Outlining the seven factors of awakening in Buddhism, Gil Fronsdal offers an accessible perspective on the glory of the dharma.
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This week on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Gil Fronsdal shares:
- Seeing the glory of the dharma in all experiences
- Mindfulness: the simple offering of presence for what’s happening right now
- Being present for our emotions rather than for or against them
- Mindfulness as the bridge between the five hindrances and the seven factors of awakening
- How differentiation gives rise to wisdom and understanding
- The choice between being caught up and letting go
- Persisting in our effort to practice, moment by moment
- Witnessing when our mind wanders off during meditation
- Having an equanimous mind, being both tranquil and alert
This recording was originally published on Dharmaseed
About Gil Fronsdal:
Gil Fronsdal is the co-teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California; he has been teaching since 1990. He has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1989 began training with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. Gil teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is part of its Teachers Council. Gil was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He currently serves on the SF Zen Center Elders’ Council. In 2011 he founded IMC’s Insight Retreat Center. He is the author of The Issue at Hand, essays on mindfulness practice; A Monastery Within; a book on the five hindrances called Unhindered; and the translator of The Dhammapada, published by Shambhala Publications. You may listen to Gil’s talks on Audio Dharma.
“With mindfulness we’re just trying to be present, and in that, find a certain kind of freedom. So, if it’s not simple, it’s not mindfulness.” –Gil Fronsdal
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