New Moon Greetings – October 14, 2023
One of my favorite books on meditation and mindfulness is Eric Harrison’s The Foundations of Mindfulness, How to Cultivate Attention, Good Judgment, and Tranquility.
The book is informed by Harrison’s 30 years as a meditation and mindfulness instructor in Australia. He was introduced to meditation in the 1970s and for a while was immersed in Buddhist philosophy and spiritual practices. But at some point, he realized that the core teachings were valuable without a particular spiritual practice. The book and his teaching are still anchored in the original Buddhist text on meditation, the Satipatthana Sutta, but he focuses on the actual instruction and not any particular belief system or dogma.
And I don’t think that Harrison dismisses spirituality in any way, it is just not his path. Even though my own practices are spiritually focused, I like this book for the detailed history of mindfulness and the clarity of instruction on how to do the various practices.
Clear & Thorough Information
Here are just a few examples of how he shines a light on why to practice, how to practice, and points of confusion.
The Satipatthana Sutta is a skills manual. It begins with the ability to relax the body quickly, and then builds on that skill. It provides a systematic approach for directing our practice, moving on to emotions and thoughts. The goal is focused attention.
On learning to meditate: “Learning to relax quickly and consciously is a physical skill. Learning to control attention and thought is a cognitive skill. Doing a formal sitting meditation is a good way to practice both at once.”
About non-judgment: The words attributed to the Buddha describe meditation as “discriminating attention”. That is in contrast to some modern mindfulness which embraces nonjudgmental acceptance. I found it helpful to understand this later concept originated from Zen Buddhism. Discernment about challenges and actions we can take is not counter to mindfulness. Even amoebas swim out of hot water.
On body awareness: He explains clearly why paying attention to the body is an integral part of mindfulness practice. And he provides instruction on how to do a body scan. I wish I’d had this book in my early days of meditation when my focus was on detaching from the body. In retrospect, this was probably a combination of bad instruction and my own confusion about the practice. Western culture, in its separation of mind and body, cultivates this kind of perspective. Now, as I regularly practice qigong & tai chi, it seems so obvious to me that we are wholistic beings. We can’t leave the body behind during meditation.
Harrison’s Website and Free Resources
It is a great book for people new to meditation, but experienced meditators will find a lot to recommend it. If you are looking to recharge your meditation practice or add to your knowledge on the history of mindfulness and meditation, check out this book. Harrison’s website also has lots of information. At the website, you can download a PDF of his first book, the Five Minute Meditator for free as a PDF.
Lunar Blog Posts
This post is part of my lunar blog series. Each full moon I write about one plant, many of them are plants featured in my book, Growing Mindful. Each new moon I write about a topic related to gardens, mindfulness, and spirituality. For more details and a list of past lunar blog posts, click here.
