Magazine Meditation & Practice

Mindfulness and Concentration

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana on the difference between mindfulness and concentration

Fall 1998

Magazine Teachings

Do Thoughts Ever Stop?

THE BUDDHA ADVISED his bhikkhus (ordained followers), “Bhikkhus, when you have assembled together you should do one of two things—have dhamma discussions or observe noble silence.” Noble silence is the state of mind where there are no thoughts. The mind is totally silent. But thoughts can be stopped only if we train our mind to […]

By Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

Spring 1997

Magazine Meditation & Practice

Breathing

Ancient Pali texts liken meditation to the process of taming a wild elephant. The procedure in those days was to tie a newly captured animal to a post with a good strong rope. When you do this, the elephant is not happy. He screams and tramples, and pulls against the rope for days. Finally it […]

By Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

Spring 1995

Sitting Still

ONCE YOU SIT, do not change the position again until the end of the time you determined at the beginning. Suppose you change your original position because it is uncomfortable, and assume another position. What happens after a while is that the new position becomes uncomfortable. Then you want another and after a while it, […]

Summer 1993

Training in Tenderness

We all have stubborn habits that are supposed to protect us from injury, upset, or failure. But in most cases, our defenses fail their purpose, instead preventing us from building meaningful connections and reaching true happiness. In this series, Tibetan Buddhist teacher Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche shows us how to reorient ourselves toward tsewa, the tender and open heart that is an innate human quality.

Aug 2018