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Mindfulness Cultivates Equanimity

Meditation Monday with Sayadaw Vivekananda

What does it mean to have a “balanced mind”, and how can mindfulness meditation help to cultivate it? Mindfulness-based meditation practice has very positive effects on the mind that are experienced as temporary states. A long term committed practice will transform these temporary, positive states into permanent traits… into new a way of being. Buddhism lists these beneficial qualities as “The 7 Factors Of Awakening”, with the culmination in that list of “equanimity”, an exquisitely balanced mind. In the below interview excerpt Vipassana meditation teacher Sayadaw Vivekananda speaks about how “mindfulness cultivates equanimity”.

Ven. Sayadaw Vivekananda
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Meditation & Why You Can’t Get There From Here

Part 3: Aikido & Non-Duality Series - w/ Dr. Dominique Cassidy

Awakening is the goal of meditation. But like the old quip says “when it comes to awakening you can’t get there from here.” Therein lies the rub. If a non-dual realization if your goal then “doing a practice” implies that there is somewhere to develop, something to achieve… an obvious duality (or maybe not so obvious). Of course, meditation is a practice leading to awakening, but it is still just the finger that points to the moon of awakening. Join Dr. Dominique Cassidy and I as we explore this paradox of non-duality in our discussion of meditation and why you can’t get there from here.

Dr. Dominique Cassidy & Miles Kessler
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Conditions For Non-Duality In Aikido

Part 2 - Aikido & Non-Duality Series: w/ Patrick Cassidy

In the Zen tradition, they often use the metaphor of “the finger pointing to the moon.” The “finger” here, refers to practices that point towards the moon or, a non-dual awakening. But even though “fingers” point the way, the pointing practices themselves cannot get you to a direct experience of the moon. Simply put, when it comes to non-duality, you can’t get there from here. If this is the case then we should ask, what exactly are the conditions for Non-Duality In Aikido?

Patrick Cassidy & Miles Kessler
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Aikido & Non-Duality with Dan Messisco

Part 1 In This Aiki-Discussion Series

Nothing is more separating than conflict.​ Nothing is more unitive than spirituality. The martial art of Aikido attempts to walks this impossibly thin line as a “spiritual martial art.” If this is the case, then what does an expression of Aikido’s spiritual essence look like? If we are all spiritually connected, ultimately One, or not-two, then how can we express this non-duality in conflict? These are the questions I explored with Dan Messisco Sensei (6th dan Aikikai) in our recent Aiki-Discussion on Aikido & Non-Duality.

Swallowing the River Ganges : A Practice Guide to the Path of Purification by Matthew Flickstein

An invaluable road map for anyone who meditates, Swallowing the River Ganges is a comprehensive practice guide to the “great treatise” of Theravadan Buddhism, the “path of purification” (Visuddhimagga). Written in the fifth century, this encyclopedic manual of Buddhist doctrine and meditation organizes the various teachings of the Buddha into one clear path. Step by step, this meditation course guides readers through the seven stages of purification, explaining the teachings and putting them into a modern context.