Abhidharma, Buddhism’s map of the mind, is sometimes treated as a topic of merely intellectual interest. In fact, says Thich Nhat Hanh, identifying the different elements of consciousness, and understanding how they interact, is essential to our practice of meditation. The Vietnamese Zen Master Thuong Chieu said, “When we understand how our mind works, our practice becomes [...]
The Real Practice of Mindfulness
As mindfulness becomes an increasingly popular concept, it is often mistaken for just “being in the moment.” Andrew Olendzki examines the Abhidharma teachings to uncover what mindfulness practice really is and how it works. The English language is rich in many ways, particularly when explaining the features of the material world, but it is remarkably clumsy when it comes to [...]
Coming Home to the Body
The practice of meditation is a journey of return to who we really are, says Zen teacher Norman Fischer. We come home to the body—so vulnerable, ever-changing, magnificent—because it is “the soil in which understanding grows.” It is the vehicle of enlightenment. Note that the basis of the Buddha’s forbearance, and the basis of ours as well, is the body. When things get [...]
That Problematic “Self”
"Self" is a purely conceptual construction says Dr. Reginald A. Ray in his fourth and final article exploring the "self." He says, "What makes one’s ‘self’ so problematic is its degree of isolation from our actual experience, its rigidity and dissonance with reality beyond itself.” In my current series of articles, I’ve been considering Buddhist notions of the "self," [...]
Why Me?
In the second of a four-part series on the definition of "self" in Buddhist teaching, Dr. Reginald (Reggie) Ray asks: If the "self" is ultimately fictitious, how and why does it come to be at all? In this series of columns, I am exploring Buddhist perspectives on "self" and "not-self." The previous column examined the nature of the "self" as a conceptual entity, the erroneous [...]
Who, Me?
"Buddhism describes several kinds of ‘self’ and ‘not-self,’ each of which has its role to play in our spiritual life,” says Dr. Reginald (Reggie) Ray in the first of a four-part series on the definition of self in Buddhist teaching. The central teaching of Buddhism, discussed in detail in the psychological descriptions of the Abhidharma (higher dharma), is that of anatman, or [...]