Posts by Mark Knickelbine
Practice Circle: Transforming Suffering with Compassion
As I sit down to write this, the late afternoon shadows have deepened nearly to evening, reminding me that the longest nights of the year will soon be upon us. The news is full of the angry protests over police violence and the systematic atrocities committed by the United States government in its program of…
Read MoreThich Nhat Hanh, Secular Buddhist
Those of us who gathered for Social Circle last Friday evening spent a fair amount of time talking about Thich Nhat Hanh, whose recent hospitalization made headlines after rumors of his death had circulated online. The way the Internet lit up with expressions of concern and well wishes for the Vietnamese Zen monk, known to…
Read MoreMindful America: A Review
I was by turns excited, puzzled and exasperated as I read Jeff Wilson’s Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture. This first attempt at an academic look at the rise of the mindfulness movement is a fascinating, provocative and often entertaining read, but its cultural studies methodology can be questionable and…
Read MorePractice Circle: Finding Your Benefactors
For the last several months, the mindfulness group I practice with has been learning a set of meditation practices adapted by John Makransky from Tibetan dzogchen and mahamudra methods. Although these techniques have much in common with the mindfulness practices adapted from Theravada Buddhism, such as vipassana and loving kindness meditation, there are some differences in emphasis…
Read MorePractice Circle Turns Two!
The Sunday evening of October 15, 2012 marked the first gathering of the SBA Practice Circle. When we get together this Sunday at 8 PM CST, it will be our 47th meeting, a number that shocks me when I see it written down. In a lot of ways, every Practice Circle session still feels like…
Read MoreWaking Up: A Review
I still remember my excitement on encountering, in Sam Harris’ first book, The End of Faith, the suggestion that it would be possible to enjoy many of the benefits which people had traditionally sought from religion without the need to embrace religion itself. Buddhist meditiation was one of the practices Harris mentioned as a specific example of wisdom that…
Read MorePractice Circle: Mindfulness of Sound
Stop what you’re doing right now, and just listen. Were you surprised by all you heard? Before you stopped to listen, you may have been completely unaware of all of the sounds going on. As soon as you directed your attention to them, there they were, loud and soft, far and near, pleasant, unpleasant and…
Read MorePractice Circle: Forgiveness
“He abused me, attacked me, Defeated me, robbed me!” For those carrying on like this Hatred does not end. “She abused me, attacked me, Defeated me, robbed me!” For those not carrying on like this, Hatred ends. Hatred never ends through hatred. By non-hate alone does it end. This is an ancient truth. (Dhp 3-5,…
Read MoreFinding Your Mindfulness Bells
One of the meanings of sati, the Pali word usually translated as “mindfulness”, is to remember. With a little practice, it’s not hard to learn how to concentrate and focus your awareness. The big challenge is remembering to do it. We forget even when we’re sitting on a cushion for the express purpose of meditating! …
Read MorePractice Circle: Mindfulness of the Body
Even as one who encompasses with his mind the mighty ocean includes thereby all the rivulets that run into the ocean; just so, O monks, whoever develops and cultivates mindfulness directed to the body includes thereby all the wholesome states that partake of supreme knowledge. One thing, O monks, if developed and cultivated, leads to…
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