Mindfulness is becoming very popular in many areas of modern life: as a stress reduction, in schools, prisons, hospitals, in the workplace and so on. But what is mindfulness, and what was the Buddha talking about when he encouraged us to practice it? Right mindfulness, or Samma Sati, develops wisdom and understanding, decreasing unwholesome states of mind, increasing wholesome
Mindfulness of sound reminds us of the natural quality of mindfulness and mindfulness of the body and breathing helps us to be more centered and grounded
Every moment of mindfulness we are weakening the forces of greed, hatred & delusion (roots of suffering) and strengthening the forces of non-greed (letting go & generosity), non-hatred (loving-kindness) and non-delusion (wisdom). This talk explains how that works.
The course of practice is explored: how mindfulness works, willingness to open to our suffering, discovering our wholesome qualities & the Buddha within, dealing with forgetting who we are, then sharing our love & wisdom with the world.
The practice of the Dhamma is a powerful protection that comes about by wholeheartedly applying mindfulness, the four protective meditations, restraint, virtue, going for refuge, patience, or the parittas.
Instead of being at the mercy of desire and attachment we need to understand the sticky nature of every form of desire – and then to weaken and abandon it. Besides using mindfulness there are a number of approaches to skilfully deal with desire.
Mindfulness is an indispensable quality for our practice of vipassana meditation. It is the foundation upon which all the other beautiful and necessary qualities for insight to arise can unfold.
Mostly silent meditation practising choiceless awareness, with occasional instructions to check for the presence or absence of each of the seven factors of awakening: mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity
This is a practice that brings in ease to the mind and body, offering relief from our dukkha while also supporting more mental clarity to see through some of our confusion and aversion.
It can be used for stress, grief, and being overwhelmed. It can also be used to prepare for more concentration and steady mindfulness when the mind or body is a bit stirred up.
Beginning with mindfulness of breathing, then including physical sensations, sounds, thoughts and emotions, knowing their impermanent nature, then opening up to choiceless awareness
