Reviewing Right Mindfulness and Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation

This talk provides an overview of the conceptual structure of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness–Right Mindfulness, within the Noble Eightfold Path.  The overview is accompanied by a review of the practice of anapanasati, mindfulness of breathing meditation, focusing on the traditional concepts of this practice, then contemporary neuroscientific studies that validate how the meditation practice affects the brain beneficially.

Here are two sets of notes prepared for this talk which provide a more comprehensive review than the posted recording:  Overview of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse (Repaired) and Reviewing Mindfulness Of Breathing Meditation Practice.

A recorded guided meditation “Guided Satipatthana Contemplation”, dated June 28, 2023, is posted in the Guided Meditation page and is intended to complement the topics reviewed during this talk.

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Guided Satipatthana Contemplation

This guided meditation provides a “menu” involving sections of the Satipatthana Sutta, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse, which can be contemplated through the practice of mindfulness of breathing meditation.  Examples include contemplating the Four Elements, Feelings, Consciousness, and the Seven Awakening Factors.

This recording is intended to accompany the Dharma talk of June 28, 2023 that provides an overview of the Satipatthana contemplative structure, accompanied by a review of anapanasati, the practice of mindfulness of breathing meditation.

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Reviewing Right Effort

Continuing a review of the Noble Eightfold Path, this talk focuses on Right Effort, emphasizing the importance of avoiding or letting go of unwholesome mind states and supporting the arising and fulfillment of wholesome mind states.  The teacher for this talk is Lezlie Laws.  The next talk will begin an extensive review of Right Mindfulness, focusing on the first element of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation.

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Reviewing Right Action

This talk, provided by Lili Fernandez, focuses on how virtue manifests as appropriate behavior, guided by the Five Precepts: Harmlessness, Not Speaking Falsely, Not Stealing, Avoiding Sexual Misconduct, and Avoiding Intoxication.  Lili describes the characteristics of each of the precepts in depth.

The talk for next week will focus on Right Livelihood, another element of the Virtue Aggregate within the Noble Eightfold Path, Led by April Koester.

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Reviewing Virtue and Right Speech

This talk provides an overview of the Virtue Aggregate within the Noble Eightfold Path, followed by a review of Right Speech, the first of the three elements constituting virtue.  The review reflects the traditional characteristics of Right Speech as well as providing a more contemporary psychological and cultural perspective on the topic, including the value of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), a well-researched practice of psychotherapy.  The dualistic characteristics of any language are compared to the non-dualistic realizations that the Noble Eightfold Path is intended to cultivate.

Here are the notes prepared for this talk:  RIGHT SPEECH AND THE SELFING STORY

The topic for the next talk will include a review of Right Action, another component of the Virtue Aggregate

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