Wisdom across many traditions is understood as a clear and deep seeing of human experience; a seeing that cuts through conditioning and delusion. We look at the relationship of wisdom to mindfulness and the caring heart, particularly at how we see more clearly suffering, its roots and impermanence.
A reflection on the difficulties involved in and the methodology of a secular approach to Buddhism, followed by a reading of and comments on the Kalama Sutta, considered as a primary source text for secular Buddhism.
The first session defines meditation and describes the Buddhist teachings that give a context to the path of practice. We explore the two basic types of meditation--concentration and mindfulness--and then focus on the ground of mindfulness training: bringing mindful attention to the breath and bodily sensations. Guided meditations include setting intention and the sacred pause; learning to "come back" using an anchor of the breath; and "being here" with an embodied presence.
Mindfulness plays a central role in our practice of living with wisdom and compassion. We explore a number of the qualities of mindfulness as well
as the obstacles to mindfulness.
