We begin with a period of settling, developing greater samadhi or concentration, and then move to mindfulness practice, including giving some attention to noticing moderate or a little greater levels of pleasant or unpleasant feeling-tone. When we notice pleasant or unpleasant feeling-tones, is there any tendency toward grasping or pushing away, in habitual or automatic ways? We then explore gratitude as a practice, simply reflecting on ways that we are grateful, first for aspects of our own lives, and then for aspects of the wider world. This is followed by opening with mindfulness to some difficult or painful aspects of our world, whether close to home or farther away, inspired to see and be with what is painful through wisdom and care. We end with a return to mindfulness practice for a short time. (This guided meditation is related to the talk that follows, honoring the life and work of Joanna Macy.)

Connecting with the emotions and mind states with warm hearted mindfulness

Bringing a quality of metta or goodwill to your Insight Meditation or mindfulness practice.

The elements for the growth of mindfulness and insight.

Mindfulness teaches us that we can soften into this world, touching and being touched by life.

The Buddha encourages us to abandon the unwholesome and develop wholesomeness in our daily acts, words and thoughts. As we learn to trust in pure awareness and present moment mindfulness, the weight of the world is lifted from the heart. Here and now, we abide in the formless, changeless, and eternal. Not only do we bear testimony to others that this is within our reach but we are also directly blessed by it ourselves. We see the nature of emptiness and know the peace of true freedom.

In the Honeyball Sutta (MN 18), it says, "What one perceives, that one thinks about. What one thinks about, that one mentally proliferates (or complicates)." And this mental proliferation often leads to "evil unwholesome states" which can cause harm and suffering. When we bring mindfulness to the subtle realm of perception, we start to see more clearly without adding anything extra. This is where equanimity comes in, allowing us to meet life with fewer preferences and with greater mental balance.

The first of the Satipatthana practices for establishing mindfulness is the body.