Mindfulness of breathing, 16 steps, four tetrads, Fulfilling the four foundations of mindfulness

The mindful heart that relinquishes, withstands the impact of the world

This is a lightly guided, mostly silent meditation from the Friday night practice offered by Ajahn Karunadhammo. “Many of us approach Buddhist practice believing that the point is to learn mindfulness meditation. Yet there's so much more to understand and practice. The eight factors, or the eightfold path, allow for a complete and fully integrated program, leading toward liberation.”

Starting with chanting, this is the talk from the Friday night practice offered by Ajahn Karunadhammo. “Many of us approach Buddhist practice believing that the point is to learn mindfulness meditation. Yet there's so much more to understand and practice. The eight factors, or the eightfold path, allow for a complete and fully integrated program, leading toward liberation.”

Week 4 of a 6 week introductory course to Mindfulness Meditation. Includes 30 minute meditation followed by talk and discussion with the class.

date estimated

How mindfulness activates wholesome states of mind, including energy and concentration, that lead to full awakening.

In his new book From Suffering to Peace – The True Promise of Mindfulness Mark Coleman, author and senior teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, weaves together contemporary applications with mindfulness practices in use for millennia. His approach to mindfulness and meditation empowers us to engage with and transform the inevitable stress and pain of life, so we can discover genuine peace — in the body, heart, mind, and the wider world. In this evening talk, Mark will lead brief mediations and explore the aspects of his book to help practitioners, of all kinds, access and benefit from the “true promise of mindfulness”.

In his new book From Suffering to Peace – The True Promise of Mindfulness Mark Coleman, author and senior teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, weaves together contemporary applications with mindfulness practices in use for millennia. His approach to mindfulness and meditation empowers us to engage with and transform the inevitable stress and pain of life, so we can discover genuine peace — in the body, heart, mind, and the wider world. In this evening talk, Mark will lead brief mediations and explore the aspects of his book to help practitioners, of all kinds, access and benefit from the “true promise of mindfulness”.

Week 3 of a 6 week introductory course to Mindfulness Meditation. Includes 30 minute meditation followed by talk and discussion with the class.

Exploring trust as an element of practice, as well as the remaining faculties (energy, mindfulness, concentration & wisdom).

In our fourth exploration of how to practice with conflict, we examine four practice resources, inviting listeners to keep in mind, as we explore the resources, a conflict (whether an inner conflict, an interpersonal conflict, or a larger social conflict); conflict is understood as a difference of, or tension between, positions or values or needs. The first resource is that of the tools of our inner practice: mindfulness practice, heart practices such as compassion, lovingkindness, and forgiveness, and ways to work with difficult emotions and thoughts such as anger, fear, sadness, frustration, the judgmental mind, etc. The second resource is that of the "win-win" or "both-and" model of conflict transformation, in which the aim is to move from an "either-or" or "win-lose" framework toward the "win-win" way of meeting the underlying values or needs of both sides; at times, we may need to move away from the "win-lose" framework through "avoidance" (time outs, cease-fires, etc.) or compromise, on the way, if possible, to "win-win." The third resource is that of empathy, taken as a practice central to working with conflicts of any kind. The fourth resource is that of working with attachments to fixed views that typically arise in conflict situations of any kind, especially through through mindfulness, inquiry, empathy, and heart practices.

What mindfulness is and why mindfulness of breathing is such a valuable meditation in our tradition.

Week 1 of a 6 week introductory course to Mindfulness Meditation. Starts with a 15 minute guided meditation followed by a 30 minute Dharma Talk followed by another 30 minutes of guided meditation and finally 15 minutes of discussion/Q&A led by Mark Nunberg

Mindfulness of feelings (vedana)

Introduction of the 2nd foundation of mindfulness. Mindfulness of feeling.

Mindfulness Of Breath and Body

While Tara is away, this talk is from 2011 after Hurricane Irene hit us with fury. Dorian is now leaving its destruction behind, just as we work with our stormy weather within. Whether you face chronic anxiety or more violent storms of fear and anger, you can cultivate the wings of freedom–the mindfulness and compassion–that free you. This talk explores how the habit of being reactive causes us suffering and the ways these tools of meditation can be applied to the inner weather systems that most challenge us.

Steadying the mind. Suggestions for a balance of attention in a retreat setting.

Mindfulness with Kindness

Arriving on retreat; guidelines for stabilising mindfulness

A discussion of the reasons people come to practice and how "mindfulness" turns into insight.

This talk is about the four foundations of mindfulness.

An exploration of ways that we commonly struggle with our mental activity, how wisdom and compassion can help release the struggle through practising with the Third Establishment of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of the Mind, and understanding the three characteristics of anicca-dukkha-anatta

Guided Meditation

The tenderness practice instructions during the meditation is a form of metta and compassion practice. It's one that helps ease the nervous system, hold difficulty and stress with care, and cultivates a kind attitude towards our mindfulness practice.

With mindfulness of breathing as a concentration practice we intentionally develop the 5 jhana factors. We also will definitely experience their opposites. - the 5 hindrances. As the 5 jhana factors become stronger we experience fewer hindrances.

"Be mindful and have Right View" - Sayadaw U Tejaniya

These two talks address the inquiry: How do we awaken from the contempt and hatred that causes so much suffering in our world? The first talk looks at how we can use the practices of mindfulness and compassion to decondition our habits of self-blame and self-hatred, as well as the importance of helping each other defuse the trance of unworthiness. The second talk extends the use of these practices to situations where we’ve locked into external “bad othering.” These times need our deepened dedication to love: By intentionally arousing compassion for ourselves and others, we directly contribute to the evolution of consciousness in our world.

The world deeply needs a culture of skillful conflict transformation, informed by dharma practice. In such a culture, we would have individuals who combine inner capacities such as mindfulness, skill with difficult emotions, empathy and compassion, and equanimity, with perspectives on how to work with conflicts, whether inner, interpersonal, or social. In this talk, we look at some of the prevalent social conditioning around being with conflict, including tendencies to avoid conflict or act out when there are conflicts, and widespread tendencies to see conflicts dualistically and to project negative aspects onto “opponents.” In this context, Donald presents some images and reflections from his just-completed time of teaching and traveling for 3 1/2 weeks in Israel and the West Bank. He then focuses on some of the inner capacities important for being skillful with conflict, next time examining some of the perspectives on conflict that have come out of the fields of mediation, negotiation, and conflict transformation. There is also a time of discussion.

The power of pausing (mindful and heartful), what we notice about existence; dukkha and release, and ways of relating that bring more freedom.

These two talks address the inquiry: How do we awaken from the contempt and hatred that causes so much suffering in our world? The first talk looks at how we can use the practices of mindfulness and compassion to decondition our habits of self-blame and self-hatred, as well as the importance of helping each other defuse the trance of unworthiness. The second talk extends the use of these practices to situations where we’ve locked into external “bad othering.” These times need our deepened dedication to love: By intentionally arousing compassion for ourselves and others, we directly contribute to the evolution of consciousness in our world.

Using the image and felt sense of a smile, we scan through the body, and awaken a sense of aliveness, presence and tenderness. The practice then extends to mindfully include all sounds, sensations, and feelings; and when difficult experience arises, to intentionally offer care. We close with an offering of loving kindness to our own being, to others who are suffering and to all life everywhere.

Keeping your attention directly at the sense doors lets us cut through our habit of being lost in thought. As mindfulness increases, we can eventually by mindful of thought as it arises.

Reflections on mindfulness and ethics, including a critique of the nationalist ethics of Burmese monks and the reduction of mindfulness to “McMindfulness.”

Mindfulness is the ability to bear things in mind with a steady intention. Like the sides of the hand, there is a hard side with its ability to bar and repel corrupting influences, and a soft side that lingers and takes in the qualities. Select an object of meditation based on what’s needed, and give attention to the careful holding.

When the mind is not steady and has gone into activation, clinging is inevitable. The clung-to experience creates the person. But there’s a choice. Our responsibility is to manage the flood of the aggregates through mindfulness.

The trained mind is fluid and flexible – natural. The untrained mind is fixed and grasping – loses its agility. Training comes through mindfulness of the 4 bases and 3 aspects of mind. Body gives mind something to anchor itself on so the habits of grasping that create a fixed self can be released.

Morning instructions on ways of practicing with thoughts so as to develop a more spacious relationship with thinking and understand more fully the shaping power of perception and papañca (projection, proliferation, objectification.

In this talk, Shaila Catherine encourages practitioners to view illness and pain as opportunities to practice equanimity, patience, and mindfulness of the body. When we are sick or in pain, we can still practice being attentive to present conditions, and reflect that all beings are all also subject to illness and death. Illness is not wrong; it is inevitable. The more we resist this fact, the more mental suffering we add to our physical difficulties. When we learn to be present with both pleasant and unpleasant feelings, we will know an experience of profound peace.

We can get sidetracked with a focus on mindfulness or stress reduction or meditation techniques. We don’t understand what leads up to them, the Noble 8-Fold Path. This Path begins with right view - knowing the heart and how it’s affected - and right effort - bringing up skillful mindstates.

1st day evening talk about practicing mindfulness of body, including reflections on cultivating samadhi, elements practice and emptiness.

What are the roles of mindfulness - sati - on our path? The talk describes five central functions of mindfulness on the basis of the similes that the Buddha used in the Pali canon. It also touches on the development of sati.

Working in pairs naming mind-states out loud using just one word; separately for four minutes each, then alternating back and forth

A short talk offering definitions of different aspects of mental activity, including thoughts, emotions, moods and mind-states