surefooted our teaching—and living—becomes. —Parker Palmer These words from Parker Palmer’s book The Courage to Teach (Jossey-Bass, 1998) have inspired many educators to explore the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. Eloquent and provocative, Palmer’s work illuminates the perils, paradoxes and challenges that one faces … [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...]