Tag: mindfulness

Hi Friends, Here are a few resources Mark mentioned in his talk for your reference: Study Resource for this week’s reflection Refuge: Natural Buddhism by Gil Fronsdal The Refuge of Sitting by Narayan Liebenson Suffusion of Divine Abidings (Four Quarters …

Resources from Mark Talks 3/20/22 & 3/27/22 Read More »

Tagged with: , , , ,

Dear Common Ground friends, There is no worse danger than a mind without mindfulness and no greater protection than being clearly aware of the mind and its activity. Wisdom reflects back the activity of our mind. Without wisdom we remain …

Wisdom and the Activity of the Mind Read More »

Tagged with: , ,

The Middle Length Discourses: MN 10 Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta) Pages 145 – 155 To be read out-loud: Sections 1- 8 Discussion Theme: This month we can reflect on the Buddha’s mindfulness instructions. In this sutta the Buddha …

Sutta Study Reflection Theme 3-3-2012 Read More »

Tagged with: ,

I’ve spent much of my meditation practice learning to let go of the past, a past at times so horrific that it seems to hover over the present. Often when I’m mulling over the past, I find myself rationalizing and …

Why the Past Isn’t Personal Read More »

Tagged with: ,

I have a pesky habit of getting stuck in the past, of brooding over relationships and events, analyzing and wishing for a different outcome along the way. Sometimes, I find myself tête-à-tête with a particularly unsmooth shard from the past’s …

Stepping Twice Into the River Read More »

Tagged with: ,

Imagine laying in a forest, bathed by the fourth-dimensional serenity of nature and sunlight playing across the landscape.  And, suddenly, a wormhole opens and you are thrust onto the middle of a freeway junction with cars zigzagging in every direction.  …

Post-Retreat: Reentering Life’s Freeway Read More »

Tagged with: ,

When my sister and I were growing up, we started to catalogue Dad’s various idiosyncratic sayings.  Some were out of context, some were hilarious and some were actually profound, as in, “Life is made up of moments.” Life is full …

The Extraordinary Ordinary Read More »

Tagged with: ,

Some days my practice seems perfect, just right.  I’m filled with love and compassion, patience for life’s inanities and generosity towards pretty much everything.  My life makes sense, I make sense, I observe and accept and everything is beautiful.  Even …

Lessons from Walnuts Read More »

Tagged with: ,

To speak is only human, so we all have our problems with Right Speech. For some, the challenge is resisting the urge to gossip. Other people shade the truth all day long, dramatizing every memory in the retelling, or padding …

Right Speech as a Path to Peace Read More »

Tagged with: , ,

To cultivate mindfulness, I’ve heard teachers give the following advice: “Short moments, many times.” To help me on that path, I bought a watch with a vibrating alarm. I set it to go off every 30 minutes. (No one else …

The Mindfulness Watch Read More »

Tagged with: ,