The Mind Illuminated - Culadasa

Blog: http://psychreviews.org/the-mind-illuminated-culadasa/

John Yates, also known as Culadasa, directs the Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha in Tuscon, Arizona. He has worked in a wide variety of traditions including, Theravada, Tibetan traditions, and he also taught physiology and neuroscience.

He wrote the book The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Using Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science, which is refreshing in its use of Stages. Many practitioners want to skip to the end of the path and end up slowing their practice down unknowingly. By focusing on stages, the meditator can focus on what they need to master first before moving onto the next stage, and thereby they keep from getting lost.

In this review I’ll focus on some of Culadasa’s insights into how mindfulness works, and the challenges of a wandering mind.

For the latest on Culadasa, see Guru Viking's Interviews:

The Mind Illuminated: https://youtu.be/roTWZ9GcBMY
Pandemic: https://youtu.be/4T5juDagQ1w
Denounced In The Dharma https://youtu.be/Yv3AX1IzeCY

Intro: 0:00
Lost in thoughts 1:05
Insight 2:07
Intention 4:27
Targeted and wide 5:58
Forgetting 7:11
Following 7:55
Connecting 8:49
Labeling 12:00
Investigating the breath 13:07
Checking-in 13:26
Summary 14:44
Dullness 15:32
Eliminating thoughts causes dullness 18:09
Thoughts in meditation 18:40
The Mind Illuminated 20:23

Music, sound effects, photos and videos from Storyblocks.

The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Using Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science - Culadasa: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9781501156984/

http://culadasa.com/

Dharma Treasure:

https://dharmatreasure.org/

The Anapanasati Sutta:

http://psychreviews.org/category-contemplativepractice-theanapanasatisutta/

Thanissaro Bhikkhu – Mental Stirrings:

https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/y2004/040227%20Mental%20Stirrings.mp3