Dear Friends, Turn on the news, and you’ll likely read about some manifestation of hatred, aversion, ill-will, fear, or variations thereof. Wars, crime, violence. Maybe not as news-worthy, you might have your own internal messages that come from that same source – impatience, judging, blame, harsh self-talk, and so on. We can even have aversion to aversion! “I’m… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’m on retreat until Tuesday afternoon, but I’ve queued up some emails to keep you inspired while I’m away. The seventh factor of awakening and the fourth quality of the heart are both called “equanimity”. I’m not sure if the two are the same thing. I get the sense that they are, but that we are… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’m on retreat until Tuesday afternoon, but I’ve queued up some emails to keep you inspired while I’m away. Yesterday, we looked at the first three of the seven factors: mindfulness, investigation, and energy. Today, we’ll look at the next three: joy, tranquility, and concentration. Joy As our mindfulness deepens, we investigate, and then that rouses… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’m on retreat until Tuesday afternoon, but I’ve queued up some emails to keep you inspired while I’m away. Bhante Gunaratana starts chapter 12 of The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English with the Gilana Discourse. One of the Buddha’s senior pupils was very ill, so the Buddha went to visit him and asked how he was… Read More »
Dear Friends, Gil Fronsdal wrote: Because we tend not to see clearly when the hindrances are present, the Buddhist teachings strongly encourage people not to make decisions while under their influence. If possible, wait to make a decision when the mind is more settled or clear. So if you have something big on your to do list today,… Read More »
Dear Friends, We will spend the next few days looking at the third way of establishing mindfulness – mindfulness of mind. In Chapter 8 of The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English, Bhante Gunaratana first explores the nature of mind and consciousness. First a side-note: “mind” in this context is a translation of the Pali word citta, and it… Read More »
Dear Friends, Gil Fronsdal’s translation of the opening two stanzas of the first verse of the Dhammapada is: All experience is preceded by mind, Led by mind, Made by mind. Speak or act with a corrupted mind, And suffering follows As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox. All experience is preceded by mind, Led by… Read More »
Dear Friends, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting yesterday evening, and the talk turned to boredom, and the tendency that many people have to fill time by doing “stuff”. In the context of that conversation, Doris mentioned a talk she listened to by Gil Fronsdal, in which he suggested a practice of doing one thing at… Read More »
Dear Friends, Just a short email today. 🙂 Feel free to keep working on mindfulness of breathing. Gil Frondsdal says that one of his teachers told him that mindfulness of breathing is enough, in and of itself, for a person to become enlightened. In the Search Inside Yourself capstone session, Brandon Rennels, one of the instructors of the in-person class I… Read More »
Dear Friends, The Buddha gave advise on bringing mindfulness to states of mind (thoughts, emotions): “And how does a monk remain focused on the mind in & of itself? There is the case where a monk, when the mind has passion, discerns that the mind has passion. When the mind is without passion, he discerns that the mind… Read More »
Dear Friends, One of my big tasks at work this month will be working with my team to our articulate goals for 2016. Goal setting is something many people do. Intentions are different than goals. I found a good description of the distinction between goals and intentions, by Phillip Moffitt: Goal making is a valuable skill; it involves… Read More »
