Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions

George takes a break from Mahasi Sayadaw’s Manual of Insight to acknowledge the role of New Year’s resolutions and how they affect practice. Jumping off from there, he gets into Dr. Dan Siegel’s “windows of tolerance” and how to eliminate negative mind states.

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The Ten Fetters

Branching out from the traditional Theravada Buddhist view, George explains how his teacher, Shinzen Young, takes a more distinctly American view of the ten fetters. This continues the Contemplation of Mental Objects section of Mahasi Sayadaw's Manual of Insight.

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The Six Senses

George explains how the arising and passing (appearance and disappearance) of physical phenomena occurs with the five senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking.

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The Five Aggregates

Starting with a brief discussion of Burma's influence on Western meditation styles, George then delves into the text of Mahasi Sayadaw's Manual of Insight, drawing connections between the experience of senses, Western Attachment Theory and the big questions around self. 

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The Five Hindrances

George explains the five hindrances in Buddhism: sensual desire, aversion, restlessness, regret, and doubt, and delves into the context of how they unfold. This marks the beginning of the Contemplation of Mental Objects section of  Mahasi Sayadaw's Manual of Insight. 

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Worldly and Unworldly Pleasure/Displeasure

Vedna, the Pali word for feeling tones, describes the capacity to sense, which can be pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. The experience breaks down further into worldly and worldly. George explains it all, from the Contemplation of Feeling section of Mahasi Sayadaw's Manual of Insight. 

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Wise and Unwise Attention

Delving deeper into the concept of awareness of awareness, George unpacks how the experience of the self is dependent on the conditions of the moment. He also tells the story of the Buddha and the mustard seed. From "Contemplation of Mental Objects" in  Mahasi Sayadaw's Manual of Insight.

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Realizing Mind

George discusses the concept of realizing mind, or in more Western terms awareness of awareness, and describes the differences between sensing and awareness. From the"Contemplation of Mind" section in Chapter 4 of Mahasi Sayadaw's Manual of Insight.

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Mind States

Moving on to the "Contemplation of Mind" section of Mahasi Sayadaw's Manual of Insight, George discusses the eight mind states ranging from the ordinary to the esoteric and explains how meditation leads to the conclusion that most experiences are neutral rather than pleasant or unpleasant.

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Pleasure and Displeasure

George breaks down how the first milestone of spiritual maturity is the ability to recognize that you have a mind-state and that it can distort how you perceive your own sensing experience, and gives a close reading on Pleasure and Displeasure, in both its Worldly and Unworldly forms. From Mahasi Sayadaw's Manual of Insight.

If you would like to engage directly in the practice of dāna (generosity), you are invited to help support us with a contribution to the Mettagroup Scholarship Fund.

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