Our Core Practice

Mindfulness, our core practice, is the first of the Seven Factors of Awakening. It is a profound, life-affirming practice—a radical act of love. It is accepting, impartial, present time, pre-conceptual awareness without self-reference. Lovingly, we pause and settle into the embrace of present experience—just as it is, without having to achieve anything, or to be or to have something else, “unique,” “special,” “important,” or pleasant happen in order to feel content and whole. This is the gift of mindfulness—knowing this moment as whole and complete, however it is, whatever its particulars, without judgment or grasping. Most of the time we ignore the fact that we are already whole and pursue the next hit, the next high or try to control uncontrollable circumstances to fit our predilections and preferences. In the process, we lose touch with what is true, deepest and most valuable here and now.

In the Satipatthana Sutta, the root text in which the Buddha gave detailed instructions for practicing Mindfulness, we are invited to pay precise and kind attention to 360 degrees of our experience, both internally and externally: The Body, Feelings, Mind and “Dhammas” (changing phenomena and experience naturally and lawfully unfolding). This way of practice leads to a profound understanding of our own sensations, thoughts, feelings, perceptions and consciousness and how their expression and manifestation impact the external world. We remember what it means to be human. The Buddha promises that diligent and consistent mindfulness practice will lead to total freedom. Will you undertake this liberating practice and see for yourself?