This talk explores an important topic that James has not spoken on before. We often think of practice as simply noticing our experience in the present moment. However, the Buddha explicitly pairs heedfulness (appamada) and wise attention (yoniso manasikara) as the two primary internal factors responsible for giving birth to the Noble Eightfold Path. This talk discusses how these two qualities are applied in our practice on and off the cushion.

We explore the nature of doing and not-doing, both in meditation and more generally. We begin with emphasizing the importance for the Buddha of diligence, skillful effort (one of the factors of the Eightfold Path), and doing. Yet there also is a clear place for what we can call “not-doing,” for example, in cultivating mindful receptivity to experience. We examine as well how being a “doer” is so central to many of our identities, whether in our roles or work or even in our meditation. We also look to how we often experience a kind of not-doing in everyday life in “flow” experiences in different aspects of life. Finally, we show how accessing the depths of human experience commonly requires a profound not-doing, as we find brought out, for example, in Taoism, some of the Buddha’s teachings, and Tibetan Mahamudra and Dzogchen. The talk is followed by discussion.

The Buddha called the noble eightfold path the middle way. The middle way stands for a basic principle that can be applied to many areas of our life. Our relationship to sense pleasures, energy, emotions, social responsibilities and hope vs. fear. It means not getting caught in dualities or polarities, not fixating on any extreme, but finding creative ways to deal with the complexities and ambiguities of human life.

Right or wise intention is the second path factor in the noble eightfold path and it comprises the three qualities of renunciation, non-ill will and non-cruelty. They are wholesome qualities that lead to our own welfare and the welfare of others. The talk discusses the discourse MN 19 in which the Buddha describes how he came to this understanding and how they can be cultivated.

How does loving-kindness infuse every dimension of the path? Drawing from a sweat-drenched pilgrimage around Shikoku's 88 temples, Devon explores metta not as a single technique but as a way of life woven through the Eightfold Path — from wise intention and ethical attunement, through generosity and letting go, to the boundless radiance of the brahmaviharas. Along the way, we discover how metta practice can open into concentration, healing, and even emptiness itself, and how the original instructions invite us simply to fill our bodies and the whole world with a field of care.