New England Buddhist Vihara & Meditation Center

When you enter the first jhana you are still in touch with your physical senses. Your eyes are closed but you can still hear, smell, feel, and taste. This is one definite indication of the first jhana, as opposed to

The mind moves here and there in the company of many thoughts. This swirling mass of thoughts or internal mind states are constantly added to by new thoughts generated by external events. These new thoughts are generated by how we

Practicing mindfulness with clear comprehension makes the mind fully engaged in all the activities you do. You practice mindfulness and clear comprehension while walking forward, backward, looking around, standing, sitting, wearing clothes, and any other mental and physical activities. Everything

“As your concentration deepens, you gain the ability to see thoughts and sensations arising slowly, like separate bubbles, each distinct and with spaces between them. They bubble up in slow motion out of the unconscious. They stay a while in

It is very important to practice Meditation of Loving kindness. The first step is kindness towards one’s own self. Next is kindness towards others, those you can see and know, and all other beings unseen. Through loving kindness meditation, we

The Dhammapada is a collection of 423 verses. These verses contain the Buddha’s essential teachings delivered on over 305 occasions for the benefit of a wide range of human beings. This collection is also called the “Treasury of the Truth”.

Dhamma means the noble teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha’s teachings are based on the understanding of the Four Noble Truths. Dukkha is a Pāli word – the closest meaning is ‘unsatisfactoriness’. Suffering (Dukkha) The cause of suffering The end

Understanding oneself means to understand the behavior of one’s mind. Dhamma is an exercise in itself. That exercise is seeing oneself by oneself. For example, a man can look in a mirror and notice that he has dark shadows on

When we meditate on mindfulness of feelings, we keep in mind that feeling arises dependent upon contact. As contact changes, the feelings also change. When we experience a pleasant feeling, we think, “This is a pleasant feeling. It has arisen

Instead of worrying over past unwholesome thoughts, we arouse wholesome thoughts, such as generosity, patience, and loving-friendliness and use effort to strengthen the wholesome thoughts. In addition, we use mindfulness to guard the senses against external sensory experiences that might