Buddishness

I spent some time searching for a description of mindfulness or Buddhism that fit with the way I currently practice. When I found none, I asked my teacher Fez Aswat directly. Here is what he said (gently edited by me):

Meditation is informed by a series of influences. Some teachers are organized around preserving one view of a teaching, and other teachers have integrate a multiplicity of influences towards a view.

The predominant view of practice we explore in my teaching is called Vipassana Meditation. Vipassana is commonly translated as "Insight Meditation" and is the form of meditation that the Buddha taught.

You will see Vipassana Meditation taught and viewed differently based on the various geographies of Buddhism. So, the view of Vipassana practice in Southeast Asia is informed by the Theravadan view of practice. Theravada is the oldest form of Buddism that is tasked to preserve and continue the original teachings of the Buddha as recorded in the earliest scripture called the Dhammapada. But even in Southeast Asia, the views of how to practice Vipassana differ from teacher to teacher and country to country. In the United States, the Theravadan view that emanates from Burma tends to be the most influential, but even the various teachers in Burma teach with subtly different views.

The Burmese Theravadan view and instructions of practice are a major influence on my meditation practice and how I teach.

I am also greatly influenced by the Tibetan views of meditation practice. My teacher was influenced by teachers named Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, and Chokyi Nima Rinpoche. All three of these Tibetan teachers and a teacher named Lama Yeshe have also made an impression on me in a second hand way. Although, I have sat to receive direct in-person teachings with Chokyi Nima.

This Tibetan view is also very important for me and influences how I teach. It is another view of Vipassana meditation and also something called Shamata meditation. Shamata meditation is essentially "calming meditation".

The greatest influence on my practice is my teacher Tom Alden. We share the Buddhist influences combined with the yoga view of meditation found in HathaYoga as taught BKS Iyengar. This is the view that meditation practice is ultimately a quieting of the mind through a clarity of what is occuring in the mind. There is more to this view, but that is a part of it.

In short, I would say we practice Vipassana Meditation with an open and integrated view that includes a diversity of influences. I am not a lineage teacher and so if you were to share this with a more dogmatic practitioner, they would potentially argue against the purity of the Vipassana that we practice.

Ultimately, I am orienting toward what is most helpful for our culture of diversity. I don't think we have time for dogmatic views on what is most authentic from western scholars studying asian traditions. Our purpose of bringing goodness to our world is the most important focus.