Category Archives: mindfulness

April 2018 full moon – Retreat and post-retreat practice

Before and after A couple of years ago, I wrote a post titled “Retreat and pre-retreat practice”, which explored ways to navigate some of the anxiety and other challenges that often come up before we go on retreat. This month, I’m writing about another aspect of retreat practice that doesn’t always get a lot ofContinueContinue reading “April 2018 full moon – Retreat and post-retreat practice”

January 2018 full moon – re-set

Sydney Insight Meditators 2018 New Year’s retreat Making positive changes The New Year is traditionally a time to try to make positive changes for the year ahead.  And yet most of us have had the experience of starting out with a rush of good intentions, only to find ourselves collapsing back into old habits veryContinueContinue reading “January 2018 full moon – re-set”

July 2016 full moon – Hatred STILL never ceases by hatred …

Rainstorm near Te Moata Retreat Centre, Coromandel, New Zealand Exactly two years ago in July 2014, I wrote a post based on some well-known lines from the Dhammapada: Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed. This is an ancient and eternal law. 1 Lately, that same post has been getting someContinueContinue reading “July 2016 full moon – Hatred STILL never ceases by hatred …”

February 2016 new moon – sea anemone heart

Sea anemone by Virginia Draper http://www.virginiadraper.com/p822038089 Opening, closing, opening, closing … Everything has its natural rhythm, including the human heart.  I’m not sure why it took me so long to understand this, but a childhood memory – of exploring rock-pools with my father while on holiday in Scotland – helped.  On family visits to chillyContinueContinue reading “February 2016 new moon – sea anemone heart”

February 2015 full moon – freedom from the fetter of views

While in San Francisco recently, I had an opportunity to visit Alcatraz island, the former federal penitentiary, 19th-century military fortress, site of Native American heritage and protest, and now one of America’s most visited national parks.  As we walked through the decaying cell blocks, I was struck by the layers and layers of defence thatContinueContinue reading “February 2015 full moon – freedom from the fetter of views”

January 2015 full moon – resolution and determination

“The days and nights are relentlessly passing; how well am I spending my time?” (A question that the Buddha advised practitioners to contemplate frequently) 2015.  Each year this changing-of-the-calendar-numbers seems to arrive a little more quickly.  Each year, it seems that somehow there is less TIME … and so at first reading, the above reflection can seem to reinforce a senseContinueContinue reading “January 2015 full moon – resolution and determination”

December 2014 full moon – wisdom and compassion

This December full moon I happen to be assisting James Baraz with a seven-day retreat in the Yarra Valley, outside of Melbourne, Australia.  Those of you who are familiar with James’ teaching know that he infuses the traditional mindfulness practices that lead to insight, with the “heart practices” known as the four brahma vihara: kindness/metta,ContinueContinue reading “December 2014 full moon – wisdom and compassion”

November 2014 full moon – Right Effort and the Middle Way

Last month, I wrote about the quality of viriya, sometimes translated as “heroic energy,” and how at times, just signing up for a retreat can seem to kick-start an inner process where qualities such as determination, dedication, commitment, effort, and trust begin to deepen – even before we actually arrive at the retreat itself. AlsoContinueContinue reading “November 2014 full moon – Right Effort and the Middle Way”

Danish retreat with Joseph Goldstein and Uffe Damborg, June 2014

A view of Kerteminde harbour Just wanted to share a few photo souvenirs from this retreat, which took place last week on the outskirts of Kerteminde, an old fishing village a couple of hours from Copenhagen.  The retreat was led by Joseph Goldstein and Uffe Damborg, who have known each other for over forty years,ContinueContinue reading “Danish retreat with Joseph Goldstein and Uffe Damborg, June 2014”

Insight Meditation weekend – Auckland, New Zealand

This weekend’s insight meditation retreat at St Francis Retreat Centre in Auckland was blessed by good weather, good food, good friends – and good singing and chanting, courtesy of a Pasifika dance group on Saturday and a Hindu meditation group on Sunday!  Much gratitude to everyone who contributed to providing such powerful conditions for theContinueContinue reading “Insight Meditation weekend – Auckland, New Zealand”

Joseph Goldstein’s new book Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

Joseph Goldstein has just published a new book which looks in detail at the Satipatthana Sutta, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, which is the key text for the practice of insight meditation.  It should be a very helpful resource for anyone who wants to refine their understanding of mindfulness and its role in the developmentContinueContinue reading “Joseph Goldstein’s new book Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening”

Rick Hanson interviews Joseph Goldstein on mindfulness

This is a recent interview by neuroscientist Rick Hanson with his teacher, Joseph Goldstein, who is one of the founding teachers of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. Joseph gives a very clear explanation of the full range of what mindfulness is, and also what it isn’t, based on his forty years experience ofContinueContinue reading “Rick Hanson interviews Joseph Goldstein on mindfulness”

Generosity part 4: Giving and Receiving

Greg Scharf and volunteer cook Donald Elniff enjoying cake dana at the Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre Right now, I’m assisting my friend Greg Scharf teach a two week retreat at the Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre in New South Wales, Australia.  And right about now, the annual three-month retreat at the Insight Meditation SocietyContinueContinue reading “Generosity part 4: Giving and Receiving”

Non-residential weekend retreat, Auckland, New Zealand

Update 24 July – ONLY 2 PLACES LEFT Freeing the Heart-Mind A non-residential weekend retreat exploring Buddhist meditation practices for developing wisdom and compassion During this non-residential weekend retreat we will explore two main forms of Buddhist meditation, insight (vipassana) and loving-kindness (metta). Together, these two practices help us to cultivate more awareness of ourselvesContinueContinue reading “Non-residential weekend retreat, Auckland, New Zealand”

Metta weekend, Auckland, New Zealand

Gratitude to all the participants in the recent Metta weekend retreat held at Bella Rakha in Auckland, New Zealand. The dedicated team! Shrine prepared by Sue, with everyone’s aspirations in the bowl below

Insight Meditation in Silicon Valley

This article from Wired magazine gives a snapshot of how insight meditation is being used – and/or misused – in big tech companies such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, PayPal, etc. It’s not meditation any more, it’s “neural self-hacking!” http://www.wired.com/business/2013/06/meditation-mindfulness-silicon-valley/

Winter in Australia and New Zealand – study and practice opportunities

This year is flying by, and in less than two weeks I plan to be in retreat at the Forest Refuge for the whole month of May.  So I wanted to take the opportunity now to remind NZ friends that there are still some places available for the 14-16 June weekend retreat at Bella RakhaContinueContinue reading “Winter in Australia and New Zealand – study and practice opportunities”

Doing and being

Mangawhai Beach One of the delights of teaching insight meditation retreats is experiencing first-hand how even though the form and content of each retreat is similar, the mix of people attending each event is unique, and out of this uniqueness, different practice themes naturally emerge. Recently I taught a couple of day-long silent retreats inContinueContinue reading “Doing and being”