tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66393024095482214422024-02-07T17:26:11.708-08:00Meditate to liberateInstructions on how to liberate yourself from mental sufferingAlan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-30604983728189200202016-09-01T06:38:00.001-07:002016-09-01T06:38:04.625-07:00Workshop in Toronto<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am doing a workshop on mindfulness through the Mindfulness Clinic in Toronto on September 17th. For details go to <a href="http://www.themindfulnessclinic.ca/therapy-training/seminars-workshops/#intro">http://www.themindfulnessclinic.ca/therapy-training/seminars-workshops/#intro</a>.</div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-229827145061562652016-01-12T10:36:00.002-08:002016-01-12T10:36:31.340-08:00Refer to bancroftmeditates.com<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As of February 1st, this account will be deleted. The content can still be seen on <a href="http://www.bancroftmeditates.com/">www.bancroftmeditates.com</a>.</div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-83722252754085111612015-07-28T11:23:00.000-07:002015-09-12T16:51:16.498-07:00What is this now?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">From the vantage point of experience, the present alone is real. The past has happened and is just a memory, the future is yet to happen and can only be imagined. However, if this now is the boundary between the past and future, is it a boundary with width, or is it an indivisible, infinitely thin line? If it has width, then there must be a past and future within it and another now in this now and so on ad infinitum (the now getting ever smaller). It is very elusive for sure, constantly shifting as it does. Can we only "grasp" it as a fleeting memory and pretend that a "now" that constantly eludes us is "present" when it is actually gone? How can we be "in" the present when it never is "there" long enough? Yet, it is inescapable: we are always in the present moment for, after all, that is all there is.</span></span></div>
</div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-58265135203265625492015-03-28T05:57:00.002-07:002015-06-22T05:53:41.401-07:00Just as it is: the meditative experience<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Truth be told, all that we experience is just what is occurring in the present. Of course, to navigate through life and to make sense of it all, we construct out of these happenings a separation between ourselves and the world and put it all into a frame of past, present and future. This construction is pragmatic; it works for us, but that does not make it ultimately true or real. In meditation, we have an opportunity to connect with our experience just as it is, that is, with these happenings in the present moment. This is not a lofty attainment but the most ordinary. It only requires that we stay present with our experience.</span></div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-27127212888470520812014-11-13T14:05:00.000-08:002014-11-14T07:38:53.167-08:00Experiencing the Dhamma by Bhikkhu Khippapanno<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>Experiencing the Dhamma</i> by Bhikkhu Khippapanno is a compilation of lectures he gave at the Forest Refuge in Barre, Massachusetts in 2009 and in 2013. I helped edit the first edition and the most recent edition. It is a free Dhamma book but has been printed in a limited number of copies. It is now available as a pdf file. To obtain a copy, click on the Facebook page: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Experiencing-the-Dhamma-by-Bhikkhu-Khippapanno/359102370937660">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Experiencing-the-Dhamma-by-Bhikkhu-Khippapanno/359102370937660</a> or email worker@attentivemind.ca.</div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-9506354401982590972014-04-29T10:00:00.007-07:002014-04-29T10:00:58.570-07:00What meditation isn't.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A <a href="https://www.blogger.com/:%20%20https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmj89pMlE9Q">cartoon</a> on what meditation isn't.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-572316211484000412014-04-25T14:35:00.004-07:002014-04-30T03:58:20.770-07:00The website of Attentive Mind<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have been revamping my website, <a href="http://attentivemind.ca/">attentivemind.ca</a>, which describes my psychology practice in Bancroft and Peterborough, Ontario. I am branching out with online services which are available to all residents of Ontario.</div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-19049925755089578972014-02-05T13:13:00.001-08:002014-02-05T13:13:37.027-08:00Bodily maps of emotions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I recently read a very cool article about a study in which participants mapped emotions in terms of activation and deactivation on the body. The study can be found here: http://www.pnas.org/content/111/2/646.full.pdf<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-66706153538037246712014-01-14T05:26:00.001-08:002014-01-14T05:26:33.158-08:00Opening to insight: the mundane and beyond<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The word mundane has two meanings. According to one, mundane has to do with the secular, the wordly as opposed to the spiritual or otherworldly, the supramundane. Another meaning of mundane has to do with the ordinary, the everyday, and therefore, presumably, lacking interest or being boring. In respect to the practice of meditation, both meanings are relevant and the interplay of those meanings is worth exploring.<br />
<br />
Meditation is associated with spiritual goals such as enlightenment, awakening, liberation, altered states of consciousness, supreme happiness, seeing reality as it really is, uniting with the divine within, or being in the "eternal now moment." These goals take us beyond the mundane. Yet, in the practice of mindfulness meditation, it seems like we are invited to become immersed in the mundane.<br />
<br />
The usual path in learning mindfulness meditation is to begin most humbly with a focus on the breath and then opening to whatever may show up. We might begin the practice with a daily routine of sitting meditation, perhaps as short as a few minutes, and then increase the time slowly to something approaching 30 minutes to an hour, once, twice, or more times a day. We learn different postures of meditation. In addition to sitting, we learn walking, standing, and lying meditation. And we generalize the mindfulness we develop to everyday activities such as eating and going about our activities of daily living. For this type of everyday meditation, the more mundane the task the better as we discover that these very mundane tasks are especially effective for being mindful and present focused. If we go on retreats that allow us to practice continuously, we have an opportunity to develop a momentum in our mindfulness.<br />
<br />
When we first start meditating, we may alternate between being bored and being excited. We might initially think that just sitting observing our breath would be very boring. What is so interesting about the breath anyway? But most people find that their first deep look at the mind and how it operates is quite interesting. We see that the mind is constantly active, going here and there, not subject to our control, very busy and anarchic. We wander and drift in and out of awareness of that wandering. We might find ourselves momentarily immersed in something that occurred to us years ago or just hours before. We might get caught up in the stories our minds tell us. We might see lights and beautiful moving shapes. Sometimes, we might find ourselves close to panic as strange sensations arise. Emotions that we have long suppressed may come to the surface and, inexperienced as we are, we might find them hard to handle and most distressing. But at other times the mind seems still and empty and we may lapse into blissful drowsiness or even sleep.<br />
<br />
As time goes on, a lot of this excitement dies down. We learn how to let things go and not get caught up in the parade of mind moments. We easily release occurrences that we have repeatedly reviewed in the past and know so well. It takes a lot to perturb us now. This is a kind of equanimity and for many it provides a welcome relief from the drama of their inner lives. But it smacks of complacency and indifference and is not the spiritual equanimity that we may have sought. We are in the meditation doldrums.<br />
<br />
In the secular, clinical form of mindfulness that has become so prevalent, the spiritual side of the practice is neglected, hence the doldurms. To get out of the doldrums, there must be an understanding of the spiritual path. Refocusing on the traditional purposes of meditation and dedication to going beyond the mundane hold the promise of renewed energy for our practice and deepening wisdom.<br />
<br /></div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-47580186449650927352013-07-18T18:08:00.000-07:002013-07-18T18:10:26.161-07:00Householders and renunciates in modern times<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Venerable Aggacitta Bhikkhu is a Malalysian monk trained in the Mahasi style. He speaks excellent English and gives very informative and often amusing talks. In a lighter moment in one such talk, he compared the lives of the monk and the householder in modern times with their lives as depicted in the scriptures. He said the monk of modern times had many expectations placed upon him. The monk was expected to do alms rounds, to visit devotees and perform rituals, to counsel devotees who were troubled or having problems in their relationships, to perform various administrative tasks in the monastery and to give dhamma talks regularly. This left little time for study and meditation. He observed, in contrast, that householders in modern times seemed to have lots of time to come to meditation centers and practice meditation.<br />
<br />
Some of his talks can be downloaded at the following site: <a href="http://sasanarakkha.org/dhamma/">http://sasanarakkha.org/dhamma/</a> </div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-81551520663205935822013-07-17T15:21:00.002-07:002013-07-17T15:56:01.122-07:00Contemplating non-self through the six sense bases<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From the Numerical Discources (The Book of the Tens, Sutta 60, p. 1412), translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi:<br />
And what, Ananda, is the perception of non-self? Here, having gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty hut, a bhikkhu reflects thus:<br />
The eye is non-self, forms are non-self;<br />
The ear is non-self, sounds are non-self;<br />
The nose is non-self, odors are non-self;<br />
The tongue is non-self, tastes are non-self;<br />
The body is non-self, tactile objects are non-self;<br />
The mind is non-self, mental phenomena are non-self.<br />
Thus he dwells contemplating non-self in these six internal and external bases. This is called the perception of non-self.<br />
<br />
Thanks to Jerome Courtemanche for pointing out this passage to me. </div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-63815940117795445702013-07-16T17:06:00.004-07:002013-07-17T16:10:39.441-07:00Contemplation of the six sense bases<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h5 style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; margin: 1em 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-top: 1.33em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
From the <i>Satipatthana Sutta</i>, translated by Nyanasatta Thera </div>
</h5>
<h5 style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; margin: 1em 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
3. The Six Internal and External Sense Bases</h5>
<div style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And further, monks, a monk lives contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the six internal and the six external sense-bases.</div>
<div style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-top: 1.33em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
How, monks, does a monk live contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the six internal and the six external sense-bases?</div>
<div style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-top: 1.33em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Herein, monks, a monk knows the eye and visual forms and the fetter that arises dependent on both (the eye and forms); he knows how the arising of the non-arisen fetter comes to be; he knows how the abandoning of the arisen fetter comes to be; and he knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned fetter comes to be.</div>
<div style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-top: 1.33em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He knows the <i>ear</i> and <i>sounds</i>... the <i>nose</i> and <i>smells</i>... the <i>tongue</i> and <i>flavors</i>... the <i>body </i>and <i>tactile objects</i>... the <i>mind</i> and <i>mental objects,</i> and the fetter that arises dependent on both; he knows how the arising of the non-arisen fetter comes to be; he knows how the abandoning of the arisen fetter comes to be; and he knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned fetter comes to be.</div>
<div style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-top: 1.33em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Thus he lives contemplating mental objects in mental objects internally, or he lives contemplating mental objects in mental objects externally, or he lives contemplating mental objects in mental objects internally and externally. He lives contemplating origination factors in mental objects, or he lives contemplating dissolution factors in mental objects, or he lives contemplating origination-and-dissolution factors in mental objects. Or his mindfulness is established with the thought, "Mental objects exist," to the extent necessary just for knowledge and mindfulness, and he lives detached, and clings to nothing in the world. Thus, monks, a monk lives contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the six internal and the six external sense-bases.</div>
<div style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-top: 1.33em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
h<a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.nysa.html">ttp://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.nysa.html</a></div>
<div style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-top: 1.33em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-top: 1.33em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: #fffeff; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-top: 1.33em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-28055422946793238222013-07-07T09:26:00.001-07:002013-07-16T17:07:34.200-07:00The practice of sense-base acuity <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have been using a form of meditation that I think is very effective in strengthening and maintaining focus while doing sitting meditation. I have found it most useful when I seem to be in a period of excessive wandering, planning and ruminating. The meditation employs focused awareness and open monitoring in a set sequence. The procedure involves focusing exclusively in turn on each of the six sense bases (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking) and then opening up to all of them before cycling through them again.<br />
<br />
Those familiar with the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction body scan or the Goenka method of scanning body sensations from head to toe will see some similarities to this practice. Sense-base acuity practice is a variant of contemplation of the sense-bases (<i>ayatana</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">) </span>described in the Satipatthana Sutta as a <i>dhammanuppassana</i> practice, one of the fourth foundation of mindfulness.<br />
<br />
Begin by focusing on seeing, either with eyes open or closed. You will be aware of sights before you if your eyes are open or, if your eyes are closed, variations of light and shadow. Focus your energy on exercising the organ of sight or the "eye sensitivity" by trying to see whatever is before you without identifying or associating to what appears, all the time noting, "seeing, seeing, ...." If no sight is particularly present, be aware of the eye sensitivity itself. After a few minutes, switch to hearing.<br />
<br />
Focusing your energy on exercising the "ear sensitivity" by detecting sounds that occur, all the time noting "hearing, hearing,...." If no particular sound appears, be aware of the ear sensitivity. Again, after a few minutes, switch to smelling.<br />
<br />
The dominant senses during eyes closed sitting meditation are hearing and touching and, if your eyes are open, also seeing. Smelling and tasting are not usually as evident and are best practiced during eating meditation. However, focusing energy on smelling while doing sitting meditation may reveal subtle smells or the absence of smell, in which case, awareness of the sensitivity may be effective. Focusing on tasting in sitting meditation is facilitated by briefly swallowing and moving the tongue around the mouth. You may detect various tastes. You can then move on to the next sense base.<br />
<br />
Focusing on touching sensation opens up a range of bodily sensation. Begin by noting the whole body and its contact with the surfaces it touches, go then to dominant sensations that are present and, if evident, to the rising and falling of the abdomen or to the sensations of the breath at the nostril. Again, after a few minutes, shift to noting thinking.<br />
<br />
Putting energy into noting thinking may effectively dispel whatever thinking is occurring. Try to detect nuances. Is the thinking past or future focused? Is it tinged with emotions? How does it relate to physical sensations that may be occurring?<br />
<br />
The final step is simply generalizing the energy you have developed through the exercise and opening up to whatever sensations occur. You can also return to a breath focused practice. You can do this as long as you do not drift off into excessive wandering or thinking that goes unnoticed for lengthening periods of time. When this occurs, you should begin cycling through the six senses again. In my experience doing this practice only a few times during a period of sitting meditation generates enough energy to keep me focused throughout the remainder of the sitting and the effects of the practice sometimes even carry over to subsequent meditation sittings.<br />
<br /></div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-52727636706945896502013-05-07T17:28:00.004-07:002013-06-17T04:34:34.797-07:00Shameless self-promotion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUgd8_ITuGXH2kIQ4hyrC5G0NbbACF2dTndPCMrt6x6oFv9uxMEZ1YHOmALuRVsj0TksItDii9JCm-Atg6BBYmqmtN01PZfMNhU1Ru6DXwR7y4OzEqVs9BUrlKmFCWIQuF8QYIxW2Wh4g/s1600/workbook_cover_180x225.gif" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; clear: right; color: #009eb8; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s;"><img border="0" class="" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUgd8_ITuGXH2kIQ4hyrC5G0NbbACF2dTndPCMrt6x6oFv9uxMEZ1YHOmALuRVsj0TksItDii9JCm-Atg6BBYmqmtN01PZfMNhU1Ru6DXwR7y4OzEqVs9BUrlKmFCWIQuF8QYIxW2Wh4g/s400/workbook_cover_180x225.gif" style="-webkit-border-image: url(data:image/png; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 9; border-image-source: url(data:image/png; border-image-width: 9px; border: 9px none; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="321" /></a>My book,<i> The Attentive Mind Workbook: Self-healing through Meditation</i>, provides a complete introduction to meditation in the vipassana or insight tradition with a focus on dealing with mental suffering. The book can be obtained from my website: (<a href="http://attentivemind.ca/book" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; color: #009eb8; display: inline; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s;">attentivemind.ca/book</a>) from Caversham Booksellers in Toronto (<a href="http://cavershambooksellers.com/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; color: #009eb8; display: inline; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s;">cavershambooksellers.com</a>), or from major online booksellers (<a href="http://amazon.ca/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; color: #009eb8; display: inline; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s;">amazon.ca</a>, <a href="http://barnesandnoble.com/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; color: #009eb8; display: inline; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s;">barnesandnoble.com</a>, etc.).</div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-77570703056053202982013-05-07T17:24:00.004-07:002013-05-08T04:09:41.955-07:00The householder's path<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
In many religions, there is a distinction between the those who turn away from the world, the renunciate (monks and nuns), and the householder or layperson who remains very much in the world. The renunciate is usually celibate and has few if any possessions, sometimes living in a community of fellow renunciates or living a solitary life in a hermitage or even a cave. Often the renunciate depends on his community or laypeople for the necessities of life. The householder typically has a family and possessions and works for a living. Whereas the renunciate is devoted to praying, meditating and doing good works, the householder has many responsibilities for maintaining the "household" whatever it consists of. In spiritual terms, the advantage of the life of the renunciate is the freedom to concentrate on reflection, study, meditation and other devotional activities. The advantage of the life of the householder is having the opportunity to experience the simple pleasures of life, including the joys of family life, conjugal satisfaction and the enjoyment of other sensory pleasures (in moderation, of course). The opportunity to practice meditation was open to the householder on a daily basis and during meditation retreats lasting a few days to months to years when they could practice in the manner of a renunciate. <br />
<br />
The Buddha did not disparage the householder's path. In fact, there are several examples in the scriptures of laypersons who achieved various stages of enlightenment including the full enlightenment of the <i>arahant</i>. </div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-41059402699624951132013-05-01T11:04:00.001-07:002013-05-01T11:05:12.843-07:00Opening to insight: Dukkha and suffering<br />
The Pali term <i>dukkha</i> is frequently translated as "suffering." However, many translators prefer the term "unsatisfactory." But it appears that context may be very relevant to which translation is most appropriate.<br />
<br />
The three marks of existence are impermanence (<i>anicca</i>), suffering or unsatisfactoriness (<i>dukkha</i>) and non-self (<i>anatta</i>). Everything is impermanent, and this is unsatisfactory. No matter what we do, no matter how enlightened we may become, this characteristic of the impermanence of conditioned existence does not disappear. Suffering is another matter. This is evident by an examination of the Four Noble Truths.<br />
<br />
The first noble truth is as follows:<br />
"This is the noble truth of <i>dukkha</i>: birth is <i>dukkha</i>, aging is <i>dukkha</i>, illness is <i>dukkha</i>, death is <i>dukkha</i>; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are <i>dukkha</i>; union with what is displeasing is <i>dukkha</i>; separation from what is pleasing is <i>dukkha</i>; not to get what one wants is <i>dukkha</i>; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are <i>dukkha</i>."<br />
<br />
"Suffering" as a translation for <i>dukkha</i> seems to work here. The second noble truth indicates that craving is the origin of <i>dukkha. </i>Again, "suffering" as a translation for<i> dukkha</i> works. We suffer in so far as we have craving for essentially anything that has to do with conditioned existence. The third noble truths tell us that there is the possibility of the cessation of <i>dukkha. </i>The fourth noble truth tells us that the path to the cessation of <i>dukkha</i> is the Noble Eightfold Path. "Suffering" as a translation works well in these contexts. However, while the suffering of an <i>arahant</i>, an enlightened one, may cease, the unsatisfactory characteristic of conditioned existence does not. The difference is that the <i>arahant</i>, who is no longer subject to craving, need not suffer because of it.<br />
<br />
I am not a Pali scholar and so must rely on the expertise of others. As many Pali scholar's have argued, there is no satisfactory English equivalent for the word <i>dukkha</i><i>. </i>Translating it as "suffering" works in some contexts but not in others as does translating it as "unsatisfactory."<br />
<br />
This is not a semantic quibble but affects how we think of what we are doing when we are meditating and following a spiritual path. It is pessimistic and not reflective of the Buddhist view to say that suffering is a mark of existence and, by implication, inescapable. It is more accurate to say that conditioned existence is unsatisfactory but that we need not cling to what is impermanent and be subject to craving; by following the path, we can escape suffering.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-31264895041592767472013-05-01T11:02:00.002-07:002013-05-01T11:02:32.297-07:00Opening to insight: The Foundations of Mindfulness<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The <i>Satipathana Sutta</i> (translated as The Foundations of Mindfulness) provides instructions on different ways to meditate. There are four references for establishing mindfulness: body, feeling, consciousness and mental objects. The most often quoted portion of the sutta is as follows:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fffeff; color: #111111; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Here, bhikkhus [monks] , a bhikkhu lives contemplating the body in the body, ardent, clearly comprehending (it) and mindful (of it), having overcome, in this world, covetousness and grief; he lives contemplating the feelings in the feelings, ardent, clearly comprehending (them) and mindful (of them), having overcome, in this world, covetousness and grief; he lives contemplating consciousness in consciousness, ardent, clearly comprehending (it) and mindful (of it), having overcome in this world covetousness and grief; he lives contemplating mental objects in mental objects, ardent, clearly comprehending (them) and mindful (of them), having overcome, in this world, covetousness and grief."</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fffeff; color: #111111; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">A focus on breathing while meditating is a form of body contemplation. </span></span><span style="background-color: #fffeff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px;">The Mahasi technique is body focused. One observes the rising and falling of the abdomen, noting other objects as they arise, and then returning to the rising and falling as the default object. A focus on feeling involves being mindful of feeling tones associated with sensations: pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feelings. Contemplating consciousness involves being mindful of various mental states such as greed or lust, hate or aversion and delusion or ignorance. The focus of meditation in contemplation of mental objects can be essentially anything but as seen through categories associated with Buddhist teachings such as the five hindrances, five aggregates and the six sense-bases.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: #fffeff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-38622076989572777892013-05-01T11:01:00.002-07:002013-05-01T11:01:26.579-07:00Opening to insight: The five hindrancesThe five hindrances are obstacles in meditation and in life. They are manifestations of the three root defilements--greed, hate and delusion.<br />
<br />
<br />
The five hindrances are sense desire, ill will; sloth and topor; restlessness, worry and remorse; and doubt. The first two hindrances, sense desire and ill will, represent the forces of attraction and aversion that we can have towards sense objects and are manifestations of the defilements of greed and anger. They are the strongest of the hindrances. The other three hindrances are manifestations of delusion, usually in association with other defilements (Bodhi, 2010). Although less toxic than the first two hindrances, they too obstruct meditative progress. Restlessness, worry and remorse disquiet the mind and distract us. Sloth and topor drain our energy and doubts saps our confidence in what we are doing. <br />
<br />
In traditional explanations of these hindrances, the simile is employed of the mind being like water. When sense desire dominates, the mind is like water that is dyed with many bright and alluring colors. When ill will dominates, the mind is like boiling water. When restlessness, worry and remorse dominate, the mind is like water churned up by the wind. When sloth and torpor dominate, the mind is like a stagnant pond choked with weeds and algae. When doubt dominates, the mind is like muddy water. For each of the hindrances, the water is disturbed and it is not possible to see clearly through it.<br />
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-27832104536688632522013-04-15T17:02:00.000-07:002013-04-15T17:02:08.202-07:00Opening to insight-- conditioned existenceIn Buddhist doctrine, everything other than <i>nibbana</i> is conditioned and, as such, subject to arising and passing away and bound up in a causal network that has no beginning or end. When analysed, all conditioned things are seen as collections (aggregates, <i>khandhas</i> in Pali) rather than independently existing things each of which has a self or essence. Humans are no exception. Our psycho-physical being is composed of five aggregates: form or matter, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness. All our experiences can be understood in terms of these aggregates and their interaction. We misunderstand our own nature when we identify ourselves with any one of them, for instance, by seeing the body as one’s self. The basis for suffering is to be found in these aggregates: “Whatever we cling to can be found amongst the five aggregates” (Bodhi, 2013). As such they are called the five aggregates of clinging. <br />
<br />
The doctrine of dependent origination (<i>paticcasamuppada </i>in Pali) provides the framework for understanding conditioned existence. The doctrine has a general and a specific meaning. The general meaning is that all things are interdependent and arise by virtue of multiple causes and conditions. The specific meaning has to do with the cycle of existence (see chart below) often depicted as a wheel of life with 12 links from ignorance (nescience in the chart) to old age and death. <br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_UvdMc6fMfUI8ZYAQq-IKbE2wSUNsb4gaZk0st2-8i7KoZNHMjr4eUIaap3MbooX_kynHl8YMEcjU9BLAs8FXhFrB0W-PVf-zcnPcCJiw-u8qr0zB4osz2qJgg0Pd47T28MTBud2EDPMD/s1600/102946-223+(1).gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_UvdMc6fMfUI8ZYAQq-IKbE2wSUNsb4gaZk0st2-8i7KoZNHMjr4eUIaap3MbooX_kynHl8YMEcjU9BLAs8FXhFrB0W-PVf-zcnPcCJiw-u8qr0zB4osz2qJgg0Pd47T28MTBud2EDPMD/s640/102946-223+(1).gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="text-align: start;">(Source: </span><a href="http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/DBLM/resource/ebooks/102946/102946-223.gif" style="color: #462b0c; text-align: start;">http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/DBLM/resource/ebooks/102946/102946-223.gif</a><span style="text-align: start;">)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-25223416188265764452013-03-21T08:17:00.000-07:002013-03-24T08:34:50.125-07:00Opening to insight--kamma and rebirthNext to the concept of non-self, perhaps the most misunderstood concept in Buddhism is the concept of <i>kamma</i> (<i>karma</i> in Sanskrit) and rebirth. Rebirth occurs with every moment. Actually, there is no self to be reborn. What carries over from one moment to the next is the consequences of previous actions. Fundamentally, <i>kamma</i> has to do with mental actions, volitions or intentions, and their results. The law of <i>kamma</i> is that volitional actions have consequences. Good actions have good consequences and bad actions have bad consequences. These consequences, like the actions from which they ensue, have to do with the mind: “The mind performing a deed is <i>kamma</i> and the subsequent mind is the result of that <i>kamma</i>” (Buddhadasa, 1988). The impact of good or bad deeds is first of all on the mind performing them.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Kamma</i> is cumulative and formative, but it is not destiny. The results of past <i>kamma</i> do not wholly determine present <i>kamma</i>. <i>Kamma</i> is formed in the present, and this is the source of our capacity to make good or bad choices. If we are trying to live a moral life, we cultivate virtues and try to do good rather than evil, but this does not guarantee us happiness. It is not only past <i>kamma</i> that determines whether our circumstances in life are favorable or unfavorable; there are many other forces at work (<i>kamma </i>is only one of five natural laws). Hence, bad things can happen to good people. <br />
<br />
Buddhism offers a way out of <i>kamma</i>, the cessation of<i> kamma</i> through <i>nibhana</i>. The <i>arahant</i>, the enlightened saint, who is free of all defilements, can still be affected by past <i>kamma</i> but no longer generates fresh <i>kamma.</i> The <i>arahant</i> acts with volition but these actions "leave no trace on the mental continuum just like the flight of a bird across the sky" (Bodhi, 2011). Prior to achieving enlightenment, the would-be <i>arahant</i> acted virtuously, perfecting <i>kamma</i> to such an extent that it could be overcome. Perfecting <i>kamma</i> to end <i>kamma</i> entails breaking the samsaric cycle of birth and death in each moment by freeing oneself from ignorance (<i>avidya</i>) and craving (<i>tanha</i>).Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-53116267907106754252013-03-15T11:34:00.000-07:002013-03-24T08:31:28.999-07:00Opening to insight--the three marks of existenceA somewhat tongue-in-cheek summary of the three marks of existence is as follows:<br />
<br />
Everything changes (<i>anicca</i>).<br />
That is not satisfying (<i>dukkha</i>).<br />
It's not personal (<i>anatta</i>).<br />
<br />
<i>Anicca</i> is usually translated as impermanence and refers to the fact that everything is constantly changing. Everything that comes to be passes away. <br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Dukkha </i>is a linked characteristic in that this impermanence is experienced as unsatisfactory or as suffering. There is clearly much about life that is unsatisfactory. Humans experience old age, sickness and death, for instance. However, it is not that that there is nothing in this world that brings us happiness, but this happiness we experience has no permanence; it does not last. Inherent in this happiness is the inevitability of it ending, and it is this which makes it unsatisfactory.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Anatta</i> refers to the impersonal, the non-self aspect of existence. There is no enduring essence of anything in this world including the self. We can see ourselves as being the same over time, but this is actually just an appearance of continuity not evidence of an enduring essence that is actually the same. There is no "I" beyond this continuity, no soul or ego. This non-self characteristic extends not just to the self but to all things. <br />
<br />
Insight wisdom (<i>vipassana panna</i>) consists "just of this experience of the three characteristics applied to one's own bodily and mental processes, and deepened and matured in meditation" (Nyanaponika, 2013).<br />
<br />
It is this insight wisdom and what leads up to it that I would like to explore in future posts.Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-63452402844978438492013-03-15T08:51:00.000-07:002013-03-21T05:17:10.649-07:00Opening to insight--the threefold trainingIn Theravada Buddhism, the process of liberation involves a threefold training: <i>sila</i> or morality, <i>samadhi</i> or concentration and<i> panna</i> or wisdom. Pursuit of this training leads to the abandonment or uprooting of the three unwholesome roots and, when this is accomplished, to <i>nibbana</i> or enlightenment. <br />
<br />
This threefold training is a summary form of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Noble Eightfold Path, the morality training is represented by right speech, right action and right livelihood. The concentration training is represented by right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. The wisdom training is represented by right intention and right view. The practice associated with morality is observance of the appropriate precepts for one's station in life (layman or monastic) and the cultivation of virtues. The practice associated with concentration is meditation, and the practice associated with wisdom is insight. <br />
<br />
From this it is clear that <i>sila</i> is the primary training and the foundation for training in meditation and insight.<br />
<br />
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-48767540187322312332013-03-15T08:47:00.000-07:002013-03-17T16:03:01.924-07:00Opening to insight-- the three unwholesome roots<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsdV7o_VpdnUz8r-JvTQF6mxpVdcrM3MtGlNIrUQFQusohujnMBznKOfLLGrP0LqfZPNAJu4WUG1CtDdPOvcmenmOrgESMo9Mi-uMlheSiIcI7Msl011gl7X-D85Nq1zjOt7GsGZ8yFgH/s1600/three+unwholesome+roots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsdV7o_VpdnUz8r-JvTQF6mxpVdcrM3MtGlNIrUQFQusohujnMBznKOfLLGrP0LqfZPNAJu4WUG1CtDdPOvcmenmOrgESMo9Mi-uMlheSiIcI7Msl011gl7X-D85Nq1zjOt7GsGZ8yFgH/s320/three+unwholesome+roots.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Three unwholesome roots-- bird for greed, snake for anger and pig for delusion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In Theravada Buddhism, the three unwholesome roots are <i>lobha</i> or greed (attachment), <i>dosa</i> or anger (aversion) and <i>moha</i> or delusion (ignorance). They are the roots of mental suffering and keep us chained to <i>samsara,</i> the cycle of birth and death. Liberation from suffering involves a process of purification, an uprooting of these <i>kilesas </i>or defilements.<br />
<br />
In Mahayana Buddhism, this unwholesome triad is referred to as the three poisons. The picture below is very much in keeping with the concept.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHXrbb2fqUNsD9U7sbahvXp_P4aPVPl_g7HtkNAv-N4ueWUvyGNOVVHs8i7k3PFiX2RXNxH-WOq1qVXSqEd30ljkEoa1sxS0ZwC9LVPLL5uJsIiSbxxJDKUMU1fboK2SkTuzEFsJvPA3j/s1600/The_Three_Poisons_by_Giruveganus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHXrbb2fqUNsD9U7sbahvXp_P4aPVPl_g7HtkNAv-N4ueWUvyGNOVVHs8i7k3PFiX2RXNxH-WOq1qVXSqEd30ljkEoa1sxS0ZwC9LVPLL5uJsIiSbxxJDKUMU1fboK2SkTuzEFsJvPA3j/s400/The_Three_Poisons_by_Giruveganus.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The three poisons by Giruveganus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-316019016156837782013-03-15T08:44:00.001-07:002013-03-15T17:19:11.269-07:00Opening to insight--the Four Noble TruthsAccording to tradition, the Buddha, as a young man living a life of privilege and ease, encountered <i>dukkha</i>, which can be translated as suffering or, perhaps more accurately, as dissatisfaction. He sought to understand its nature and causes and the way it could be overcome. Leaving his home and family, for six years he tried various contemplative and ascetic practices until he devised his own method and attained enlightenment. At first he considered whether or not to teach what he had learned, but he decided to share his insight and met with a group of men with whom he had previously practiced. He taught them the Four Noble Truths. They became his first disciples.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Briefly put, the Four Noble Truths are as follows:</div>
<div>
1) <i>Dukkha</i> or suffering is a fundamental aspect of our experience.</div>
<div>
2) The cause of suffering is <i>tanha</i> or craving.</div>
<div>
3) The end of suffering is the cessation of craving, which is achieved in enlightenment or <i>nibbana</i>.</div>
<div>
4) The path to liberation from suffering is the Eightfold Noble Path (right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration, right intention and right view). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Although craving is identified as the cause of suffering, it is not the first cause or the only cause of suffering; it is simply the immediate and most palpable cause of suffering (Walpola Rahula, 1978). It is a linked in a chain of dependent origination preceded by feeling, contact, and so on, and ultimately back to ignorance.<br />
<br /></div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639302409548221442.post-59823058055188448742013-03-10T07:44:00.000-07:002013-05-20T07:51:34.237-07:00Opening to insight--mindfulness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
The movement towards mindfulness meditation as a therapy has been most deeply influenced by Jon Kabat-Zinn who originated the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. His definition of mindfulness, which has been largely adopted by the therapeutic community, is as follows: “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” (1994, p. 4).<br />
<br />
In a previous post (What is mindfulness?, March 12, 2012), I discussed this definition in some detail. I will review some points I made earlier, accentuate some of the differences between the traditional Buddhist definition of mindfulness and Kabat-Zinn’s definition and suggest there is value to incorporating into therapy a definition more consistent with the Buddhist definition.<br />
<br />
Mindfulness is an English translation of sati, a word in the Pali language in which the Buddhist scriptures were written. The word’s original meaning had to do with memory or recollection, which is puzzling, because mindfulness is usually associated with being present-focused. The meaning of sati has to do with the Buddhist concept of consciousness as being a discontinuous process of extremely brief moments that arise and pass away. When we are mindful, it is not of something co-occurring but of something that has already past; the happening of which we are mindful may be experienced as present but only because of the close proximity in time of our mindfulness of it. Mindfulness as <i>sati</i> has to do with keeping an object in mind, of not letting the object just slip away, of not forgetting it. In fact, because mindfulness “holds” the immediately preceding object in attention, it facilitates later recollection of it (Veliz, 2011; Dreyfus, 2010).<br />
<br />
Another dimension to mindfulness as sati is its evaluative aspect. Mindfulness is not neutral as the Kabat-Zinn definition implies. Accompanying <i>sati</i> is <i>sampajañña</i> or clear comprehension, another important Buddhist concept; it is clear comprehension that recognizes the quality of any given instance of consciousness as either wholesome or unwholesome, destructive or beneficial. Right mindfulness, one of the eight components of the Buddhist path, integrates <i>sati</i> with <i>sampajañña</i>.<br />
<br />
Various commentators (Wallace & Bodhi, 2006) trace the origin of the idea of non-judgmental mindfulness back to a description of mindfulness by a German-born, Sri Lankan monk, Nyanaponika Thera. Nyanaponika Thera described mindfulness in terms of “bare attention,” a non-conceptual and non-evaluative form of attention in which we observe what is occurring without interference or judgment; it is a “a bare registering of the facts observed, without reacting to them by deed, speech or by mental comment which may be one of self-reference (like, dislike, etc.), judgment or reflection” (Nyanaponika, 1996, p. 30). However, when later confronted with how his definition had been interpreted in the West, Nyanapokia Thera expressed consternation and clarified that bare attention is only an initial phase in mindfulness (Wallace & Bodhi, 2006). The practice of bare attention is useful in breaking free from the attitudes that we tend to adopt to what appears before our mind – evaluation in terms of right and wrong, good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant. Its value is that it lessens the reactivity (i.e., clinging and aversion) that goes with those attitudes. However, bare attention is not all there is to mindfulness and should be accompanied by clear comprehension.<br />
<br />
The cognitive and evaluative dimensions of mindfulness have been largely ignored in the Western therapeutic application of the concept of mindfulness (Dreyfus, 2010; Veliz, 2011). Given the emphasis on mindfulness being present focused and non-judgmental, bringing in these dimensions may seem to muddle what otherwise seems to be a fairly straight-forward therapeutic approach to dealing with mental suffering. On the other hand, the added sophistication of the Buddhist concepts may substantially improve the way we understand mental suffering and approach it therapeutically. A few points about this may be suggestive.<br />
<br />
It may be useful to work with the evaluative dimension in therapy, for instance, and explore how conventional attitudes dictate our reactions to our experiences. We will likely find that, at the most basic level, our simple likes and dislikes, our largely non-reflective preferences, our habitual patterns govern our reactions. What then are we to do? This may be an interesting exercise, but we need a new framework for understanding how we are to break free of our reactivity. We need a framework that helps us to understand what is truly good for us and what is not, so that we can respond skilfully rather than simply react. Value-neutrality is of little help in this regard; we need a framework of values. Identifying a set of values and working with them therefore becomes a new therapeutic focus. Those values may be Buddhist values, they may come from some other religious or secular tradition or they may be discovered through inquiry and reflection. Wherever they come from, they are critical for determining direction and giving purpose in life. <br />
<br />
To understand the larger context of mindfulness, in posts that follow the theme of "opening to insight," I will cover what I consider to be the most basic relevant to meditation.<br />
<br />
Dreyfus, G. (2010). Is Mindfulness Present-Centered and Nonjudgmental? A Discussion of the Cognitive Implications of Mindfulness. (Unpublished).<br />
<br />
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditations in everyday life. New York: Hyperion<br />
<br />
Nyanaponika Thera. (1996). The Heat of Buddhist Meditation. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, p. 30.<br />
<br />
Veliz, Carissa. (2011). Equivocalities of the Definition and Practice of Mindfulness: Comparing the Modern and Traditional Notions of the Term. (Unpublished).<br />
<br />
Wallace, A. & Bodhi, Bhikkhu. (2006) The Nature of Mindfulness and its Role in Buddhist Meditation. A Correspondance between B. Alan Wallace & Bhikkhu Bodhii. (Unpublished).<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 5.0pt; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
</div>
Alan P. McAllisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09019428846690413579noreply@blogger.com0