COURSE DESCRIPTION
Smṛti is the earliest term used in Buddhism for meditation. In the modern English-speaking world it is commonly translated as ‘mindfulness’, however it is helpful to know that the word smṛti indicates something like ‘remembering’ or ‘recalling’, and is traditionally contrasted with śruti, ‘hearing’. There are many ways to understand how the act of remembrance relates to Buddhist meditation and other aspects of psycho-physical practices.
This meditation workshop presents the traditional satipaṭṭhāna system of Buddhism. A four-step practice that gets progressively deeper as the object of focus, or mindful awareness, shifts, beginning with mindfulness of the body, then bodily sensations, followed by mindfulness of mind-states themselves, and finally mindfulness of the very principles (dharmas) governing the construction of mind-states. Broken into four evenings, each session will include a guided meditation, periods of silent sitting, in addition to analytical discussion of these foundational ideas, and their numerous sub-categories.
Primary Reading
Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (“Foundations of Mindfulness”) - Majjhima Nikaya 10
Suggested Reading
1️⃣ Alexander Wynne, The Origins of Buddhist Meditation (London: Routledge, 2007)
2️⃣ In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, ed. Janet Gyatso (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992)