Purifying Our Perceptions
Dear Retreat Participants,
I look forward to seeing you at the retreat!
Our exploration of the Dhamma will be on Purifying our Perception.
How we perceive ourselves and the world can make a big difference in our quest for peace and freedom. Our perception is easily distorted and can lead to dissatisfaction and suffering. We experience life through the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, thought and consciousness. The Buddha stressed the importance of purifying our perception in the Girimananda Sutta in which he taught ten healing practices to cultivate mindfulness and purification of perception. This teaching will be the focus of our retreat and is based on the commentary by Bhante Gunaratana, the founding abbot of the Bhavana Society in West Virginia in his book, Meditation on Perception: Ten Healing Practices to Cultivate Mindfulness. Bhante G is the author of many books including Mindfulness in Plain English.
All preparation prior to the retreat is optional. However, if you would like to acquaint yourself with the teachings, I recommend any or all of the following:
- Read the Girimananda sutta:
- Purchase and browse Bhante G.’s book: Meditation on Perception: Ten Healing Practices to Cultivate Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, Boston 2014). Read Part 1 Perception.
- Browse the Meditation on Perception dharma talks on our website.
If you have any questions about the teachings, please feel free to contact me. Please identify yourself as a retreatant.
With metta,
Bob
Robert Hodge
