Category: Updated Resources

Joanna Macy turned 95 on May 2nd, and she’s still active and loving the world. Her synthesis of Buddhist practice, love for the world, systems thinking, and environmental activism has been a major influence on many people, including Thich Nhat Hanh, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and the Dalai Lama. The Sounds True Foundation is sponsoring a… Continue reading Updated Resources for Meditation and Support

Diana Winston does an excellent job connecting the path of deliberate mindfulness typically practiced in Insight Meditation and the practice of natural awareness. Her book The Little Book of Being: Practices and Guidance for Uncovering Your Natural Awareness is an excellent introduction to classical mindfulness and natural awareness, and is highly recommended. You can find… Continue reading Updated Resources for Meditation and Support

Nikki Mirghafori gave a talk on the relationship of emptiness and compassion that has the engaging title: “Dreaming Together – In the theater of life, emptiness and compassion go hand in hand.” In her talk, she looks at ways in which we can explore letting go of our self-centeredness and how that supports and is… Continue reading Updated Resources for Meditation and Support

Gil Fronsdal wrote an article on the path to awakening that is very helpful. It lays out the way in which the qualities that arise as one practices naturally lead to awakening. This teaching of the Buddha is known as Liberative Dependent Origination or Transcendental Dependent Origination because it undoes the normal process of Dependent… Continue reading Updated Resources for Meditation and Support

Joseph Goldstein wrote an article on karma and cause and effect that looks at the traditional Buddhist teachings on karma, including discussion of related ideas like rebirth that are not widely accepted in the West. He pointed out that these ideas are not necessary for meditation practice, or even for awakening, but he felt that… Continue reading Updated Resources for Meditation and Support

Meditation Support Group Meets at the Tri-Cities Cancer Center We’ll continue our monthly mindfulness meditation support group meeting at the Tri-Cities Cancer Center, 7350 West Deschutes Avenue, Kennewick. The next meeting will be Thursday, 3/21/2024. The sessions, which are held on the third Thursday of each month, are meant for cancer patients, cancer survivors, and their caregivers. The session will begin at 12:00 pm at the Cancer Center in the Fireside Room.… Continue reading Meditation Support Group Meets at the Tri-Cities Cancer Center 3/21

Emptiness can be a difficult concept to wrap our mind around. Thich Nhat Hanh uses the Heart Sutra to discuss the relationship of emptiness, interbeing, and fullness in an article that you can find here: The Heart Sutra: the Fullness of Emptiness Thanissaro Bhikkhu describes emptiness as a mode of perception that can allow us… Continue reading Updated Resources for Meditation and Support

One of the processes that the Buddha describes as a way in which we construct our sense of self is the endless proliferation of thought in our minds. In the Pali language, this is known as papancha. Andrew Olendzki describes the mental proliferation that occurs all the time and we often observe during meditation in… Continue reading Updated Resources for Meditation and Support

Phillip Moffitt wrote a piece that includes a discussion of roles and learning to hold them lightly rather than cling to them. You can find that post here: Understanding Your Sense of Identity Tara Brach gave a talk and offered a guided meditation on the persona, the mask we develop based on our roles in… Continue reading Updated Resources for Meditation and Support

Gil Fronsdal wrote an article introducing the concepts of self and not-self and laying out the connection of those concepts to the Buddha’s basic teachings on suffering and the end of suffering. It includes a brief description of the role that the aggregates and the senses play in this process. You can find his article… Continue reading Updated Resources for Meditation and Support