by Peter Carlson | Feb 27, 2013 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation, Listen to Dharma Talks
Mindfulness of the body is a fundamental practice in the Buddhist tradition. Body awareness includes physical sensation as well as hearing, seeing, smelling and tasting. There’s nothing imaginative about sensation-mindfulness is most important as the process of mental association emerges. During the body sweep meditation, the attention is persistently focused on whatever sensation emerges on the surface of the body. Beginning with sensational awareness at the rim of the nostrils, in this guided meditation, Peter repeatedly suggests progressive awareness of sensation, moving over the facial area, then the scalp, the neck and so on, ending with the sensations noticeable in the feet. Finally, the meditator is invited to sit with open awareness for whatever sensations appear in the body. The value of this practice is that, when practiced repeatedly, sensations become evident all over the body, subtle tingling or vibrations, and this awareness provides a stable and ever-present foundational focus, from which the meditator can note the emergence of thoughts and emotions through vipassana practices.
by Peter Carlson | Nov 6, 2011 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation, Listen to Dharma Talks
This recording provides training in the practice of “body sweep” meditation, which Peter received training for during a retreat with S. N. Goenka’s assistant trainers. They call this practice vedanupassana, mindfulness of feelings, which is the second of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. This training, an hour of practice, provided prompts for aiming attention at a particular spot on the body and sustaining that attention to develop the Awakening Factors of Investigation of Phenomena, Energy, and, of course, Mindfulness. It requires a lot of preparation through developing concentration to the level of upacara samadhi, access concentration. It can be quite frustrating for a beginning meditator, as the power of investigation is initially quite weak; it’s important to recall that this is meant to cultivate investigation, and not a test of willpower.
by Peter Carlson | Nov 5, 2011 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation, Listen to Dharma Talks
During the 2011 one week retreat, Peter provided a guided meditation providing support for integrating mindfulness of breathing meditation with mindfulness flavor, sound and other sense modes, then noting feelings as urgencies, either pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Then there was instruction on how to note different mind states, and finally, the arising and passing away of thoughts and images.
by Mary Ann | Jun 4, 2011 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation, Study Resources
Click to listen to audio instructions in Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation
This meditation practice develops three qualities:
- Steadiness of attention
- Increasing the depth of self‑awareness
- Increasing self‑discipline
It is very easy to practice and, because it is so psychological in nature, it can be applied to the benefit of any religious practice, as well as for personal stress management and development.
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by Mary Ann | Jun 4, 2011 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation, Study Resources
Click to listen to audio instructions on the practices Lovingkindness meditation.
Lovingkindness is an important part of Buddhist meditation practice. The wisdom and virtue factors of Buddhist spiritual practice emphasize the importance of creating and sustaining a consciousness that has no intention of ill-will or greed. This can be accomplished through the practice of the four “Divine Abidings” of lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. In actuality, the other three abidings are subsets of lovingkindness. It is said that the sincere practice of these meditations will promote good fortune, good rest and good health. In addition, having a mind unclouded by greed or hatred is essential for developing the quality of mindfulness necessary for spiritual attainment. These notes describe specific instructions that will accomplish these harmonious states of mind.
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by Tim | Jun 3, 2011 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation, Listen to Dharma Talks
Peter gives basic instruction on mindfulness of breathing.