The Noble Eightfold Path (ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo) is the core Buddhist framework that describes the path of practice toward Liberation from Suffering. It is divided into 3 sections: Wisdom, Action, and Meditation/Integration. The section on Wisdom (pañña) 1. Right (or Wise) View (sammā-diṭṭhi ) (2.28.17 on Suffering and 3.7.17 on Karma) 2. Right Intention (sammā-sankappa) (3.14.17) The section on Ethics …
Talk given at Haas Business School on Valentine’s day. They asked me to talk about the “mind-body connection” in yoga so I talked about how there’s really no such thing. How Descartes was wrong, etc. They were great.
Part of a series on social justice issues, we look here at the profound virtue of tolerance, and how it can be developed through the practices of mettā and renunciation. Meditation I gave “basics” meditation instructions this evening:
How the foundational Buddhist practice of Going for Refuge is more profound than we often think, and can be a simple but powerful ritual to support us on the path.
The doctrinal list known as the 10 Perfections, or pāramī, has only a small place in the earliest layer of the Buddhist teachings, but by the time the Pāli Canon was being fully assembled and the Mahāyāna revolution was well-underway, the list became one of the central frameworks for describing the qualities that aspiring Buddhas, or “Bodhisattvas” should cultivate. The Jataka Tales …
10 Perfections (pāramī) to Cultivate on the Path Read More »
How self-judgment is interwoven with the unfolding of Action and its Results, or kamma/karma, and the implications for our sense of self, leading to the subtle and difficult teaching of Selflessness, or anattā.
The 3 Characteristics or Marks (tilakkhaṇa) of all conditioned things. These three comprise the core insights that begin the path of Liberation from Suffering in the Theravāda tradition. 1. Impermanence, the constancy of Change (anicca) 2. Unsatisfactoriness, the first Noble Truth, Suffering (dukkha) 3. Selflessness, Emptiness of Independent Essence (anattā)
A classical teaching on why it’s so hard to let go, but why we must, if we want to find freedom from suffering.Talk given at Insight Meditation Satsang, Yoga Tree Telegraph.
Talk: Mindfulness as intimacy with ourselves, with the world through our senses, in relationship with each moment. Given at Vajrapani yoga and meditation retreat with Pete Guinosso. (10.2.15)
Vinyasa yoga, where we flow between poses (asana) synchronizing movement with breath, is sometimes described as a “moving meditation”, and many people are drawn to the physical practice of yoga partly because they find that flowing through a vinyasa class is an easier way to relax and quiet the mind than traditional sitting meditation. I think this is one of …
May the forces of delusion
not take hold, nor
weaken my resolve.
(Sharing of Merit)