How wonderful you are in your being! I delight that you are here! I take joy in your good fortune! May your happiness continue and increase! (From a Sinhalese Ms of the 19th century. Monks' and nuns‘ practice upon receiving alms).

Relationship of different instructions to each other. Many spices, but we don't cook with all of them at once. Orientation: how to find out and recognize what's going in your mind. (Using the satipaṭṭhāna map) Relationship: a) getting reliably in touch with and b) learning to relate skillfully to the states. Shifting attention away from habits. Mindfulness does not mean 'no discernment' – it is quite capable on discerning what is wholesome and unwholesome.

The interplay of three functions of the mind in helping the contemplative practice. Appamada – an attitude of care Sati - a relationship: mindfulness as creating presence Sampajañña – a value context

The overstretching of the visual metaphor for mindfulness ('observe, witness, get in perspective, look at' can leave us with the (erroneaous) impression that mindfulness can only 'observe' and wait. Let's not turn mindfulness in the John Silver's parrot on our shoulder.

The Four Immeasurables. Brahmavihāra are not mere emotions but constitute different tones of relational empathetic resonance. They constitute nothing less but our humanity. Brahmavihāras are cultivations not just 'states'. They are more than empathy but intentntional attitudes.

The workings of not-knowing – the workings of attentional habits. Involuntary attentional patterns seem to govern much of our experience. Yet training is possible, training is needed. Such training entails acknowledgement, attentional tasks and specificity. Negotiating pain.

About the value of samatha – the practice of stillness – and samādhi – the state of unification brought about by samatha practice. Terminology: Why concentration is a bad word for either samatha or samādhi. What the diffence of attention and mindfulness is. The intrinsic value of unification, its relationship to vipassanā. Four reasons why Buddhist traditions value the practice of stilling the mind.

Naming the tasks of the individual satipaṭṭhāna channel; psychological map of the contemplative territory. (Including some common hangups)

Guided practice on the themes of mettā, gratitude, connectedness, and forgiveness

How do we understand growth and realisation? Tracing the historical and psychological roots of two metaphors by which we understand the process of maturation. Two sources of valid forms of knowlege: – Paccakkha "before the eye," i.e. 'perceptible to the senses' 'direct experience'. – Anvaya – 'inference' The history of sudden & gradual. Besides the historical background, these terms have taken on a metaphorical meaning: the talk looks at how these metaphors chart the path of practice, their respective analogies and their images, their framing of the problem and their respective values and drawbacks. – May these metaphors ultimately have their bases in the differeing mind functions of samādhi (gradual) and sati (sudden)? The speaker, despite little canonical evidence, thinks so.