In a couple of talks at last weekend’s retreat hosted by the Theosophical Society (Wheaton, IL), I offered broad scope perspectives on meditation practice. These perspectives are based on early Buddhist teachings and apply especially to meditation within a Buddhist understanding of path. They arte intended to provide useful frameworks for thinking about one’s meditation practice. They may be of use to those who meditate outside that spiritual tradition and wish to understand their practice in terms of spiritual development.

These talks touch on questions such as:

• what sort of meditation am I doing?
• why? what is its purpose?
• what supports it to be effective on its proper terms?
• what kind of meditation best serves my needs?
• what do I aspire to in meditation?

Preceding the retreat, I gave a talk on “Simply Experiencing” as the Heart of Mindfulness. This was webcast and will appear on the Theosophical Society website soon.