In this 4 part series The Springer Mindfulness Journal, Mindfulness Association tutor and Buddhist monk Choden explores the roots of secular Mindfulness and its links to Buddhism.
Month by month we will be providing links to the articles for you to download.
In the second of a series of articles exploring how the practice of mindfulness can be guided by the Mahamudra teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, Choden explores the role of compassion in mindfulness practice and the positive impact it can have.
Choden explores how compassion is rooted not only in the desire to help alleviate suffering but in honesty and acceptance of the challenges, difficulties of life. It is only by fully inhabiting and embodying our experience that we can face these challenges, and it is only compassion that gives us the qualities of love, strength and wisdom that we need to support ourselves and others.
The article introduces a practical approach to self-compassion and compassion for others and again balances the traditional approaches and practices like the mandala practice, whilst showing how the approach fits into modern disciplines like Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT).
This article is part of the Mahamudra and Mindfulness Series of articles that are intended to guide readers step-by-step through the stages of Mahamudra practice and how they can be applied in a modern context.
In the third article of the Mahamudra and Mindfulness series, Choden delves into the practice of Insight, and how the bridge between secular and traditional mindfulness provided by insight training is coming to define what is being labelled “second generation mindfulness”.
Insight meditation – or Vipassana – is about moving beyond settling the mind through meditation, inviting the practitioner to see clearly what is arising in the mind and the very nature of the mind itself. It is a deepening of the practice, allowing practitioners to become more attuned to our habitual patterns that shape, drive and even dictate our lives.
In the article Choden distils the teachings of Insight – the teachings that shape the Insight Module of our four-stage training pathway – into a form that is understandable, accessible and also relates directly to the modern secular approaches to mindfulness. He explores the Nature of the Mind and provides two insight practices to guide practitioners through this delicate but profound process.
In the fourth and final of his Mahamudra and Mindfulness research article, Choden explores the link between history and contemporary, tradition and modernity through wisdom training.
Wisdom training can be a phrase that can be easily misunderstood as something only for a spiritual tradition or something that requires monkish isolation. However, Wisdom training is really about discovering “the truth of who we are”, helping us understand the “nature of the mind”, something that is inherent in human behaviour, regardless of background, custom, spiritual tradition or lack thereof.
Choden skilfully highlights how the practice of wisdom can call on the millennia of Mahamudra expertise, knowledge and experience to inform how we gain insight into the human condition in the 21st century.
In this article Choden shows how practices such as “Open Awareness” help us connect directly with in our inner world. He also demystifies concepts like “emptiness” and “illusion” that are integral to wisdom practice, whilst also explaining and guiding us through the idea of letting go of a solid “I” or “self” in order to gain deeper understanding of what drives us and what we need.
This article helps us manage and explore what could simply be philosophical aspects of practice in an experiential and practical way, highlighting how wisdom is relevant and accessible today.