Namchak

As the frenetic energy of summer quietly fades, temperatures drop, and days shorten, it feels natural to turn inwards. Here at Namchak, we are turning our attention to Vipassana or special insight meditation for the month of October. We will follow the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Buddha’s fundamental teaching on meditation) as our Vipassana guide as we hone our awareness of the world around us. Common to all Buddhist traditions, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness are a systematic guide to practicing insight meditation in progressive stages, detailing the four areas of life to which mental awareness should be applied. Those four areas are mindfulness of body, feelings, mind, and phenomena or mental objects.

Despite our efforts to keep life manageable, the world is overwhelming. The issues we deal with in our personal lives – health, relationships, work – are further compounded by those affecting the global community. Luckily, the world is full of courageous people who tackle these issues head on. The advice of the writers cited below provides tools to help us move authentically through the world as informed, engaged citizens.

When Lama Tsomo was asked how she tackled the prodigious task of learning Tibetan, she had this to say. (The parallel to starting a meditation practice may surprise you!)

If you’ve been wanting to attend a meditation retreat but are putting it off, we encourage you to ask yourself why. To help, we’ve compiled a list of nine common misconceptions about our Namchak retreats, with explanations.

Learn about to apply Lama Tsomo’s there keys to maintaining a daily practice: working it into your schedule, establishing a distraction-free space, and practicing compassion for your own mind.

Clearing the Stale Energies is a traditional relaxation technique that will prepare you for your daily practice. You can also think of it as a negative or “stale” emotion flush. Start by watching our video, then you can practice on your own or with Lama Tsomo’s guidance.

It’s time to recharge those goals that we’ve let slip since January. Whether your goal was to eat cleaner, bike to work daily, or get eight hours sleep every night, it’s time to get back to it.

We now know that, since we’re made of Buddha Nature, we too can reach the end of all suffering, permanently. We can finally end our wandering and go back Home. To give us more clarity about how to tread this path of liberation, the Buddha laid out eight aspects in his first teachings, like eight strands woven together to make a very strong rope.

How often do we think we know someone only to realize what we were thinking about them was totally wrong? Humans are fantastic at creating stories about each other. Unfortunately, they are misguided and keep us from one another. The goal is to see the stories we write about others and take a minute to examine the origins of those stories. Meaningful sangha requires awareness and acceptance so that we can genuinely connect with one another.