Attitudes of the Mind and Heart

December 15th, 2008  ·  No Comments

Cultivate the Seven Key Attitudinal Factors of qualities of heart and mind that lay the foundation for mindfulness practice and for seeing and accepting things as they are as a first step to working wisely and compassionately with stress, pain, illness, and sorrow as well as life’s joys and pleasures-Jon Kabot-Zinn  (One of America’s foremost teachers on Mindfulness)

Free yourself from limiting perspectives, and become more intimate with your own boundless awareness.  We are speaking of the Buddhist term equanimity.

To develop equanimity we must cultivate the qualities of the mind that support its growth. There are seven mental qualities, …

Thoughts on Virtue (Sila)

December 9th, 2007  ·  3 Comments

Irrigators guide the water,
Fletchers shape the arrow shaft,
Carpenters shape the wood,
Those of good practices control themselves.
– The Buddha

The Buddha said there are five gifts, five great gifts. He said they were long-standing, traditional, ancient, unadulterated, from the beginning—not open to suspicion, and will never be open to suspicion. What are these five things?

Abandoning the taking of life. (abstains from taking life)
Abandoning taking what is not freely given. (abstains from stealing)
Abandoning illicit sex. (abstains from illicit or heedless sex)
Abandoning lying. (abstains from lying and untruths)
Abandoning the use of intoxicants (abstains from

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