Many of the roots of mindfulness lie within ancient spiritual traditions that can still have tremendous relevancy now.
In fact many of the modern secular mindfulness teachers first encountered mindfulness through the meditation traditions of Buddhism. The following are some links to just a tiny fraction of these Buddhist strands - and please do bear in mind they reflect our own connections and interests in the Buddhist world ( there are hundreds of others!].
In fact many of the modern secular mindfulness teachers first encountered mindfulness through the meditation traditions of Buddhism. The following are some links to just a tiny fraction of these Buddhist strands - and please do bear in mind they reflect our own connections and interests in the Buddhist world ( there are hundreds of others!].
- 'Insight Meditation'
perhaps one of the main traditions of Buddhism that
influenced modern secular mindfulness. There are many
good resources in the UK, including for example 'Gaia
House' a retreat Centre in Devon. On their website you can
find both very helpful summaries of insight meditation and
many links and downloads of insight meditation ideas,
practices, and teachers.
- Tibetan Buddhism
teachers and writers in this tradition. Here are two:
- Pema Chodron.
An American woman, who became a nun in her 30's
and has gone on to write a number of much loved books
on the challenges of meditation in modern life - 'warts n
all'. A link to her website is below (also see our link to
an article by Pema on 'Mindful Reflections' web page -if
you read only one article on this website - read this!].
- Ringu Tulku.
A Tibetan monk and writer who has written a number
of accessible books on meditation and modern life.
Here is a link to a brief video of Ringu Tulku describing
'what meditation really is'.
A Tibetan monk and writer who has written a number
of accessible books on meditation and modern life.
Here is a link to a brief video of Ringu Tulku describing
'what meditation really is'.
Christianity
Although we might associate mindfulness with Buddhism only, Christian contemplatives such as Thomas Merton remind us of the long history of a mindful spirit in Christianity: