Can Yin Yoga heal the wounds of the world and bring about world peace? Probably not – at least not on its own – but it might be an important complement to other more familiar forms of activism.
Yin Meditation
From Perch to Flight – Yin to Yang Meditation
In many ways, the perch is the cornerstone concept from which both steadiness of being (samatha) and deeper understanding (vipassana) emerge. Yin Meditation encourages a receptivity to all experience, and in this approach the perch functions as a place of safety and rest when deemed necessary by the meditator.
The Way of Yin – Receptivity and Creativity on the Path
Just as a musician trains their ear, their sense of time, their technique, their sensitivity in relationship to other musicians, in other words, just as a musician can develop these various musical capacities, I see different meditation approaches as ways of deepening and refining contemplative capacities.
The Way of the Inner Bodhisattva: How to Work With Internal Parts
Periodically checking in with “Inner Parts” in your practice tends to promote a greater harmonization of their energies, leading to less frequent periods of internal conflict amongst them. And the inverse seems to be true as well: Neglecting to check in with these parts can lay the groundwork for more intra-personal and inter-personal conflicts.
Interview with Robert Wright: Where Yoga Meets Meditation, and Mindful Resistance
In our recent conversation, we discuss the relationship between yoga and meditation, and then I prompt Bob to talk about his new project The Mindful Resistance Newsletter. It is an outstanding weekly digest of current events, presented soberly and succinctly. Bob’s intention is to mute the flame of emotional outrage and overcome the divisiveness of tribalism in order to promote real cognitive empathy and more beneficial engagement.
Interview with Gil Fronsdal: The Buddha Before Buddhism
In this interview, I ask Gil about his new book, The Buddha before Buddhism, in which Gil provides translation and commentary to one of the oldest extant Buddhist texts, The Atthakavagga, or The Book of Eights. What was so interesting for me to hear was that, perhaps, the Four Noble Truths – widely believed to be the first discourse given by the Buddha – may not have been his first teaching, at all.
Interview with Chip Hartranft: The Yoga Sutra
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing my friend, Chip Hartranft, for MeaningofLife.tv. In the yoga and meditation world, Chip is the rare practitioner who balances encyclopedic scholarship with equally profound depth of practice. In our conversation, we explore Patanjali’s road map to liberation, The Yoga Sutra. We also get into the […]
Accomplished Fugitives
Recently, while working on the Oliver Sacks piece, I found myself browsing through Maria Popova’s fantastic website: www.brainpickings.org. For a trove of material on the meaningful life, one need not look any further. At some point, I came across an article on self-renewal which highlighted this captivating passage from John Gardner: “We can keep ourselves so busy, fill our lives with […]
Holistic Development
Over the last few months, I have tried to explore a gentle critique of one modern, popular definition of mindfulness. While formulating this critique (here, here, and here), I’ve been wrestling with an attempt to update the definition. One of the issues I’m having is that, on it’s own, mindfulness is a fragmented piece of a larger […]
The Problem with Non-Judging
Over the last two entries, here and here, I began to look at the potential ways in which a popular definition of mindfulness can lead to mis-application and/or confusion within the actual practice. The definition I’ve been critiquing is from Jon Kabat-Zinn: “Mindfulness means paying attention, in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” And […]
Unlocking the Present
Last post, I began a gentle critique of a definition of mindfulness that comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn: “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” I realize that critiquing an utterance from Kabat-Zinn is comparable to heresy in some circles, but something worth remembering is that Kabat-Zinn’s approach […]
Minute of Definition
As you undoubtedly are aware, mindfulness is gaining in popularity; it’s seemingly everywhere now. So much so that it has its own name: The Mindfulness Movement. And as with any sort of movement, there are its proponents and its critics. Most of the criticism seems to express concern around the ethics of its application (Beyond […]
Losing an “I”
Last week, I attended a public conversation between Sam Harris, author and neuroscientist, and Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University. Watch the highlights here and the full video here. Harris has recently come out with his new book, Waking Up, A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion (which I recommend) and most of the discussion examined themes central to the […]
Wise Stillness (Samadhi) 4/4: Twinkle, Twinkle
In the final installment on Wise Stillness (and also the final installment on these short reflections on the Noble Eightfold Path), I want to try and draw some themes together, particularly the link between Wise Stillness and Wise View. The last limb of the Eightfold Path, in Pali, is Samma Samadhi, often translated as Wise Concentration. […]
Wise Stillness (Samadhi) 3/4: Don’t Focus on the Breath
In the first two segments of this short series on Wise Stillness, I tried to emphasize two complementary attitudes that support the experience of stillness. The first, as beautifully articulated by Ajahn Brahm’s teaching, is the attitude of allowing and letting go. The second is an appreciation of essentialism, reminding oneself of the explicit value of simplicity. […]
Wise Stillness (Samadhi) 2/4: No Other Single Thing
Essentialism. I recently came across a fantastic book by Greg McKeown with lots of ‘dharmic’ themes. The book is: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. One of McKeown’s basic ideas is that it’s not just a question of decluttering, stream-lining and getting rid of stuff that’s in your way; it’s much more an issue of investing […]
Wise Stillness 1/4 (Samadhi): The Pleasure of Less
Stillness. And so we come to the final spoke of the Eightfold Path: Samadhi. Often, Samadhi is translated as ‘concentration’, but as Ajahn Brahm suggests in the clip below, it might be translated better as ‘stillness’. This clip is some of the best advice I’ve heard for the development of Samadhi. Please take a few minutes […]
Wise Mindfulness (Sati) 3/3: Proper Balance
Balance. It’s a word we hear a lot about. Work-Life Balance. Fiscal Balance. Spiritual Balance. Protein-Carb-Fat Balance. And like so many of the spiritual faculties we read or hear about, balance, in any sense, can often feel rather elusive. How does Mindfulness Promote Balance? Through meditation practice we gain an intimate glimpse on the way the mind tends to move […]
Wise Mindfulness (Sati) 2/3: Not Mickey Mouse Mindfulness
For this Minute, I wanted to address some of the misconceptions that tend to crop up around the popularized understanding of mindfulness. And these misconceptions are what I’m referring to when I say: Mickey Mouse Mindfulness. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these three forms of Mickey Mouse Mindfulness come up again and again and could benefit from some […]
Wise Mindfulness (Sati) 1/3: Not What, But How
In these next few Minutes, I’ll be reflecting on, of all things, Mindfulness (Sati). Imagine that. Sati is the seventh aspect of the eight-fold path. Many previous newsletters (now archived on my blog: www.minuteofmindfulness.com) have focused on Sati, particularly this one here. But in this newsletter, I wanted to pick up on a theme mentioned in Jay […]
Wise Effort 3/3: The Marvel of Unknowing
Last week I tried something different. At the end of the summer, I often sit a retreat at the Insight Meditation Society. But this year, the center’s schedule and my own weren’t compatible, so I decided to undertake a stay-cation of sorts and do a self-retreat at home, in the middle of Cambridge. The plan was […]
