Studying And Practicing With “The Iddhipāda-Vibhaṅga Sutta — An Analysis Of The Bases Of Power” (SN 51:20): Introduction; The Sutta’s Key Encapsulation Paragraph & A Translation Reading (1 of 7)

One reason this blog post and podcast series came about could likely be due to my meditation practice becoming stale and now provides an outlet for a somewhat more advanced level where details are dived into. If and when exploring this sutta on your own, it’s recommended to drop the intricate, sometimes tedious language I go into here to the fullest extent possible. It’s important to remember my intent here of placing plenty under a spiritual microscope to merely visit modes of deconstruction and analysis for study and (formal) practice possibilities, not as a general normalized mode of living. And while I go into minute details pertaining to this sutta please keep in mind it’s likely more helpful not to keep considering this sutta in isolation but within the broader context of the Buddha’s (other) teachings.

How To Find (Meditation) Teachers

The best advice I’ve heard so far is basically: There’s a saying that when you’re ready the teacher will appear. And when you’re really ready the teacher will disappear. For me, especially when starting out — and after getting past the baggage of unhelpful perceptions about many run of the mill school teachers — itContinue reading “How To Find (Meditation) Teachers”

Multi-month Pāramitā (Perfections) Challenge For February 2022

Sangha, criticism, the two truths, service to others, emptiness, generosity, conduct, non-clinging, non-harming, energy, the three unwholesome roots, and clarity round out the main topics for February 2022, month six of “The Pāramitā Challenge”. See also Months 1-3, Month 4 and 5. Instructions are to journal contemplations resulting from observed intentions, opportunities, and actions toContinue reading “Multi-month Pāramitā (Perfections) Challenge For February 2022”

Show Up. Listen Up. Speak Up. | (2/22/2022 — “Ask Us Anything – LIVE” With Lydia Grace)

Fellow Insight Timer teacher Lydia Grace inspired the title of this month’s regular open-audience, open-discussion “Ask Us Anything” — continuing discussions about meditation and related topics. Recently on Lydia’s Insight Timer circle Embodied Living she said of one of her solo live events, “…you didn’t actually miss the live because I got on briefly to say I couldn’t doContinue reading “Show Up. Listen Up. Speak Up. | (2/22/2022 — “Ask Us Anything – LIVE” With Lydia Grace)”

Multi-month Pāramitā (Perfections) Challenge For January 2022

Meditation, concentration, contemplation, intoxicating substances, cravings, awakening, wisdom, and future Buddhahood round out the main topics for month five of “The Pāramitā Challenge” in January 2022. See also Months 1-3 and Month 4.

In addition to contemplating topics about the Pāramitās or Perfections, so far, this challenge also includes precepts, the (10 Abodes from the) 52 Stages of the Bodhisattva Path and Bodhisattva vows.

Instructions are to journal contemplations resulting from observed intentions, opportunities, and actions to be generous, moral and ethical while arousing faith in the Triple Gem then seeing where/when confident and where/when in doubt.

Multi-month Pāramitā (Attainments/Perfections) Challenge For December 2021

Apparently November 2021 was a break so December is month 4 of “The Pāramitā Challenge” (which I previously wrote and spoke on the first three months.)

In addition to contemplating topics about the Pāramitās or Perfections, so far, this challenge also includes precepts, the (10 Abodes from the) 52 Stages of the Bodhisattva Path and Bodhisattva vows.

Instructions are to journal contemplations resulting from observed intentions, opportunities, and actions to be generous, moral and ethical while arousing faith in the Triple Gem then seeing where/when confident and where/when in doubt.

This month includes the Pāramitā on diligence, the Right Speech precept (also doubling as a past Insight Timer live event) and the middle stages of the 10 Abodes from the 52 Stages of the Bodhisattva.

Letting Our Body Talk | (12/28/2021 — “Ask Us Anything – LIVE” With Denny K Miu And Lydia Grace)

Join Denny K Miu, Lydia Grace and I Tuesday December 28, 2021 at 4pm Central for “Ask Us Anything LIVE” via the embedded YouTube in this post or:
•dennykmiu.com/youtube [redirects to Denny’s YouTube channel]
•dennykmiu.com/facebook redirects to Denny’s Facebook page]

[As of now, I plan to update this placeholder post with show notes sometime afterwards]

Distortions and Dreams

The event description for this edited audio version from a recent Insight Timer live talk Distortions and Dreams: A 15 minute side glance at making New Years resolutions by an exploratory barraging of the barriers of distortions and the ups and downs of (some) dreams. While the local church bells at 6pm are still audible,Continue reading “Distortions and Dreams”

Cahokia Mounds: Star Map Of The Pleiades And University For Navigation And Astronomy?

Shortcut to this blog post: https://tinyurl.com/cahokiacodes Since I live right across the river from the ancient world heritage site Cahokia Mounds the place occasionally comes up in conversation. The two extensive articles below, with potential significance for many areas of reality, address subject matter not commonly propagated about the ancient earth works. I also tossContinue reading “Cahokia Mounds: Star Map Of The Pleiades And University For Navigation And Astronomy?”

Multi-month Pāramitā (Attainments/Perfections) Challenge For August, September And October 2021

When presented with “The Pāramitā Challenge” I accepted and here we are. In addition to the Pāramitās or Perfections, so far, the challenge also includes precepts and the 52 Stages of the Bodhisattva Path and Bodhisattva vows.

So far, instructions are to journal contemplations resulting from observed intentions, opportunities, and actions to be generous, moral and ethical while arousing faith in the Triple Gem then seeing where/when confident and where/when in doubt.

I’ve not taken Bodhisattva vows, and so with little instruction in Mahāyāna Buddhism, apart from maybe a smidgen of the zen stuff, there’s the benefit of beginner’s mind is a nice way to put it. I shoot from the hip with a lot in this recording and will often use a Theravada lens and a lot of inquiry as I ponder out loud. It may come off at times as criticism and sometimes it may actually be, but these are mostly solo efforts at summonings what is really meant by the material.