This week, we come to the third of the stabilizing factors of mind: Equanimity. Ajahn Thanissaro employs a useful analogy for this factor of mind: “There’s a passage in the Canon […]
Uncategorized
The Peace of Non-Agitation
On this beautiful Fall afternoon in New England, I wish to share with you some reflections on the Sixth Factor of Awakening: Tranquility (Passaddhi). In general, I would hazard to guess […]
Concentration: Moment To Moment
From single-pointed concentration (ekaggata samadhi) to moment-to-moment concentration (khanika samadhi). Once the mind gets reasonablyestablished on the breath, it’s important to shift the focus to include all aspects of the present […]
Concentration: Breathing Ladders
Over the last several weeks, we’ve been exploring the energizing factors of awakening: energy, investigation and rapture. We will now turn our attention to the stabilizing factors, which help balance the mind. Samadhi. Concentration, […]
Rapture: The Tude In Gratitude
The pleasure of gratitude. This week, we’ll conclude our short investigation ofpiti or rapture. A while back in my practice, I started to notice a curious connection that would occur in meditation whenever […]
Rapture: Potential of Perception
In this week’s installment of Minute of Mindfulness, I’ll be returning to the theme of rapture or pleasure in practice. And we’ll be looking at how our perception of the breath serves as a powerful […]
The “I” Of The Storm
EMERGENCY WARNING: This week, I will interrupt our regularly scheduled theme, The Seven Factors of Awakening, and take a cue from nature to address storms, both meteorological and psychological. As I […]
Sipping The Bliss
I received a lot of positive feedback from last week’s post. Readers expressed enthusiasm about exploring the pleasant side of practice. This week, I wanted to introduce some practical ideas […]
Rapture: Tingles, Shivers, and Bliss
From time to time, meditators and yoga practitioners will experience deep and gratifying states of bliss. The body might dissolve into light, effervescent bubbles of sensation. The mind might feel […]
Investigation
This week, we turn to the intention behind Investigation. Often, either in our yoga or meditation practice, we can get into routinized patterns. We’ve done it before. We’ve done sun salutions. […]
Hot Buddha
At 7:23 am, with the temperature already in the mid-80’s and humidity over 70%, I can think of no better teaching than this one from Larry Rosenberg, the meditation master of […]
Persistent Energy, Part 3
In the late afternoons on a recent retreat with Ajahn Sucitto, students were able to sit casually around a table, with tea in hand, and ask Ajahn questions relevant to practice […]
Persistent Energy, Part 2
Years ago, I worked intimately with a very strict Burmese meditation master, Sayadaw U Pandita. At every interview, Sayadaw would either exhort me to “try harder” or “maintain the effort […]
Persistent Energy
This week, we’ll begin a look at the second Factor of Awakening: Energy or Effort (Virya). In some respects, developing a skillful relationship to the energy and effort that goes into […]
The Mindful Way
This week, we’ll be looking at the first Factor of Awakening: Mindfulness (sati). As the namesake of this newsletter, ‘mindfulness’ is a theme that gets regular review and attention. In many […]
Faculties of Freedom
I’ve had a very full spring, and I apologize for my lapse in keeping in touch. With two teacher trainings on the schedule, a retreat in Vermont and a trip […]
Laugh It Up
The Buddha described seven faculties of mind that, when brought to a sufficient degree of maturity, lead one to an experience of unconditioned freedom. These faculties are referred to as […]
Learning To Stop
I’ve been having a fantastic time teaching Yin Yoga workshops in Luxembourg and Munich. Tonight, I will wrap up the final leg of this trip with an Yin intensive in […]
Certainty of Change
So, for the last several weeks, I’ve been listening to a talk by Ajahn Amaro called, Understanding the Nature of Experiencing Itself. At one point, Ajahn quotes Voltaire’s pithy axiom: “Doubt […]
Freedom of Restraint
For many, freedom implies the ability to fulfill a spectrum of desires. If you’re free and hungry, you eat whatever suits your fancy. If you’re free and bored, you watch […]
Mindful Minimalism
I wanted to begin this week’s thread with a quotation from the Indian teacher, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj: “All you want is to be happy. All your desires, whatever they may […]