Homework to Zencast 147 - Mindfulness Meditation Course Wk 1
Mindfulness Meditation (Week 1)
by Gil Fronsdal From: Insight Meditation Center
Insight meditation, or Vipassana, is one of the central
teachings of the Buddha. It has continued as [...]

The Chinese often used simple and ordinary Chinese words to translate Indic Buddhist terms. I find it particularly interesting that they translated the words for “concentration” and “insight” as “stopping” and “seeing.” As important as the words “concentration” and “insight” are in Buddhist practice, they can also be problematic. They suggest capacities that we develop [...]

adapted from a talk by Gil Fronsdal, July 1st, 2003
 
 
The Buddhist path is often considered one of renunciation. This is easy to see in the lifestyle of simplicity and restraint followed by Buddhist monastics. The role of renunciation in the lives of lay practitioners is not so easy to understand. Lay practitioners are not [...]

Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been expose to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of [...]

In mindfulness meditation we learn to be present for things as they are. In doing so, it can be useful to assume the attitude of a naturalist. A naturalist simply observes nature without interfering or imposing his or her views. If a wolf eats a deer, a naturalist watches without judgment. If a plant produces [...]

Expecting Buddhist practice to entail only joy and ease is naive. More realistic is to expect both joy and sorrow, ease and struggle. If the practice is to engage with our full life, then inevitably we will practice in times of crisis, loss, or painful self- confrontation. Certainly it would be nice to negotiate these [...]