In this article, I study one of the methods for countering the influxes in relation to mindful eating. Instructions on proper partaking of food lead me to argue that the employment of mindfulness in contemporary healthcare settings to improve physical and mental health has an antecedent in early Buddhism. The Influxes In previous articles in this journal, I studied the three types of feeling (vedanā) and their relation to the underlying tendencies (anusaya). In what follows, I take up the … [Read more...]
Satipatthana in Dialogue with Suffering and Oppression
Lila Kate Wheeler and Lama Rod Owens Wheeler
Lila Kate Wheeler and Lama Rod Owens will be teaching Satipatthana in Dialogue with Suffering and Oppression at BCBS from December 6-9, 2018. Insight Journal: The name of your upcoming course is “Satipatthana in Dialogue with Suffering and Oppression.” Can you share with us how the idea of this course came about and what you will be covering? Lila Kate Wheeler: The topic was Lama Rod’s idea, I can’t claim credit for it. We’ve collaborated before, and are passionate about dharma and … [Read more...]
The Many Faces of Nonduality
David Loy
Insight Journal interviews David Loy, a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. He will be teaching "Nonduality” in Buddhist Teachings and Practice at BCBS September 28-30, 2018. Wisdom Publications will be releasing a second edition of David Loy's book Nonduality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy in 2019. Insight Journal: Nonduality is one of my favorite topics, and there are so many different ways of looking at it. I really loved your book … [Read more...]
Development Along the Path: Nirvana, Numinous Experience, and Emptiness
Stephen Mckay
(Note: These reflections emerged out of a group reading of Stephen Batchelor’s After Buddhism, among other texts, as part of the year-long Nalanda program’s continuation module at the end of May 2018). Stephen Batchelor begins After Buddhism by expressing his discomfort with the Geluk [Tibetan Buddhist] teaching that a positive description of emptiness is not to be given. He then provides an account of what he has learned from the teaching and his practice, in effect describing emptiness in … [Read more...]
The Underlying Tendencies
Bhikkhu Anālayo
In this article, I study the concept of the underlying tendencies and their relation to the three types of feeling in particular. Based on this I explore how meditation practice can help to counter the influence of the three underlying tendencies that trigger unwholesome reactions to the three type of feelings. The Underlying Tendencies In three previous articles in this journal, I referred to the relationship drawn in the Shorter Discourse with Questions and Answers, … [Read more...]
The Challenge of Pain
Bhikkhu Anālayo
This is the last of three articles following up topics discussed in the course of the Vedanā Symposium convened by Martine Batchelor and held at BCBS from 13 to 16 July 2017. In two previous issues of the Insight Journal I studied aspects of neutral and pleasant feelings; in what follows I turn to painful feelings. Wishing for Liberation For an appreciation of the challenge posed by painful feelings, the Shorter Discourse with Questions and Answers, the Cūḷavedalla-sutta (MN 44), offers … [Read more...]
Māna: Conceits of the Self
Paul Fulton
My entry point into Buddhist practice was its teachings on anatta, the illusory nature of self. As a teenager, I intuitively felt that the problem was the self, and here was a tradition that said as much, and even offered a method by which to be done with it. Or so I thought. Enlightenment, I imagined, was deep and irreversible insight into the emptiness of self that destroyed it once and for all. Sign me up. Of course, this was a grave misunderstanding. The Buddha taught that self is a … [Read more...]
The Buddha’s Teachings on Social and Communal Harmony
Winnie Nazarko
Insight Journal: This is a course discussing engaged Buddhism, and how it relates to our lives today. What do you see as the scope of this course, and what would you like people to be able to take away from it? Winnie Nazarko: The intention is that we would cover particular areas of the Buddha's teachings which are most pertinent to the creation of harmonious society. People would look at and examine those teachings from their own perspective to consider their applicability to the present … [Read more...]
Distraction: Strategies for Overcoming Distracting Thoughts
Shaila Catherine
Shaila Catherine will be teaching Distraction: Strategies for Overcoming Distracting Thoughts at BCBS March 9-14th, 2018. Insight Journal: How did you decide to teach a course at BCBS about overcoming distracting thoughts? Shaila Catherine: What meditator doesn’t want to overcome distracting thoughts? We all struggle to work skillfully with our own minds and learn to face the patterns that disturb our peace. The Discourses of the Buddha give us a wealth of resources--not just one … [Read more...]
The Potential of Pleasant Feelings
Bhikkhu Anālayo
In this article I continue following up topics discussed in the course of the Vedanā Symposium convened by Martine Batchelor and held at BCBS from 13 to 16 July 2017. Whereas in the last issue of the Insight Journal I studied selected passages from the Pāli discourses relevant to an appreciation of neutral feelings, in what fol-lows I turn to pleasant type of feelings. The Buddha’s Asceticism For an appreciation of the distinct attitude in early Buddhist thought towards pleasant feelings, … [Read more...]