top of page

mindfulness

Mindfulness Meditation is a western, non-sectarian, research-based form of meditation derived from a 2,500 year old Buddhist practice called Vipassana or Insight Meditation. It is a form of meditation designed to develop the skill of paying attention to our inner and outer experiences with acceptance, patience, and compassion. The University of California Center for Mindfulness, part of the medical school’s psychiatry department, defines Mindfulness Meditation this way:



“(Mindfulness) is a quality, which human beings already have, but they have usually not been advised that they have it, that it is valuable, or that it can be cultivated. Mindfulness is the awareness that is not thinking but which is aware of thinking, as well as aware of each of the other ways we experience the sensory world, i.e., seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling through the body".

“Mindfulness is non-judgmental, open-hearted, friendly, and inviting of whatever arises in awareness. It is cultivated by paying attention on purpose, deeply, and without judgment to whatever arises in the present moment, either inside or outside of us. By intentionally practicing mindfulness, deliberately paying more careful moment-to-moment attention, individuals can live more fully and less on ‘automatic pilot,’ thus, being more present for their own lives.”

The Triple Gems

 

 

To Buddha we go for refuge.

In the path of mindful awareness, we take refuge.

The practice of conscious breathing is our refuge.



To Dharma we go for refuge.

In the teaching of no separate self, we take refuge.

The insight that all beings are without blame is our refuge.



To Sangha we go for refuge.

In the community of boundless compassion, we take refuge.

The guidance of the Five Wonderful Precepts is our refuge.

Triple Gems

The Five Wonderful Precepts

 

First Precept

 

Being mindful of suffering caused by the taking of life,

we are determined to live in ways that preserve and protect life in all its forms.



Second Precept



Being mindful of suffering caused by the taking of
what belongs to others,

we are determined to take only what is freely given 
and to give freely as we are able to those in need



Third Precept



Being mindful of suffering caused by sexual acts
that break commitments,

we are determined to keep our commitments and 

to respect the commitments of others.



Fourth Precept



Being mindful of suffering caused by
careless or malicious speech,

we are determined to use words to heal the wounds of misunderstanding, anger, hate and fear



Fifth Precept



Being mindful of suffering caused by taking poisons into our bodies and minds,

we are determined to take into our bodies and minds
only those things 

that nourish awareness, life, and love

Five Precepts
bottom of page