Course Resources

Session 1

Video Recording

Audio

Extra Resources: Guided Meditation on Listening (12 min) / Guided Meditation on Breathing (12 min)

Definitions of Mindfulness:

• “Mindfulness is all about being aware, open, and receptive to what is happening in the present moment, with what happens right here and right now, and in this way it’s established only by staying with the here and now even as it assists us in remembering the past. Mindfulness can come in wholesome and unwholesome forms. Mindfulness that is aware of dukkha [‘suffering,’ or ‘dissatisfaction’], that is aware that I make contributions to it, and that aims at the diminishing of dukkha, is correct mindfulness. But think of the sniper. He’s mindful, but his intention is harm.” Venerable Analayo

• "Mindfulness is a great translation for (part of) sati. It speaks to the attentional capacity we need to develop — especially because most of us are complete and utter scatterbrains, our thoughts and emotions constantly yank us around.  But, in fact, despite all the focus on neuroscience, it’s not only about our brains. Sati is about training and increasing our capacity to be with our present moment experiences in a more easeful, non-reactive way. The body is the perfect place for that training. While the mind can (and does) pull us into the past or future, the body is only ever in the present moment. That’s why the breath and body are used as primary objects of meditation in so many traditions.” Sebene Selassie

• “If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not “washing the dishes to wash the dishes.” What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future—and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness, Chapter 1.

• “Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. Mindfulness is used in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.” John Kabat Zinn

• Sati/Mindfulness: an embodied awareness of one’s inner and outer experience that strengthens an intimate and impersonal engagement with life while remembering the dhamma (ethics, 3 characteristics, etc…) Sati doesn’t require one to feel calm, to get rid of one’s thoughts, to do things slowly or to control one’s environment. Melina Bondy (working definition!)