Meditation + Talk: Three Ways to Steady Your Mind

August 24, 2024

It’s normal to feel overwhelmed by the chaos of modern life, and it’s hard to steady your mind when you’re distracted, stressed, rattled, or ruminating about the things you feel threatened about or resentful of.

In this weekly talk, I explored 3 practical ways to bring calm, clarity, and presence into your daily routine — even amidst the distractions and pressures of the world.

I also offered a meditation on Resting in Stable Presence — I hope you find it helpful.

Click here to join the free Wednesday Meditations – which are open to everyone!

Meditation: Resting in Stable Presence

Download the Audio of this Meditation

Talk: Three Ways to Steady Your Mind

Download the Audio of this Talk

Topics:

The Buddha’s Teaching on stability of mind
The Three Pillars of Buddhist Practice:
- Sila (Virtue/Restraint): Emphasizes moral conduct, non-harming, and promoting the good for oneself and others.
- Samadhi (Concentration/Mental Training): Focuses on deep concentration, stillness of awareness, and meditation.
- Panna (Wisdom): Recognizes impermanence, the interconnectedness of all things, and the importance of aligning with the nature of reality to reduce suffering.
The importance of cultivating steadiness of mind and presence, leading to a more peaceful and centered life.
The use of stability of presence to quiet the mind, reduce stress and distractions, and avoid being overwhelmed by past reactions or cultural distractions.
The three ways to develop Stable Presence:
- Intention
- Calm
- Warm heart

These teachings are offered freely, at no charge.

And if you like, you may wish to participate in the age-old tradition of generosity through making an offering yourself – called “dāna” – to support Rick and the Wednesday Meditations. Generosity itself is a beautiful practice that opens and gladdens the heart, relaxes the contraction of “self,” and ripples out into the world to touch many people – and perhaps, eventually, even oneself.