We begin to categorize the specific contents of thoughts, feelings, and sensations as well as the actions and consequences that follow. Awareness of the quality of mental states is integral to understanding what drives our behavior. When our actions are unexamined and unskillful, they are the primary cause of suffering for ourselves and others. Foundations… Continue reading
Category: Quotes
Quote for the Week
Learning to sense the feeling tone [the pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral flavor of an experience] teaches you to recognize your underlying state of mind and helps you make allowances for your sensitivities and entirely natural biases and reactions. It gives you the space to respond rather than react. What is Vedana? ~ Danny Penman and… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
Practicing mindfulness of feeling tone and noting sensations can help us avoid much suffering. Slowing down and noting how we’re labeling our experience gives us the opportunity to prevent habitual reactions. It’s this habitual reaction, and not the phenomena itself, that’s the true source of our pain. How we Benefit from Mindfulness of Feeling Tones… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
With meditation we get closer and more intimate with the natural condition of life and death. With our contemplative experience we see that it could be as close as the next moment. As we stay present and aware, we are surprised to find death disturbing yet enriching. Part of the paradox is that contemplating death… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
If you think of your body as a musical instrument, the body scan is a way of tuning it. If you think of it as a universe, the body scan is a way to come to know it. If you think of your body as a house, the body scan is a way to throw… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
Strong empirical evidence across various disciplines—from cognitive and affective neuroscience to clinical psychology, well-being research, and positive psychology—suggested that awareness, connection, insight, and purpose are vital components of human flourishing. The world’s meditative traditions added the unique perspective that these four qualities are not simply dimensions of flourishing but also skills we can learn and… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
Relax and softly rest your attention on each breath, feeling the movement in a steady, easy way. Let the breath find its own rhythm, long or short, soft or deep. As you feel each breath carefully, relax and settle into its movement. Let this loving attention to breathing gradually quiet your body and mind and… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
The heart of Buddhist meditation is a quality of directed attention and investigation called sati, generally translated as “mindfulness.” Right (or Wise) Mindfulness is a series of meditations exploring our experience of our bodies, feelings, and mental and emotional states. Though some aspects of mindfulness have become popular, with applications from therapeutic to educational settings,… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
Quote for the Week Mindfulness practice enables us to go beneath the surface level of our moment-to-moment life experiences, which are clouded with emotions and habitual thinking, and allows us to see the truth of what is happening. In daily life, mindfulness helps us see clearly what needs to be done, what we are capable… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
It is crucial that you not believe stories your mind tells. Use doubt to doubt your own doubt. Adopt the mantra: “This doubt is neither me nor mine; it is impersonal. It arises from causes and conditions, and it will pass with the passing of those causes and conditions.” Treat doubt as a messenger, a… Continue reading