What is mindfulness - what are the essential aspects of mindfulness and what are the key points elucidated by the Buddha in how to use mindfulness as a path to awaken.
Arrogance is a remnant from the pain of the self that wants to be seen and heard as special and privileged. It is our spiritual work to watch not only the subtle grasping and aversive formations of self but its gross manifestations like arrogance as well. What is the pain behind this mental display, and what are the assumptions that move arrogance forward?
Meditation practice invites us to see that we are an inseparable part of the vast web of life, despite the appearance of our separate individuality. This realisation opens our heart to a sense of deep inner connection, and enables us to live in harmony and at peace with the way things are.
All conditioned things turn out to be unreliable and subject to change. Recognising and accepting the truth of impermanence and the insecurity of our fluid existence allows us to let go of holding and resistance, and release our limited sense of self into the flow of life.
There is a direct relationship between our acceptance of the moment, or lack of, and our happiness, or lack of. Being aware of our level of acceptance is the foundation for happiness and gives us the space in which to make decisions about our speech and actions in the world.
Tensions in the body are physical manifestations of mind and thought patterns. As we smile into the body it becomes our friend. The body is the gateway to the mystery of life, and in it we can experience the silence that is in us and around us.
Sylvia Boorstein and Donald Rothberg explore in dialogue lovingkindness and its relationships with muddita (appreciative joy), gratitude, and equanimity. Mature lovingkindness integrates all of these qualities.
A reflection on how to work with the challenges we all encounter in meditation. Craving, aversion, sleepiness, restlessness, and sceptical doubt are challenging but temporary visitors which obscure our deeper truth. By recognising them as such and learning to work skillfully with them we can free ourselves from their grip, revealing the natural purity and radiance of our heart and mind.
This talk also includes Helen Stephenson. Meditation and yoga are natural partners in the spiritual life. This talk introduces a retreat that draws on the Buddh's teachings of mindfulness and awakening, and the yoga teachings of Patanjali, combining the practices of Hatha Yoga and Insight Meditation. The yoga on this retreat is offered as a spiritual path rather than simply an exercise system.
