Andy

The 8 Fold Path – Right Action

Our 4th week in the exploration of the 8 Fold Path. Read the transcript below or listen to the audio of our gathering here. Thoughts become words and words become action. Well, usually. But we all know it’s not quite that simple. Actually, there are times when we do things almost unconsciously and then regret it later. We look back and it is almost as if we were on autopilot. In simple terms, the Buddha gave us three particular areas…

0
Read More

8 Fold Path – Right Speech

Read the notes below or listen to the full session here –   Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood.  This group is often called the group of moral discipline. Today we will tackle right speech but first let’s explore the group together. Notice that they are being placed after right view and right intent. We are first setting the scene of the direction and then, with the moral group, we should see this as guidance to help us take our…

0
Read More

The 8 Fold Path – Right Intent

Our meditation subject on Monday was the second component of the Buddha’s 8 Fold Path – Right Intent. Listen to the audio below or read the transcript. Enjoy your practice. We could see right view and right intention as the same thing. Both seem to imply thought processes going on and a sense of mental activity to take us forward. The certainly intertwine, but the aren’t the same thing.  If we see right view as the target, we could look…

0
Read More

The Noble 8 Fold Path – Right View

The first in the series. Read the words below or listen to our session here. I think it helps to remember some of the context here. A little of the history that is presented to us in The Pali Cannon. (The Buddhist Bible) He Buddha gave his first sermon to the Ascetics who have followed him through the forests for 7 years. They had suffered greatly in their pursuit of understanding. The Buddha’s enlightenment, revealed to him an understanding about…

0
Read More

Stillness – The Chance to Observe.

Monday’s Meditation. Read the write-up below or hear the recording here. When the mind is disturbed, like choppy waters, we don’t have the opportunity to observe what’s going on. The challenges that this practise gives us will be apparent to some of you now, that have been coming for a while. But those new to meditation, who haven’t stepped outside the process of the mind and seen what is going on, you won’t necessarily appreciate the importance of stillness. This…

0
Read More

Entering in to suffering

Listen to the Audio or read the transcript below. Consider a diamond. What words come to mind when we think of a diamond? Expensive, hard, sparkling, engagement, cutting, beauty etc. Some of the words are related to how the diamond appears but many of them are associated with what we infer and associate with the diamond. So this is showing how our mind embellishes what we initially see. What we actually see is something sparkly, transparent, colours refracted, tiny reflections…

0
Read More

Vipassana – The Body Scan

We are going to wind things back a little today as we have a new visitor with us. So I want to look at the first field of mindfulness, the body. It is good and healthy to take things back to the start sometimes and it reminds us of the things that actually are staring us in the face. Listen to the audio or read the text. So let’s take a look at this body connection. Firstly, though, to get…

0
Read More

Developing the Yielding Mind

उपज मन (The Yielding Mind) This blog posts connects up my two main practices of Tai Chi and meditation. Listen to the audio or read the text below. Enjoy! This meditation joins the dots between Tai Chi and meditation and, for me, is an important aspect of my practice. Yielding is an interesting word and has many meanings to different people. The Oxford English Dictionary says : Give way to arguments, demands, or pressure. With object –  Relinquish possession of.…

0
Read More

Introduction to Meditation – What is the nature of the Mind?

This post takes you through some of the fundamental understandings of Buddhist Psychology. Here the audio here or read the post below. In Buddhist meditation we practise 3 main types of meditation. It’s worth stating that ALL have sitting beneath them mindfulness. They are Samadhi – Simply put this means the development of concentration. Vipassana –  The development of Insight or Wisdom. Meta Bhavanna – Cultivation of compassion or loving kindness All involve mindfulness and all therefore require us to…

0
Read More

Acceptance and Letting Go

These two phrases get used a great deal in this industry. Listen to the audio or read the transcript below. Often in this industry we hear the phrase “letting go”. There is a great relationship between letting go and acceptance and I’d like to take a look at this area here. What are we letting go? Well from a practical and probably fairly superficial level, this could relate to material possessions. Many of us have more than we actually need…

0
Read More