Florida Community of Mindfulness

Using two traditional texts, The Four Point Mind Training to Generate Bodhicitta and Eight Verses for Training the Mind, the actual practices of the Bodhisattva Way are presented. How to balance compassion with insightful intelligence, helping oneself with helping others, inner meditative work with acts of service, actively helping with letting go, and "just when is one ready to undertake Bodhisattva activity?" are among the teachings and practices presented with clarity and concreteness by Dharma Teacher Fred Eppsteiner, so that they can become a daily practice easily embraceable.

 

 

My message to everyone is that the Buddha Mind is innate in them. From their parents, nothing else is innate. The Buddha Mind is Unborn because it is always here, innate, and it enlightens the mind…The One Mind, Unborn, undefined, this is “the one” that, in everybody, sees images via the eyes, hears sounds via the ears and, generally, when it encounters the objects of the six senses, reveals whatever is seen or heard, felt or thought, with nothing left conceal.

-Japanese Zen Master Bankei, (1622-93)

Bankei was a meditation teacher who presented the path of awakening as something simple, practical, readily apparent and available to anyone who would follow his directions. Although his early meditation practice was quite arduous and strident, after his enlightenment, he realized that accessing the Unborn Born Buddha Mind was a much easier and relaxed process than he had imagined. In this retreat, Dharma teacher Fred Eppsteiner used the teachings and, most importantly, the practices taught by this illustrious master to help students understand and experience this Unborn Buddha Mind that each of us possesses.

 

My message to everyone is that the Buddha Mind is innate in them. From their parents, nothing else is innate. The Buddha Mind is Unborn because it is always here, innate, and it enlightens the mind…The One Mind, Unborn, undefined, this is “the one” that, in everybody, sees images via the eyes, hears sounds via the ears and, generally, when it encounters the objects of the six senses, reveals whatever is seen or heard, felt or thought, with nothing left conceal.

-Japanese Zen Master Bankei, (1622-93)

Bankei was a meditation teacher who presented the path of awakening as something simple, practical, readily apparent and available to anyone who would follow his directions. Although his early meditation practice was quite arduous and strident, after his enlightenment, he realized that accessing the Unborn Born Buddha Mind was a much easier and relaxed process than he had imagined. In this retreat, Dharma teacher Fred Eppsteiner used the teachings and, most importantly, the practices taught by this illustrious master to help students understand and experience this Unborn Buddha Mind that each of us possesses.

 

My message to everyone is that the Buddha Mind is innate in them. From their parents, nothing else is innate. The Buddha Mind is Unborn because it is always here, innate, and it enlightens the mind…The One Mind, Unborn, undefined, this is “the one” that, in everybody, sees images via the eyes, hears sounds via the ears and, generally, when it encounters the objects of the six senses, reveals whatever is seen or heard, felt or thought, with nothing left conceal.

-Japanese Zen Master Bankei, (1622-93)

Bankei was a meditation teacher who presented the path of awakening as something simple, practical, readily apparent and available to anyone who would follow his directions. Although his early meditation practice was quite arduous and strident, after his enlightenment, he realized that accessing the Unborn Born Buddha Mind was a much easier and relaxed process than he had imagined. In this retreat, Dharma teacher Fred Eppsteiner used the teachings and, most importantly, the practices taught by this illustrious master to help students understand and experience this Unborn Buddha Mind that each of us possesses.

 

Dharma teacher Fred Eppsteiner teaches this two-part series on "Precious Sun," 16th century Padma Karpo's (White Lotus) poetic, insightful, and profound spiritual advice, as found in the appendix of Mind at Ease: Self-Liberation through Mahamudra Meditation.  (Please note: a significant portion of the Part 1 includes Fred's answers to students' questions, whereas the beginning of Part 2 includes a discussion of the spirit and practice of loving kindness meditation as well as a guided meditation.)

 

 

Dharma teacher Fred Eppsteiner teaches this two-part series on "Precious Sun," 16th century Padma Karpo's (White Lotus) poetic, insightful, and profound spiritual advice, as found in the appendix of Mind at Ease: Self-Liberation through Mahamudra Meditation.  (Please note: a significant portion of the Part 1 includes Fred's answers to students' questions, whereas the beginning of Part 2 includes a discussion of the spirit and practice of loving kindness meditation as well as a guided meditation.)

 

 

The cultivation of mindfulness and tranquil abiding allows us to perceive reality more clearly and to live a more peaceful and happy life. The waters of our life become calmer and less murky. Yet, without insight into the nature of reality or true understanding of the nature of ourselves and our mind, we can never experience the depth and profundity of life discovered by the Buddha and all the masters since. Thich Nhat Hanh has continually taught that his students must practice mindfulness (smirti), stopping (samatha) and deep looking (vipashyana) to truly experience the fruits of Dharma practice.

During this retreat, Dharma teacher Fred Eppsteiner offered Buddhist teachings and meditation practices related to vipashyana (vipassana), or the cultivation of insight that produces true wisdom. This refers to our capacity to see into the true nature of reality, i.e. directly understanding the true nature of all mental and physical phenomena. The second training of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing instructs us that, truth is found in life, and we will observe life within and around us in every moment. The insight practices of deep looking and investigation that Fred shared during this retreat showed us how to do this.

 

The cultivation of mindfulness and tranquil abiding allows us to perceive reality more clearly and to live a more peaceful and happy life. The waters of our life become calmer and less murky. Yet, without insight into the nature of reality or true understanding of the nature of ourselves and our mind, we can never experience the depth and profundity of life discovered by the Buddha and all the masters since. Thich Nhat Hanh has continually taught that his students must practice mindfulness (smirti), stopping (samatha) and deep looking (vipashyana) to truly experience the fruits of Dharma practice.

During this retreat, Dharma teacher Fred Eppsteiner offered Buddhist teachings and meditation practices related to vipashyana (vipassana), or the cultivation of insight that produces true wisdom. This refers to our capacity to see into the true nature of reality, i.e. directly understanding the true nature of all mental and physical phenomena. The second training of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing instructs us that, truth is found in life, and we will observe life within and around us in every moment. The insight practices of deep looking and investigation that Fred shared during this retreat showed us how to do this.

 

The cultivation of mindfulness and tranquil abiding allows us to perceive reality more clearly and to live a more peaceful and happy life. The waters of our life become calmer and less murky. Yet, without insight into the nature of reality or true understanding of the nature of ourselves and our mind, we can never experience the depth and profundity of life discovered by the Buddha and all the masters since. Thich Nhat Hanh has continually taught that his students must practice mindfulness (smirti), stopping (samatha) and deep looking (vipashyana) to truly experience the fruits of Dharma practice.

During this retreat, Dharma teacher Fred Eppsteiner offered Buddhist teachings and meditation practices related to vipashyana (vipassana), or the cultivation of insight that produces true wisdom. This refers to our capacity to see into the true nature of reality, i.e. directly understanding the true nature of all mental and physical phenomena. The second training of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing instructs us that, truth is found in life, and we will observe life within and around us in every moment. The insight practices of deep looking and investigation that Fred shared during this retreat showed us how to do this.

 

The cultivation of mindfulness and tranquil abiding allows us to perceive reality more clearly and to live a more peaceful and happy life. The waters of our life become calmer and less murky. Yet, without insight into the nature of reality or true understanding of the nature of ourselves and our mind, we can never experience the depth and profundity of life discovered by the Buddha and all the masters since. Thich Nhat Hanh has continually taught that his students must practice mindfulness (smirti), stopping (samatha) and deep looking (vipashyana) to truly experience the fruits of Dharma practice.

During this retreat, Dharma teacher Fred Eppsteiner offered Buddhist teachings and meditation practices related to vipashyana (vipassana), or the cultivation of insight that produces true wisdom. This refers to our capacity to see into the true nature of reality, i.e. directly understanding the true nature of all mental and physical phenomena. The second training of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing instructs us that, truth is found in life, and we will observe life within and around us in every moment. The insight practices of deep looking and investigation that Fred shared during this retreat showed us how to do this.