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Showing posts from June, 2009

Week 4 Notes: Importance of Meditating with a Group

Meditating with a few friends at regular times can be of great benefit towards constancy of practice and development of wisdom. The solitary meditator eventually faces diminishing will-power, as there's often something else to do that seems more important (or more interesting) than watching the breath. Regular group meditation with an agreed-upon time keeps the participants going , regardless of their flux of moods. (The investigation of these shifts of disposition often yields important insights, but on our own we can find it difficult to persevere with them.) As well as seeing the personal benefits, you can reflect that your efforts are helping others to keep practicing. ... click here for the full article- "Introduction To Insight Meditation" by Amaravati Buddhist Centre, U.K. (1988)... or for other related audio programs. Thanks to Patricia Pellicciotti who sent us this material.

Interview- will start July 11th, 2009.

Instruction: 1. Call from home at individual’s own signed-up time. Teacher: Venerable Dr. Dhammapiya Sayadaw (aka. Sayadaw Dhammapiya) (Phone number not yet available. Please check back here later.) 2. When connected, please do identify yourselves that you are from the Jade Buddha Temple in Houston, Texas and would like to have an interview with Sayadaw Dhammapiya. This is because many times, someone else might answer the phone instead of Sayadaw himself. 3. Do keep your interview within ten minutes. 4. Please do read and get familiar with "How to interview with a teacher?” and “Meditation Instructions – Sayadaw U Pandita” from the web site click here. This will help the interviewees tremendously. 5. Please do call the Sayadaw. He will lead us into “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness”. Experienced meditators and beginners will all benefit from the interviews. ___________________________________________________________ The Opening Passages from the Mahasatipatthana Sutta "

Right Attitude to Meditation

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Click to read the entire book. " Syadaw Shwe Oo Min , is a well known meditation teacher in Vipassana over Burma and 1 of 4 great disciples of Syadaw Mahasi. ... The cited materials in IMG blog about mindfulness are excellent and outstanding in understanding about what is Sati. But they are short on how to transpire the know-how into practicing the skill of mental training. As old saying, it is easier to say than done. The attached booklet will fill up the gap between know-how and practice perfectly and squarely. As Dr. G put a remark in his book – Mindfulness in Plain English, it will take years of practice and experience for yogi starting to appreciate what is all about mindfulness. That is exactly what I have been through, a waking up call in the journey of new discovery." submitted by Oliver Chang .

Week 2 Notes: June 15, 2009. (22 weeks to go ...)

Tips to "structuring your daily practices": where, when and how long by Bhante Gunaratana. "... length of time (we suggest at least 20 minutes) is not as important as the regularity ... meditate regularly." ... read more ... ____________________________________________________________ Two Thoughts About Life 1. Setting Priorities ... How long do we have left to live? What will we do if we ONLY have 22 minutes left to live. We seldom think about this even though we know that this life will end. May be it is time to figure out what is it that is most important in life.!!! 2. Simple Story of Life Chapter 1: I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out! Chapter 2: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again! I can’t believe I am in the same place! But it isn’t my fault. It still ta

What is Mindfulness (正念)?

Mindfulness (正念) Defined by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (谭尼沙罗尊者)- ".. to keep the breath in mind. Keep remembering the breath each time you breathe in, each time you breathe out." Click here to read the entire article ... ____________________________________________________________ “正念”- (Mindfulness in Chinese ) “正念是以一种特定的方式来觉察,即有意识地觉察(On Purpose)、活在当下(In the Present Moment)及不做判断(Nonjudgementally)” Click here to read the entire article ... ____________________________________________________________ Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana - "Mindfulness is mirror-thought. It reflects only what is presently happening and in exactly the way it is happening. There are no biases." Click here to read the entire article ... ===========================================================

Week 1 Notes: June 8, 2009.

We have good start (6/7/2009), keeping daily practice will help maintain your momentum. The following articles are will help support your meditation. 1. Creativity by Ven Thanissaro shows us how to practice consistently. ( http://www.watmetta.org/ ). "curious, inquisitive side of your mind is what’s going to lead to discernment. ... you can make a game out of learning how to bring the mind to settle down, then once the mind is settled down it’ll naturally want to understand this, understand that, understand the processes of what you’re doing. That’s insight." Get the entire article- http://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/CrossIndexed/Published/Meditations2/041004%20M2%20Creativity%20&%20Play.pdf 2. Approaching a “good friend" is what Ken mentioned of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu Article (read pg82-83) - Anapanasati: Mindfulness of Breathing Good Webs site- http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/ http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/