The calls of Bliss
Perhaps you glimpsed at that in a piece of art. Art takes the materiality of sensory experience, it refines, reshuffles, restructures,...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Feb 26, 20233 min read
Three attitudes towards spiritual practices
It is fairly common to get into a certain practice by imitation. Something becomes the hype of the moment and one wants to try it out. Or...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Feb 3, 20232 min read
The Sacrifice
The first time I was born out of fear and ignorance. Seeing this folly, following the path of the Silent Sage, I turned around, seeking...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Jan 19, 20239 min read
Contemplative practices in public education
'Contemplative practices' is an umbrella term that can be used to refer to a number of various methods, generally aimed at inducing some...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Jan 15, 20235 min read
Opening moves
In a chess game, the first moves are usually quite important. Players aim at taking some control of the center of the board and allow...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Jan 11, 20233 min read
Reverse-engineering, almost
How should I practice? This is an important question, and its answer is made somehow fuzzy by the multitude of different methods,...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Jan 8, 20232 min read
Scaffolds
Force develops against resistance. Growth demands constraints. When constraints work systematically and methodically, they create a...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Nov 6, 202214 min read
The art of playful action
In the beginning of the Bhagavad Gītā (2.50) we encounter the following short definition: yogaḥ karmasu kuśalam, which might be...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Oct 30, 20225 min read
Spontaneity
There is a condition in which life flows by itself. It does not matter what exactly is experienced, but whatever happens seems to unfold...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Oct 23, 20228 min read
Where to start? Where to end?
We might encounter teachings, practices, and other aspects of contemplative traditions in a pretty random way: a Buddha Head looking out...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Oct 16, 20223 min read
Seeking freedom
Whatever feeling is felt (pleasant, unpleasant or neutral), do not indulge in craving for the pleasant, or in aversion for the...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Oct 2, 20223 min read
Embodiment
In the Udana 3.5 there is this short stanza: “Sati kāyagatā upaṭṭhitā, Chasu phassāyatanesu saṁvuto; Satataṁ bhikkhu samāhito, Jaññā...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Sep 18, 20223 min read
Meditation: four basic principles
Formal meditative practice is just a piece (important, but just a piece) in the broader picture presented in the discourses. And how to...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
May 22, 20224 min read
Breath recollection (ānāpānasati): the basics
Ordinarily, attention tends to be absorbed in this or that. Or rather, it tries to be absorbed, it seeks absorption, it craves for it....
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Andrea Sangiacomo
May 15, 20222 min read
Mental disobedience
Meditation is a training in mental disobedience, based on four main points: (1) Keep the context in mind. Don't focus on things, don't...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
May 8, 20222 min read
Dispassion or dispassion*?
The discourses of the Buddha are fond of emphasising attitudes of dispassion, weariness, absence of desire and craving, equanimity,...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
May 1, 20224 min read
Assume you’re wrong
In They Live (1988, directed by John Carpenter), the world is ruled by an invisible alien elite. Everything looks normal and fine, but it...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Apr 24, 20223 min read
Integrating practice in daily life
A common worry that arises in the beginning of practice is how to best integrate it within one's life and circumstances. There are...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Apr 17, 20222 min read
Last-breath meditation
Admittedly, death is one of the most scary topics for most people since people are around. In archeological records, fully modern human...
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Andrea Sangiacomo
Feb 6, 20221 min read
Two switches
There are two switches: one needs to be turned off, the other needs to be turned on. The switch to turn off is thirst (which entails a...
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