Stages Of Breath Awareness

The evening’s activities included a guided meditation posted below: “Looking Closer Meditation.mp3”, during which Peter provided suggestions supporting a more persistent and intimate awareness regarding the sensations of breathing.

During the talk following the guided meditation, Peter drew on a book entitled “Right Mindfulness” by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (available as a free .pdf download from: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/rightmindfulness.pdf ) to emphasize the importance of being “ardent, alert and mindful” regarding breath awareness.  The word ardent means heartfelt, actively interested and engaged.  The above quoted phrase is mentioned multiple times in the book, which draws from the Pali Canon as the reference.  This investigating function supports increasing stability of attention and tranquility, setting the conditions for vipassana, investigation of self-state organizations.  There are 8 stages mentioned in the commentaries to the suttas, and these were described during the talk.  This was followed by general group discussion regarding the importance of persistent, intimate breath awareness.

Here are the notes prepared for the talk:  STAGES OF BREATH AWARENESS

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September 2024 Dharma Questions

During this talk, Peter responds to various questions from those participating regarding their understanding of Buddhist concepts and their meditation experiences.  Examples of questions include clarification regarding how aiming and sustaining attention on breath sensations matures into investigation of what arises in the mind, consideration regarding Chogyam Trungpa’s comments on gradual rather than sudden Awakening, and how to cultivate non-reactive awareness of craving and clinging.

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January 2025 Dharma Questions

Each month Peter provides an opportunity for participants in the meeting to ask questions about Buddhist doctrine and meditation practice.  During this talk, Peter and others provided suggestions in response to an inquiry that focused on how to cultivate and maintain a regular daily meditation practice.  Another question focused on how to discern the difference between the phenomenon of thinking/internal narrative and the direct “knowing” that occurs with investigation of breath/body experience, which provides a stable and tranquil point of reference from which we can investigate whether the internal narrative is beneficial or not.  There are other responses to questions found in the posting as well.

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How The Brain Creates A Self March

During this talk, Peter reviewed the extensive research literature that supports contemporary understanding of self-organizing functions.  Prior to this era, Buddhist concepts were derived from culturally determined mythology, which is hard for contemporary Westerners to believe and make best use of for spiritual development.

Next week’s discussion will focus on how the practice of mindfulness of breathing and lovingkindness meditation practices effectively change the structures of the brain described in this talk, enhancing self-awareness, self-regulation and social harmony.

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