02/27/2020 “Awareness, Effort, and Right View” with Rich Howard
Google “mindfulness” and you’ll find this definition (from Psychology Today): “Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention to the present.” On the other hand, Burmese monk and meditation teacher Sayadaw U Tejaniya titled one of his books “Awareness Alone is Not Enough.” What else is needed? Won’t it be complicated? With all the approaches to mindfulness floating around, it may be a challenge to know how to practice a simple yet effective form of awareness that leads to insight and eventually freedom. With reminders from Sayadaw’s two most recent books, “Collecting Gold Dust” and “Relax and Be Aware” as well as his classics, we will look at the wider context of Awareness/Mindfulness/Attention: how it might differ from some of the popular notions, how it fits in the Noble Eightfold Path, and how it supports our search for freedom. This evening will be a good preparation for the retreat on February 29*.
* The daylong retreat on February 29 was themed “Awareness Practice and Inquiry”. Although the retreat talks were not recorded, here are a couple of related handouts that Rich Howard wanted to share with this post.