Meditation Archives - Secular Buddhist Network

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Meditation

From meditation retreats to dharma path immersives

While meditation retreats are extremely valuable, they are limited in some important respects. We need to develop more inclusive forms of intensive practice which help us cultivate each of the essential dimensions of of the Eightfold Path in an integrated way.

Reflective meditation retreats as a space for independent and critical thinking

In leading meditation retreats based on a reflective meditation approach Linda Modaro and Moline Whitson aim to create a middle path between a strict adherence to an intensive schedule and completely doing away with the structures and guidelines that have been considered worthwhile on vipassana retreats.

Moving toward student-centric meditation teaching

Almost everything that has changed in how we have developed and teach reflective meditation over the past several years, arises from our experience reclaiming our practice and moving forward from a deeply painful split in our community. Like many Buddhist communities torn apart by failures of leadership, we continue to examine our ideals and assumptions about teaching and leadership and search for a middle path.

Secular Buddhist meditation: cultivating virtues and insights to promote human flourishing

Mike Slott argues that the purpose of meditation for secular Buddhists is to cultivate certain virtues and insights which are crucial to promoting human flourishing in this world, not the attainment of nirvana.

Linda Modaro & Nelly Kaufer on reflective meditation

Linda Modaro and Nelly Kaufer teach an open awareness, secular meditation and dharma practice which they call reflective meditation. While it is based upon the Buddha’s teaching, this approach also includes principles of western psychology and neuroscience that help support teachers and their students in leading ethical and internally congruent lives.

Getting started with secular meditation

Ramsey Margolis emphasizes that secular meditation is primarily about stillness and self-observation; when we sit regularly, we become becoming mindfully aware of not just the content of our thoughts but also the emotions and mind states that inform these thoughts

The basis of meditation

At a Sŏn-style retreat in which the question 'What is this?' is posed Martine Batchelor explains that all forms of meditation practice are all based on two fundamental elements – anchoring and experiential inquiry.

Why use meditation and reflection?

Reflective meditation is a relatively new, non-formulaic and flexible meditation approach which many secular Buddhists have found to be very helpful in developing their practice.

Secular versus traditional approaches to meditation

In his 2015 book After Buddhism Stephen Batchelor argues that the goal of meditation for secular Buddhists is not achieving nirvana but gaining an embodied understanding of our experiences from moment to moment.

The goal of secular Buddhist meditation practice

According to Winton Higgins, 'We meditate to experience this world and this life as vividly as possible. Intensely. The way we experience it reflects back at us – it tells us who we are and where we’re at in this moment.'

Meditating without nirvana: a transformative experience

From a secular Buddhist perspective, Mike Slott contends that meditation should not be about reaching or accessing nirvana, but developing the capacity to become wiser, more compassionate, and mindful.

Meditating with and for each other

Mike Slott argues in this article that traditional meditation retreats in insight and Zen centers are too individually-focused, that there needs to be more opportunities to develop a sense of community and comraderie among retreat participants. He offers "practical suggestions on how solidarity and support between retreatants, as well as a greater focus on our engagement in the world, can become part of meditation retreats."

Insight meditation and the inner life

In the first of three talks at a day-long workshop in New Zealand in 2019 Winton Higgins discusses the Buddha’s foundational teaching for meditative practice, the Satipaṭṭhāna sutta (the discourse on the focuses of awareness) from a secular Buddhist perspective.

Mindfulness is a hot commodity: looking for a quick fix?

Something that goes by the name ‘mindfulness meditation’ is a hot commodity these days. You can find many models on the market, some are more or less expensive, and of varying quality (like cars and dishwashers). The brands that are on the market either claim claiming origins in the Buddhist tradition, which lends them the kudos and the aura of ancient wisdom, or studiously avoid doing so.

Challenges to Buddhist meditation practice now

In this talk given in 2018 Winton Higgins compares the expectations of people living in the Buddha’s era (5th century BCE) about meditation practice, and to our own views about the goals of meditation.