Posts Tagged ‘practice’
Practice Circle 1/12: The Sound of Silence
I love guided meditations. Whether in person with a teacher or with an audio recording, I find the sound of verbal instructions can make it much easier to meditate. Good instructions do more than remind me to be present when my awareness drifts. They also help bring a different perspective to my experience while in…
Read More12/22 Practice Circle: Soft Belly
At my UW Health Mindfulness sangha a couple weeks ago, the teacher shared a passage from Steven Levine’s 1995 book, Guided Meditations, Explorations and Healings, on what he called “soft belly meditation.” Here’s a sample: The belly is an extraordinary diagnostic instrument. It displays the armoring of the heart as a tension in the belly. The…
Read More9/8 Practice Circle: Mountains Flowing
I recently returned from a vacation in the Rockies, where we stayed in a little cabin near the tree line. We had a wonderful view of a hilltop just across the valley, with patches of snow lingering in the August heat. We spent hours on the front porch watching that mountain as the sun moved…
Read MoreLearning vs. Doing Buddhism
Many of us spend our time learning about Buddhism. That’s great but there is another way to approach it: by doing. We’ll look at some of the key differences between these approaches and why it’s good to know about both of them.
Read MoreConstructing a Daily Practice
How should we go about constructing a daily practice? We will look at several aspects that could go into it, including ethics, meditation, and wisdom infused by regular reflection and sutta readings. Book recommendation: Bhikkhu Bodhi, In the Buddha’s Words
Read More8/26 Practice Circle: Getting Out of Default Mode
I have tended to give concentration practice short shrift. To me, devotion to intense concentration – jhana practice, long sesshins, and the like – seemed like spiritual calisthenics, meditation for its own sake, another skill to attach the ego to. Coming out of the vipassana-influenced MBSR tradition, I thought the tangible benefits of exploring the…
Read More7/22 Practice Circle: Befriend Yourself
This Sunday, July 22, at 6 pm Pacific, 7 Mountain, 8 Central and 9 Eastern, Practice Circle will explore the practice of unconditional friendliness towards the self. Amy Balentine will be leading a meditation taught by Pema Chodron. In this straightforward practice, we will be invited to bring a quality of clear seeing and gentleness…
Read MoreListen to the Suttas! – Audio Recordings of English Translations of the Pali Canon Suttas
Listen to the Suttas! Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtTMiZHe8419vKGsORMb1ow/videos Example Video: The Sammaditthi Sutta (The Discourse on Right View, MN 9) For those who have difficulty with written text (or Pali), there are few quality, widely-available audio recordings of English language translations of the Pali Canon Suttas. Our own Community Director, Jennifer Hawkins, who developed…
Read MoreWhat's the Point of Practice?
It often happens that those of us with a regular — or irregular! — practice will come to a place of wondering: “What’s the point?” We’ll discuss the nature of these completely normal doubts and ways to deal with them. We’ll also try to deal with the question of what the point is of it…
Read More5/27 Practice Circle: The Five Hindrances, with Amy Balentine
When Practice Circle meets again this Sunday, May 27th, at 6 p.m. Pacific, 7 Mountain, 8 Central and 9 Eastern, we’ll explore the Five Hindrances in meditation practice. Click here to join our free video conference group Sunday night! We all experience obstacles or difficulties in meditation, which can lead to discouragement or a belief…
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