awareness

Life has its ups and downs

When you’re hot, you’re hot. When you’re not, you’re not. And that’s o.k. Life has its ups and downs. To be able to ride the waves with grace, not being blown out of the water, […]

Allow all perceptions

If we slow down we can drop into awareness, just observing in the present moment. No need to narrow the focus. Rather, keep the mind wide open and expansive. Allow all perceptions, what we see, […]

Come home again to awareness

When we are deluged by one problem after another, we focus only on the problems, again and again and again. We forget about the good stuff. Gratitude is far from our mind, and far from […]

Inner peace is cultivated inwardly

Awareness is cultivated looking inward. Usually we are looking outward through the senses. We see, we hear, we smell, we taste, we touch, all with an outward focus. Awareness is an inward focus. For many […]

Bare, naked awareness is the emptiness of the mind

Bare, naked awareness is the emptiness of the mind. It is a state of total openness. It is a state of total inclusion. It is a state of profound wisdom. It is a state of […]

Let’s learn to rest the mind

We’ve rested the body. Now let’s learn to rest the mind. This is crucial for good physical and mental health, let alone inner peace. There are different levels of resting the mind. First, we just […]

Meditation and mindfulness

Meditation and mindfulness are like dance-partners. They each support the other gracefully. There are two types of meditation: focused (shamatha) and contemplative (analytical). Focused meditation also is translated as calm abiding, concentration, and single-pointed meditation. […]

Human Values Institute