George Draffan began studying Buddhism with Geshe Lhundhup Sopa at the University of Wisconsin in the 1970s. Since then he’s received instruction and participated in retreats with teachers in the Tibetan, Theravadin, and Zen Buddhist traditions. He has also practiced qigong for many years. His practice of embodied awareness has been deeply influenced by physical labor, mountain hiking, and the gentle therapy of Feldenkrais. George is the Associate Teacher at Dekeling and does interviews, classes and leads practice. You can learn more about George’s teaching at NaturalAwareness.net.
Loving Kindness Meditation – Download
The purpose of the Dharma is to free us from the causes of suffering and to help us plant the seeds of genuine happiness. One of the great causes of happiness is goodwill toward ourselves and others. Loving kindness is also an antidote to fear.
Meditation Sitting Posture – Download
Body and mind are not exactly one, but they aren’t separate either. Posture affects how we feel during meditation. Posture also affects our mental energy — the sense of busyness or dullness. Posture also helps balance the subtle energies that release the knots of confusion that block clarity and wisdom. Here we take a look at seven parts of the body in sitting meditation: legs, hands, torso, shoulders, head, tongue, and eyes.
Studying, Reflecting, Meditating: Why We Need All Three – Download
Maybe you have a hunch that meditation would be helpful to you, but you don’t know where to begin. Or perhaps you’ve found an inspiring Dharma book, one that really makes sense to you, but you haven’t gotten around to meditating. Maybe you’ve tried to meditate, but the instructions in the book aren’t very clear.
Mindfulness and Calm Abiding – Download
The cultivation of stable clear attention is the foundation of all Buddhist meditation. Mindfulness is a key ingredient of calm abiding (shamatha or shinay).
I Highly Recommend the Meditation Sandwich – Download
Several of my teachers trained me to enjoy what I call a meditation sandwich. Whatever the main meditation is, put it in between two slices of bread, and add a few trimmings.
Four Reminders – Download
These “four thoughts that turn the mind toward the Dharma” are recommended as preliminaries to any other Buddhist practice. Daily reflection of these four thoughts is an essential reminder of why we practice, and gives us some insight into the causes of suffering and the end of suffering.
Introduction to Insight – Download
Dissatisfaction arises as conflicting thoughts and emotions, but the root of them all is confusion about the way things actually are. Insight or Clear Seeing (Sanskrit vipashyana, Tibetan lhatong) is “the seeing that frees.” Let’s take a look at how an experience arises — as a sensation upon which we add pleasant or unpleasant feelings, names and ideas, stories and impulses and reactions.
Finding Equanimity in the Midst of Experience – Download
Diligence and wise attention can bring a measure of calm on the meditation cushion, but we may still lose our emotional balance in daily life. Stillness and calm are one thing, but experiences arises unceasingly, so how do we find balance and perspective right within experience?