Prefer watching on YouTube? View it here → MTCSD Essay 1: What is Practice?

Overview

In this introductory video essay, I open the conversation about contemplative practice as I view and experience it, centering attention/awareness and the role of the breath as foundational for developing greater agency over our attention and lives.

Sources & Further Reading*

* 1:30 “Practitioners, I know not one single thing more intractable and harmful than an untrained mind.”

* AN 1.31-40, accesstoinsight.org

* AN 1.31-40, buddha-vacana.org

* 3:15 Monoculture, Wikipedia

* 3:30 Sādhanā, Wikipedia

* 4:20 Three Gates, wisdomlib.org

* 5:10 Neuroplasticity, Wikipedia

* 6:55 Samsāra, Wikipedia

* 9:15 Avidyā, Wikipedia

* 10:00 MN 19, Dvedhavitakka Sutta, accesstoinsight.org

* 12:45 Mindfulness, Wikipedia

* 15:45 Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism, kagyuoffice.org

* 17:25 Perfection Pāramitā, Shambhala

* 18:30 Wisdom & Compassion, mindworks.org

* 24:10 Upaya, Wikipedia

* 26:20 Upanishads, translated by Eknath Easwaran, Thrift Books

* 35:25 Prāṇāyāma, Wikipedia

* 36:35 Ānāpānasati, Meditation on Breathing, accesstoinsight.org

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design. All ideas, writing, music, editing, and creative choices are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

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