A Path of Calm, Clarity, and Insight
Many people today first encounter Buddhist meditation through the modern mindfulness movement. I got into Buddhist meditation back in 1980 before there even was such a thing.
Now mindfulness is everywhere— in phone apps, hospitals, therapy offices, schools, and workplaces. But many folks I speak with don’t know these practices have their roots in ancient Buddhist traditions that go back more than 2,600 years.
The approach here is closely aligned with Insight Meditation—a contemporary expression of early Buddhist practice that began in the West during the 1970s.
Among the first group of Western teachers trained in Asia were Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, and Sharon Salzberg, who later helped establish meditation centers in the United States devoted to the serious practice of insight meditation.
Meditation Instructions
If you are new to practice, listen to these brief audio instructions on sitting, walking, and mindfulness to experience the simplicity and depth of this tradition.
These first two guided meditations are offered by Sharon Salzberg, one of my first Western teachers. The first is an 8-minute introduction to feeling the breath, followed by a guided meditation on the practice of counting the breath.
The following three recordings are readings from Gil Fronsdal’s excellent book The Issue at Hand: Essays on Buddhist Mindfulness Practice. They offer clear and practical introductions to sitting meditation, walking meditation, and mindfulness as a Buddhist practice. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an accessible introduction to Buddhist mindfulness.
- Brief Instructions for Sitting Meditation (05:14)
- Instructions for Walking Meditation (06:47)
- Mindfulness Meditation as a Buddhist Practice (06:16)
Mindfulness as a life practice
Meditation begins with something as simple as paying attention to the breath, but the practice can open into much more. We can learn to bring the same mindful awareness to the body, our emotions, our thoughts, and the mind itself—and eventually to the ordinary experiences of daily life.
In the recordings below, Gil Fronsdal offers a wonderful introduction to these different dimensions of mindfulness, both in formal meditation and beyond the cushion.
- Mindfulness of Breath (1:24:47)
- Mindfulness of Body (20:04)
- Mindfulness of Emotions (1:35:07)
- Mindfulness of Thoughts (1:33:42)
- Mindfulness of Mind (1:25:47)
- Mindfulness in Daily Life (1:35:00)
Reflections on meditation practice
If you would like to dive deeper into this style of meditation, explore our suggested reading list. You might also find these personal reflections helpful: sit quietly and observe your thoughts and broken wings.