bodhidave
@bodhidave.bsky.social
humanistic psychodynamic Buddhist deconstructionist ... and all-round sweet guy
interested in cross-cultural parallels in contemplative practice
.
https://utexas.academia.edu/DavidCollins
[header is the rock garden at Ryōan-ji; avatar is an enso]
interested in cross-cultural parallels in contemplative practice
.
https://utexas.academia.edu/DavidCollins
[header is the rock garden at Ryōan-ji; avatar is an enso]
Pinned
bodhidave
@bodhidave.bsky.social
· Nov 21
Deconstructing Mindfulness
There’s been a marked increase in studies of mindfulness and meditation in recent years.
thesideview.co
1:2
The numbers of followers for this account increased this week. I'll re-post an essay I have online which reflects on the present-day "mindfulness" movement.
In that piece, about half-way through, I mention the experience of practicing the jhānas ... and ...
thesideview.co/journal/deco...
The numbers of followers for this account increased this week. I'll re-post an essay I have online which reflects on the present-day "mindfulness" movement.
In that piece, about half-way through, I mention the experience of practicing the jhānas ... and ...
thesideview.co/journal/deco...
This reminds me how in English the words "let go" can mean...
- release or stop doing, and
- allow to happen or allow to be free
- release or stop doing, and
- allow to happen or allow to be free
November 25, 2025 at 1:43 PM
This reminds me how in English the words "let go" can mean...
- release or stop doing, and
- allow to happen or allow to be free
- release or stop doing, and
- allow to happen or allow to be free
I got to see Jimmy Clff in a small venue in Austin. I was pretty much right in front of the stage. He did a fun show, and for an encore the band sat in a circle with just bongos and did “Bongo Man.” A really nice memory. ❤️
November 25, 2025 at 1:33 AM
I got to see Jimmy Clff in a small venue in Austin. I was pretty much right in front of the stage. He did a fun show, and for an encore the band sat in a circle with just bongos and did “Bongo Man.” A really nice memory. ❤️
You come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married??
November 25, 2025 at 1:27 AM
You come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married??
tonight's sunset, with crescent moon (to the left), outside #Asheville
November 24, 2025 at 10:38 PM
tonight's sunset, with crescent moon (to the left), outside #Asheville
A leap on my part, but this reminds me, as a contemplative who regularly allows embrace from more-immediate-than-words experience, our habitual relationship to "fixed"/ "fixated" language needs displacement. As in — when we take religious language literally, we're not talking it seriously enough.
November 24, 2025 at 8:31 PM
A leap on my part, but this reminds me, as a contemplative who regularly allows embrace from more-immediate-than-words experience, our habitual relationship to "fixed"/ "fixated" language needs displacement. As in — when we take religious language literally, we're not talking it seriously enough.
heh ... ChatGPT and I are approaching an understanding
November 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM
heh ... ChatGPT and I are approaching an understanding
Reminds me of takes regarding Trump's friendly meeting with Mamdani, namely, that "game recognizes game". The policy differences don't matter so much to Trump's mindset — for him it's more simplistically and crassly about "winners and losers."
November 24, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reminds me of takes regarding Trump's friendly meeting with Mamdani, namely, that "game recognizes game". The policy differences don't matter so much to Trump's mindset — for him it's more simplistically and crassly about "winners and losers."
Years ago in the final sit of 14 days of intensive Zen practice, the teaching came up, "The Way is basically easy—just don't pick and choose."
A kind of glow in my chest was then the practice. A pain in my knee was then the practice. And then a bird singing outside the open window was the practice.
A kind of glow in my chest was then the practice. A pain in my knee was then the practice. And then a bird singing outside the open window was the practice.
Untitled
Thick fog. A screech owl trills, seemingly in answer to the wren. Then crows join the chat. The owl's trilling pauses, then resumes a quarter mile away.
Thick fog. A screech owl trills, seemingly in answer to the wren. Then crows join the chat. The owl's trilling pauses, then resumes a quarter mile away.
Untitled
Thick fog. A screech owl trills, seemingly in answer to the wren. Then crows join the chat. The owl's trilling pauses, then resumes a quarter mile away.
morningporch.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Years ago in the final sit of 14 days of intensive Zen practice, the teaching came up, "The Way is basically easy—just don't pick and choose."
A kind of glow in my chest was then the practice. A pain in my knee was then the practice. And then a bird singing outside the open window was the practice.
A kind of glow in my chest was then the practice. A pain in my knee was then the practice. And then a bird singing outside the open window was the practice.
color is a pony ride
🙂 ❤️
🙂 ❤️
November 23, 2025 at 3:48 PM
color is a pony ride
🙂 ❤️
🙂 ❤️
Seems to me this is largely accurate. One historical exception has been the Society of Friends (Quakers). Theirs has always been at heart a contemplative approach to spiritual practice.
November 23, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Seems to me this is largely accurate. One historical exception has been the Society of Friends (Quakers). Theirs has always been at heart a contemplative approach to spiritual practice.
Protestants have also emphasized "belief" in ways that can displace direct, meditative experience—often in explicit opposition to positivistic Western science. But, again, there's some renewed attention to the contemplative heritage (even when, as in this book, there's an influence from TM and Zen).
November 23, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Protestants have also emphasized "belief" in ways that can displace direct, meditative experience—often in explicit opposition to positivistic Western science. But, again, there's some renewed attention to the contemplative heritage (even when, as in this book, there's an influence from TM and Zen).
I'm less familiar with Judaism, but it seems one thing that's happened there is that the rise of "objective" sciences and rationalistic philosophy had the effect of suppressing the "exotic" looking aspects of Kabbalah in recent centuries.
November 23, 2025 at 2:19 PM
I'm less familiar with Judaism, but it seems one thing that's happened there is that the rise of "objective" sciences and rationalistic philosophy had the effect of suppressing the "exotic" looking aspects of Kabbalah in recent centuries.
I sense it's many-sided, but one factor has been the Protestant valuation of ordinary life—with an unfortunate effect of de-valuing things like contemplative prayer and monastic practices. Exposure to Eastern spirituality has in part reminded Christians they, too, have a rich contemplative history.
November 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I sense it's many-sided, but one factor has been the Protestant valuation of ordinary life—with an unfortunate effect of de-valuing things like contemplative prayer and monastic practices. Exposure to Eastern spirituality has in part reminded Christians they, too, have a rich contemplative history.
November 23, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Thank you.
And with "cognitive loops of imputation" I am again reminded of the relationship between the words "concept" and "conceit" — that relationship appears to be clear in the Portuguese *conceito.*
(I also see *presunção* is related to English "pretense" and "pretend." 🙂 🙏)
And with "cognitive loops of imputation" I am again reminded of the relationship between the words "concept" and "conceit" — that relationship appears to be clear in the Portuguese *conceito.*
(I also see *presunção* is related to English "pretense" and "pretend." 🙂 🙏)
November 22, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Thank you.
And with "cognitive loops of imputation" I am again reminded of the relationship between the words "concept" and "conceit" — that relationship appears to be clear in the Portuguese *conceito.*
(I also see *presunção* is related to English "pretense" and "pretend." 🙂 🙏)
And with "cognitive loops of imputation" I am again reminded of the relationship between the words "concept" and "conceit" — that relationship appears to be clear in the Portuguese *conceito.*
(I also see *presunção* is related to English "pretense" and "pretend." 🙂 🙏)
I've only looked at the abstract but am wondering abt ways temporal perceptual events are interrogated by contemplative practices. (I have a teacher sees percepts "flicker" as dharma-moments rather than a continuous temporal flow.) I touch on the topic in this short thread:
bsky.app/profile/bodh...
bsky.app/profile/bodh...
1/5
Reminded today how far some of Western pysch/ neurosci has yet to go to catch up with the world's contemplatives. I attended an online lecture on visual consciousness. It spoke of lag-times between the ocular registration of a stimulus and the conscious phenomenal experience of "seeing...."
Reminded today how far some of Western pysch/ neurosci has yet to go to catch up with the world's contemplatives. I attended an online lecture on visual consciousness. It spoke of lag-times between the ocular registration of a stimulus and the conscious phenomenal experience of "seeing...."
November 22, 2025 at 12:35 PM
I've only looked at the abstract but am wondering abt ways temporal perceptual events are interrogated by contemplative practices. (I have a teacher sees percepts "flicker" as dharma-moments rather than a continuous temporal flow.) I touch on the topic in this short thread:
bsky.app/profile/bodh...
bsky.app/profile/bodh...
It's the eye of the hurricane tiger
November 22, 2025 at 4:34 AM
It's the eye of the hurricane tiger
unconditioned regard
November 22, 2025 at 4:22 AM
unconditioned regard
I'm reminded that Plato suggested we should have as our political leaders persons who are the best trained and the most skilled—and would rather not have that job.
And most the temple priests in Athens the his time (primarily overseeing social ceremonies) had annual positions appointed by lottery.
And most the temple priests in Athens the his time (primarily overseeing social ceremonies) had annual positions appointed by lottery.
November 22, 2025 at 3:08 AM
I'm reminded that Plato suggested we should have as our political leaders persons who are the best trained and the most skilled—and would rather not have that job.
And most the temple priests in Athens the his time (primarily overseeing social ceremonies) had annual positions appointed by lottery.
And most the temple priests in Athens the his time (primarily overseeing social ceremonies) had annual positions appointed by lottery.
There's a Sufi story in which a seeker is knocking on the door of God's house, and they knock and knock and knock.
Finally, the door opens.
And the seeker realizes — they've been knocking from the inside.
🙂 🙏
Finally, the door opens.
And the seeker realizes — they've been knocking from the inside.
🙂 🙏
“Where is the door to God?
In the sound of a barking dog,
In the ring of a hammer,
In a drop of rain,
In the face of
Everyone
I see.”
- Hafiz
In the sound of a barking dog,
In the ring of a hammer,
In a drop of rain,
In the face of
Everyone
I see.”
- Hafiz
November 22, 2025 at 2:12 AM
There's a Sufi story in which a seeker is knocking on the door of God's house, and they knock and knock and knock.
Finally, the door opens.
And the seeker realizes — they've been knocking from the inside.
🙂 🙏
Finally, the door opens.
And the seeker realizes — they've been knocking from the inside.
🙂 🙏
Reposted by bodhidave
Writing about Plotinus at the moment, I'm again reminded that his Greek word for "create" — *poein* — is the word that gives us our "poem." And how he says Nature is silent, and creative, and playful, and meditative.
And it makes me sense that silent, creative, natural, play is what meditation is.
And it makes me sense that silent, creative, natural, play is what meditation is.
November 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Writing about Plotinus at the moment, I'm again reminded that his Greek word for "create" — *poein* — is the word that gives us our "poem." And how he says Nature is silent, and creative, and playful, and meditative.
And it makes me sense that silent, creative, natural, play is what meditation is.
And it makes me sense that silent, creative, natural, play is what meditation is.
Writing about Plotinus at the moment, I'm again reminded that his Greek word for "create" — *poein* — is the word that gives us our "poem." And how he says Nature is silent, and creative, and playful, and meditative.
And it makes me sense that silent, creative, natural, play is what meditation is.
And it makes me sense that silent, creative, natural, play is what meditation is.
November 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Writing about Plotinus at the moment, I'm again reminded that his Greek word for "create" — *poein* — is the word that gives us our "poem." And how he says Nature is silent, and creative, and playful, and meditative.
And it makes me sense that silent, creative, natural, play is what meditation is.
And it makes me sense that silent, creative, natural, play is what meditation is.
and we've got to get ourselves
back to the gardening
back to the gardening
November 21, 2025 at 4:57 PM
and we've got to get ourselves
back to the gardening
back to the gardening