Deconstructing Yourself

Nothing is more important to meditation than the quality of attention. In mindfulness meditation, we are doing more than just concentrating—the point is to concentrate on something useful—but to do it requires high quality attention. Between the rise of mindfulness practices in America and the rise of the Internet and a host of distractions, attention [...]

Studies looking at the brains of people playing a fairness game found very different responses between Buddhist meditators and other participants. By Michael Haederle It’s no secret that humans are not entirely rational when it comes to weighing rewards. For example, we might be perfectly happy with how much money we’re making — until we [...]

by Jessica Graham My teacher Shinzen teaches that mindfulness meditation has three parts: concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity, which all together lead to a reduction in suffering. But sometimes people have “freak-outs.” A freak-out is a state in which you lose the ability to concentrate and maintain sensory clarity. As a result, your equanimity falls [...]

Part of the Concentration Series, by Michael W. Taft Have you ever been so involved in doing something that the rest of the world just kind of disappeared? Or time slowed down and even your sense of self disappeared? The great Brazilian soccer star Pele talked about an experience he had in which he felt: [...]

Peter and I are very excited about our new book coming out. Here’s the trailer, which is awesome.