contemplative learning 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|2023-10-31T13:48:37-04:00August 14th, 2023|Blog, classic blog|0 Comments

Creating Space to Access Wisdom Daily

As first defined by William Davies of LRB, the term reaction economy best fits the lives we all navigate. To quote Davies, “Each of us becomes a junction box in a vast, complex network, receiving, processing, and emitting information in a semiautomatic fashion, and in real-time.”

Reactive Spaces

Davies focused on reactions such as facial expressions, gestures, or emojis, which have become an influential currency of the digital public sphere. Nonetheless, his term describes a reactiveness that has splintered our attention and fragmented our awareness.

Getting DOWNLOAD PDF

By Tony Zampella|2023-03-28T13:20:25-04:00March 27th, 2023|Blog|1 Comment

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