AN INTRODUCTION TO MINDFUL MEDITATION – a recording of a talk given at Exeter University on 27 June 2025. The talk is approximately 31 minutes duration and includes two guided meditations – so periods of silence are part of the recording.
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A SELECTION OF TALKS GIVEN AT MEDITATION CIRCLE MEETINGS – including some recorded during the Covid lockdown in the UK in 2020. Please ignore the talk numbers mentioned at the beginning of some of the recordings and apologies for the audio quality, which is at times, not that good!
These talks are my thoughts on each topic – they are intended to prompt reflection and discussion – hopefully helping each of us to come to our own understanding.
1. Impermanence & clinging – 7.36 mins.
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2. Self & non-self – anatta/anatman – 7.26 mins.
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3. Karma & reincarnation – 7.50 mins.
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4. Buddhism & ecology – some parallels – 10.40 mins.
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5. Suspending judgment – 8.33 mins.
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6. Interwoven nature – an edited recording of a talk given on 24 October 2020 at the Embodiment Conference, including Q & A at the end – apologies for a few glitches in the recording – 48.36 mins.
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7. Truth and how to recognise it – 16.59 mins.
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8. Race, caste & class – 17.21 mins.
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9. The Art of Awakening – 13.04 mins.
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10. Zazen & talking therapy – 10.37 mins.
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11. Hope & despair – 8.52 mins.
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12. Free will – 7.51 mins.
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13. Zazen, clearing & compassionate disinterest – 5.50 mins.
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14. Why practice zazen or mindful meditation? – 7.46 mins.
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15. Understanding and alleviating suffering (dukkha) – 7.16 mins.
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16. Developing a society that alleviates unnecessary suffering – 12.18 mins.
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17. Happiness, equanimity & non-attachment – 08.28 mins.
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18. Buddha Nature, bare attention & ethics – 16.23 mins.
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19. Concentration, paying attention & peace of mind – 09.48 mins.
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20. Dogen, Rujing & zazen – 05.56 mins.
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21. Non-dwelling unified attention – 05.24 mins.
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22. Anger – how can we handle angry thoughts & feelings? – 10.28 mins.
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Books that you might find useful:
Mindfulness in Plain English, Henepola Gunaratana. 1992. Wisdom Publications. Excellent practical introduction to mindful meditation.
What the Buddha Taught, Walpola Rahula. 1974. Grove Press. Well-respected collection of translations of Buddhist Sutras. Useful for reference with thoughtful notes.
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Chogyam Trungpa, 1973. Shambhala – a very popular book, that many people find useful – by a charismatic Tibetan teacher.
The Way of Zen, Alan Watts. 1989. Vintage. First published in 1957, but still an excellent, very readable introduction to Zen, Daoism and Buddhism in general.
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki. 1970. Weatherhill. Another good introduction with a lot of practical advice.
Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen, ed. Kazuaki Tanahashi. 1995. North Point Press.
The Art of Just Sitting: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza, Ed. John Daido Loori. 2002. Wisdom Publications. Excellent collection of helpful essays on Zen meditation.
Essential Writings, Thich Nhat Hanh. 2001. Orbis Books. A useful selection of writings by a very influential Buddhist teacher.
Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, Stephen Batchelor, 2010. Spiegel & Grau. A provocative but very thoughtful book by a contemporary Buddhist teacher grounded in Tibetan and Korean Zen traditions – but arguing for a new form of Buddhism to suit contemporary western contexts.
After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age, Stephen Batchelor. 2015. Yale University Press. Thought-provoking book by an influential writer on ‘secular Buddhism’.
The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, trans. Norman Waddell. 2000. North Point Press.
Bankei Zen: translations from the record of Bankei, Peter Haskel. 1989. Grove Weidenfeld. This and the above book – about Bankei, the eccentric and influential Zen teacher.
Nine-headed Dragon: Zen Journals 1969-1982, Peter Matthiessen. 1986. Collins Harvill. Lively account of his Zen experiences by the novelist and Zen teacher.
The New Buddhism, James William Coleman, 2001. Oxford University Press – an overview of the development of western Buddhism up to the 1990s.
McMindfulness: how mindfulness became the new capitalist spirituality, Ronald E.Purser, 2019. Repeater Books – a controversial and thought-provoking text that is well worth reading, even if you disagree with the author’s analysis.
Buddhism is not what you think: finding freedom beyond beliefs, Steve Hagen. 2012. Penguin Books – a thought-provoking book about the practice of Buddhism in everyday life – written by a western Zen priest.
Buddhism Plain & Simple, Steve Hagen. 1999. Penguin Books – a popular book by the same author. A very thoughtful introduction to Buddhism.
And lastly, a couple of texts on mindfulness in a secular therapeutic context:
The Mindful Way through Depression, eds. Williams, Teasdale, Segal and Kabat-Zinn, 2007. Guilford Press – a very influential practical guide.
Wherever You Go, There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn, 2004. Piatkus Books – about mindfulness in everyday life.
Links
EARLY BUDDHIST TEXTS:
The Word of the Buddha – extracts from the Pali Canon – a very well respected, but early, translation by Nyanatiloka Mahathera – 1907, revised ed. 1967 – (also available as a small book – published by the Buddhist Publication Society: http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/wordofbuddha.pdf
The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist Texts by Bhikkhu Sujato & Bhikkhu Brahmali, Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies: http://ocbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/authenticity.pdf
A Theravada Library – more extracts from the Pali Canon by various respected translators: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/
SECULAR BUDDHISM:
Secular Buddhist Association – https://secularbuddhism.org/
Secular Buddhist Network – https://secularbuddhistnetwork.org/
OTHER LINKS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST:
Empire – a podcast about the rise and fall of empires – including Buddhist societies – https://open.spotify.com/show/0sBh58hSTReUQiK4axYUVx?si=77d6f56ecafc45d3