How Concentration Works
“It is through the cultivation of inner concentration that luminous purity of mind arises. It is through luminous purity that access to expanded states arise....
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Practice: Turning Toward Our Essence
“Develop a mind that is vast like space, where experiences both pleasant and unpleasant can appear and disappear without conflict, struggle or harm. Rest in...
Turning Toward Our Essence (Part Two)
Read Part One: Turning Toward Our Essence As we have seen, when we turn to investigate who is being aware we may feel confused, like a...
Awakening to Pure Consciousness
Let us consider the unbounded sky or mirror-like nature of consciousness. We need to be practical. Our first task is to learn to distinguish the...
Practice: Visualization
To work with a sacred image, choose someone who inspires you, St. Francis or Kwan Yin the goddess of infinite mercy, Jesus or Mary, Buddha...
Practice: Counting Thoughts
“With the mind, observe the mind.” – Buddha This first simple practice gives an immediate experience of mindfulness of thought. Sit comfortably and quietly. After...
Establishing a Daily Meditation
First select a suitable place for your regular meditation. Place a meditation cushion or chair there for your use, and add any books or images...
Enacting Mindfully
The fifth skillful means for working with difficulties is called Enacting It Mindfully. Let’s face it, we act out most of our desires anyway. In...
How to Begin Naming
Begin by sitting comfortably, focusing awareness on your breathing. As you feel each breath, carefully acknowledge it with a simple name: “in-breath, out-breath,” saying the...
Purification: The Gateway to Higher States
Learning to concentrate, though initially difficult, works. Gradually, through repeated focus on our subject over hours and days, the mind’s wandering diminishes. It settles down...
Heart Wisdom – Ep. 14 – Simplicity and Sympathy –
The spirit of simplicity, presence and sympathy of heart can carry us through the most difficult and beautiful of times. When we learn to make...
The Entry to Expanded Consciousness: Access Concentration
The gateway to both the Realms of Absorption and the Realms of Dissolution is a stabilization of heart and mind called access concentration. Access concentration...