69 min
Talk · Peter Russell
The Primacy of Consciousness - Peter Russell - Full Version
His signature lecture, tracing the argument from the limits of physics to the claim that mind is the ground of reality, illustrated throughout with slides.
Overview
What does mindfulness point to?
Mindfulness describes a family of secular practices that adapt techniques from Buddhist meditation, especially from the Theravada and Zen traditions, for use outside a religious framework. It is taught in clinics, schools, workplaces and research settings, usually without reference to rebirth, karma or a specific cosmology.
Programmes typically combine body-based attention such as the body scan, breath awareness and sitting meditation, often structured as an eight-week course. Because the approach deliberately separates technique from doctrine, it raises its own questions about what is gained and what is left out when a contemplative practice is adapted this way.
Attention, paid on purpose, without judgment, to the present moment: that is the whole instruction.A central teaching within Mindfulness
Teachers
Voices within this path.
Compare background, approach and format before choosing a teacher to follow.
MBSR
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
View profile →KN
Self-compassion
Kristin Neff
Psychologist and researcher known for her work on self-compassion, drawing on mindfulness and Buddhist psychology.
View profile →Retired
Mindfulness & Racial Healing
Ruth King
Mindfulness teacher, mentor, and founder of the Mindful of Race Institute.
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Emotion Codex
Vera Helleman
Dutch former psychotherapist, bestselling author and educator who developed the Emotion Codex, a framework mapping eight stages of emotional awareness.
View profile →DW
Secular mindfulness
Diana Winston
Director of UCLA Mindful, offering secular, clinically-oriented mindfulness instruction to a broad public audience.
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Unified Mindfulness
Shinzen Young
American meditation teacher and creator of Unified Mindfulness, a systematic, secular framework for categorising and training attention.
View profile →Upcoming events
Upcoming events in mindfulness.
Retreats, dialogues and online gatherings connected to this path.
27AUG
Wednesday Weekly Meditation and Talk with Dr. Rick Hanson
Online · Weekly online meditation and talk
$0Weekly online meditation and talk
31AUG
Life Practice Program
Online · Weekly online practice call
See event pageWeekly online practice call
02SEP
Free Weekly Online Mindfulness Class with Diana and Guests
Online · Weekly online class
See event pageWeekly online class
02SEP
Guided Mindful Awareness Meditation at the Hammer Museum
Los Angeles, California, United States · Weekly guided meditation
See event pageWeekly guided meditation
Talks & videos
Selected talks.
Talks and conversations from teachers within this path.
94 min
Interview · Peter Russell
Cambridge Physicist Explains Consciousness | Peter Russell
A long interview in which Russell sets out why he thinks consciousness is fundamental rather than a by-product of the brain, and what that means for how a person meets their own mind.
8 min
Talk · Cory Muscara
The Root Cause of Your Negative Patterns
A short piece to camera on why insight alone does not dissolve a recurring pattern, and what mindful contact with the underlying feeling actually asks of you.
121 min
Interview · Cory Muscara
Former Monk: “Stop Missing Your Life!” Here’s the Key To Lasting Happiness | Cory Muscara
A two-hour conversation on the Know Thyself podcast in which Muscara traces his six months as a Theravada monk in Burma and what it taught him about presence, self-worth and the limits of self-improvement.
Listen
Recordings from mindfulness.
Voices from this path and the schools within it, playing from the platforms the teachers publish on.
Shinzen YoungMindfulness
Y YouTube
Introduction to Unified Mindfulness with Shinzen Young
Shinzen Young introducing the Unified Mindfulness system, on YouTube.
Listen on YouTubeMark NepoMindfulness
A Apple Podcasts
Mark NepoMindfulness
S Spotify
7,000 Ways to Listen (Part 1)
Mark Nepo on Oprah's Super Soul, on how illness opened his listening.
From the podcast Oprah's Super Soul
Listen on SpotifyCory MuscaraMindfulness
A Apple Podcasts
When Everything is Falling Apart
A solo episode of his own Practicing Human podcast on how to stay with a life that is coming apart without rushing to fix or explain it.
Listen on Apple PodcastsDiscernment
Clarity should include the human context.
Mindfulness programmes are often taught by instructors with clinical or educational training rather than within a lineage of spiritual authority. That can be a strength, but it also means the usual questions about a teacher's training and accountability apply differently here.
Ask about contextIs a statement philosophical, meditative, relational or practical?
Notice powerHow are authority, money, intimacy and complaints handled?
Include embodimentDoes the teaching make room for emotion, the body and nervous-system limits?
Keep agencyA useful teacher supports clear choice rather than demanding surrender of judgement.