buddhist psychology Archives - Bhavana Learning Group

Generosity—The Mind of Letting Go

When we describe someone as generous or acting with generosity, we are experiencing a giving person.

Synonyms of generous include liberality, magnanimity, abundance, amplitude, largesse, unselfishness, kindness, beneficence, and even hospitality. And yet, I find these definitions and synonyms confusing because they miss the fundamental truth of generosity—an openness that begins with letting go.

Going East

To clarify and deepen our notion of generosity, Eastern thinking offers some wisdom. Dāna is a Sanskrit and Pali word that translates to “generosity.” It connotes the virtue of offering or giving in Indian religions and philosophies. Giving and receiving require open hands—thus DOWNLOAD PDF

By Tony Zampella|2023-08-24T09:21:29-04:00August 14th, 2023|Blog|0 Comments

Evolving Mindfulness, Part 4: Restoring Wisdom

In this final blog, I connect a few important concepts related to restoring wisdom to mindfulness via Buddhist psychology.

Recall that, in Part 3, I introduced the Four Noble Truths. We see mindfulness in the training category of “mental discipline” in the Eightfold Path. The ethics of mindfulness is in the training category of “ethical conduct.”

Wisdom is the overlooked category in Western learning. This begins with our socialization and education. Wisdom simply gives way to practical knowledge in the American worldview. Yet without wisdom, we lack grounding, a compass, or clarity.

Wisdom Beyond Knowledge

In times DOWNLOAD PDF

By Tony Zampella|2023-03-21T11:34:16-04:00November 14th, 2022|Blog|0 Comments

Evolving Mindfulness, Part 3: The Truth of Suffering

Once we move beyond McMindfulness, as discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this blog series, we can explore the nature of mindfulness from its core teachings.

In this part, I develop a pedagogy as a foundation for awakening. I’ve selected the most relevant core teachings, topics, and resources of mindfulness from the Dharma to represent the “ground of mindfulness.”

NOTE: To support the learning in this blog series, we’ve created a page of terms, citations, and resources. Items in the blog followed by a number (1) or letter DOWNLOAD PDF

By Tony Zampella|2022-11-14T16:20:54-05:00October 31st, 2022|Blog|0 Comments