Learn more about Sebene's upcoming course at BCBS this May on Buddha’s Teachings and Issues of Cultural Spiritual Bypassing. IJ: What’s most essential for a deeper engagement with the work of diversity and inclusivity? SS: To really engage in this work, there has to be some level of genuine motivation. If you have no interest at all, you might want to look at what that resistance or lack of interest is about—to see if it’s because you have no interest in understanding one of the dominant … [Read more...]
Alagaddūpama Sutta~The Discourse on the Snake Simile
Ñānaponika Thera
The Discourse on the Snake Simile (Alagaddūpama Sutta) ~ Majjhima Nikāya 22 Translated by Ñānaponika Thera Originally published by Buddhist Publication Society, 1974. Reprinted with permission. Click here for Introduction and Notes or to access other BPS articles. The Snake Simile Thus have I heard. Once the Blessed One lived at Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Ariṭṭha’s Wrong View Now, on that occasion a monk called Ariṭṭha, formerly of … [Read more...]
The Work of Diversity: Getting Messy, Getting Uncomfortable
Lama Rod Owens
Insight Journal: There’s a lot of talk about diversity going on right now in every Western Dharma center. People are attending workshops, reading books and articles, having meetings. What is it about this work that people might still be missing? Lama Rod Owens: The question I get asked over and over is, “What do I do?” There’s an intellectualization of the work of diversity and inclusivity, but there aren’t many steps being taken. I think a lot of it has to do with fear—fear of saying or … [Read more...]
Vedanā Part 2: Addressing Views and Clinging at the Source
Bhikkhu Anālayo
This is Part 2 of a two-part interview on Vedanā with Bhikkhu Anālayo. Read Part 1 of the Vedanā interview here. IJ: How does the craving that arises in dependence on vedanā lead to the view-forming process? And how can that process be worked with or transcended? BhA: Psychologists call it the Myside Bias, which means that I always assume that my views are correct and others’ are wrong. Any information that comes in I manipulate in such a way that it confirms that my views are right and … [Read more...]
Vedanā Part 1: Addressing Views and Clinging at the Source
Bhikkhu Anālayo
Read Part 2 of this Interview. IJ: Bhante, thanks so much for being with us again to talk about the second satipaṭṭhāna. Maybe we can start with how to begin incorporating contemplation of vedanā into one's overall practice. Should time be set aside to work just with vedanā, or should it be slowly brought into one's primary practice? BhA: The way I usually teach is to first work through all the four satipaṭṭhānas, and then come to an undirected type of awareness. In this way one gradually … [Read more...]
Practicing Your Way Out of Doubt, Synthesizing Styles, and the Underground Abhidhamma
Steve Armstrong
Find out more about Steve’s course at BCBS this September 23 - 28, 2016, Mindfulness, Insight, and Nibbāna: In this Very Life. Find out more about Steve’s online course starting September 27, 2016, Introduction to the Manual of Insight. Insight Journal: Can you tell us about Manual of Insight by Mahasi Sayadaw? Steve Armstrong: Kamala Masters, a team of translators, and myself have been working on this for fifteen years. Manual of Insight, recently published by Wisdom Publications, … [Read more...]
Coming Clean on Diversity and Staying in Love with Practice
Pannavati Bhikkhuni
Insight Journal: I often hear people saying some version of, “I sit 30 minutes a day, but I want to get up to 45.” Or “I sit an hour a day, but I’d like to do two.” Are we missing something when we evaluate practice in this way? Pannavati Bhikkhunī: I think we often misunderstand what striving is. The kind of striving that the Buddha talks about is tied up with the aspiration of the heart, not some external effort like trying harder or putting in more time. It’s more about quality than … [Read more...]
Mindfulness in Different Buddhist Traditions
Bhikkhu Anālayo
In modern day meditation circles, different understandings of mindfulness frequently exist side by side. Finding a meaningful way of relating one form of mindfulness to another can provide a model for coming to terms with the variety of Buddhist teachings nowadays available in the West. Different Constructs of Mindfulness The theoretical construct of mindfulness and the practices informed by this notion have gone through considerable development over two and a half thousand years of … [Read more...]
The Convergence of Vedanā, Our Mammalian Physiology, and Awakening
Brian Lesage
Insight Journal: The title of your course at BCBS this coming August is “The Convergence of Vedanā, Our Mammalian Physiology, and Awakening.” What do you mean by our mammalian physiology? Brian Lesage: What I’m referring to, and what we’ll be talking about in this course, is our various physiological states. Stephen Porges talks about five states: social engagement, mobilization (fight-or-flight), play, immobilization (life-threat), and immobilization without fear. The state we’re in colors … [Read more...]
Vipassanā, the Three Characteristics, and the First Satipatthāna
Bhikkhu Anālayo
Insight Journal: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, Bhante. Perhaps we could start by talking about what vipassanā really means. Bhikkhu Anālayo: The term vipassanā means “insight.” I think the important point to keep in mind is that this is not a technique. It is actually a quality. That is quite different from the understanding that many nowadays have. When we say, “vipassanā,” we often feel that this is a particular technique, a particular form of meditation that you have to … [Read more...]
