Pobsa’s Dharma Lounge – Details, episodes & analysis

In this companion episode to Episode 28, I offer a very short sampling of how we can bring the teachings of the satipatthana-sutta related to Mindfulness of the Body into the postural practice of hatha-yoga.

Remember, our principle that we are not here to make asanas of ourselves and that it is NOT about how we look or what we can do, but rather what can we see about the lived experience of the body.

ALL Dana is gratefully accepted!

In this episode, I offer a short summary of the practices associated with the First Domain (otherwise known as the First Foundation or Establishment of Mindfulness) as described in the satipatthana-sutta.

If you'd like to read a version of this episode, click here.

If you would like to offer DANA, click here.

Inspired by a conversation with some students and remembering a song from the Sex Pistols, Pobsa shares about problems and how to work with their inevitability. This episode ends with a somewhat humorous and quite telling story of the Buddha and a Brahman who sought relief from his 85 problems.

Click here to contact Pobsa with any questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes.

Click here to offer dana to Pobsa. Remember, dana is the practice of sharing gifts and any and all offerings are gratefully accepted.

Click here to hear the Sex Pistols.

In this episode, Pobsa introduces a form of "objectless meditation" which is a form of meditation that embodies simply maintaining open awareness, without directing the mind to any particular object. He does this through a graduated process of two other meditations that can function as "stand alone" meditations designed to develop stability (Mountain Meditation) and reflectivity of mind (Lake Meditation).

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You can contact Pobsa through his website: www.mindfulnessyoga.net

Another way to support this podcast is through the practice of DANA. ALL dana, no matter how small you may think it is, is greatly appreciated and will be acknowledged in following episodes.

I think you will enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with Barrie Risman as much as I did! Prompted by a Facebook post, I reached out to Barrie and she gracefully accepted my invitation to chat about some of the philosophical aspects of the Yoga Tradition(s).

Barrie is an internationally-recognized yoga teacher, public speaker, and author. Her book, Evolving Your Yoga: Ten Principles for Enlightened Practice, is a guide for yoga teachers and continuing students to deepen, expand, and integrate the benefits of yoga in their lives. I'm pretty sure, as I make my way through her book, that I will be inviting Barrie for further exploration.

Barrie’s alignment-oriented approach to postural practice is grounded in principles of healthy, functional movement. Her events weave together the technical precision of alignment-based practice with principles of yoga philosophy distilled from decades of intensive study and made accessible and relevant to practitioners from all walks of life.

She teaches yoga around the globe through her ongoing classes, workshops, mentoring programs, and trainings, both online and in person. Her work has been featured in Yoga Journal, Yoga International, and on CBC Television.

For further information about Barrie and her work: https://www.barrierisman.com/evolvingyouryoga

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There's a major discrepancy between the contemporary definition and understanding of "mindfulness" and how it is described and understood in the Buddhist traditions. In this episode, Pobsa details the difference and why it matters. There are two places where he mis-spoke: when mentioning the ground-breaking work of Willoughby Britton, he says she discovered that only 4 out of 1800 studies on mindfulness had control groups but the number was 40. And the closing analogy correctly stated is: "mindfulness is like the hand that takes a sheaf of grain in its grip and wisdom the hand that holds the scythe that cuts it down."

The episode where Pobsa introduces sila (ethical training) is here. 

The episode where Pobsa introduces principles of meditation is here.

To offer dana to Pobsa please click here.

After a discussion about gratitude, Poep Sa shares a practice from the Japanese Pure Land School of Buddhism that helps cultivate an attitude of gratitude and appreciation for the myriad ways our lives our supported by other beings, processes and things.

If you'd like to read more about this profound practice, check out the book by Greg Krech.

If you'd like to support this Podcast, consider offering dana. 

When asked what he taught, the Buddha said he taught only one thing: "Suffering and the end of suffering." However, the Pali/Sanskrit word duhkha points to a reality of existence more nuanced than the word "suffering" would lead us to expect. In this short episode, I introduce this concept, and some of the various ways it's been understood as a way to make sense of the statement often made by Buddhist yogis that "life is suffering."

Please consider supporting this podcast by subscribing, sharing, and commenting. Dana is also very gratefully accepted. To learn more about this beautiful practice of sharing or gifting, check out this podcast episode. 

To offer Dana, click here. 

To read a more in-depth exploration of duhkha in the context of the Four Noble Truths, check out this blog essay.

In this episode of Pobsa's Dharma Lounge, I use the film After.life as a launchpad to discuss the koan-like phrase from Hsu Yun, "Who carries this corpse?" The hwadu or 'live word' distilled from this question is "Who?" It is an invitation to bring "don't know mind" and the great questioning that can lead to great awakening.

After.life is directed by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo 

Click here to see a trailer for the film.

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Inspired by the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, in this episode, Pobsa examines the Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist understanding of atonement. He ends by sharing the Zen Buddhist Gatha of Atonement. 

If you wish to support this podcast, please subscribe, review, like, and share with others. If you wish to offer any financial support, any amount of dana is greatly appreciated. 

If you have any questions or comments you would like to share with Pobsa along with suggestions for future episodes, email him at:
frankjude@mindfulnessyoga.net