by Ven Pannyavaro 
The image most often associated with meditation is that of a sitting Buddha fixed in a crossed-legged posture. While such a representation is undoubtedly inspirational and aesthetically pleasing, it unfortunately suggests to the uninitiated that meditation is a static, 'statue-like' pursuit practiced only in temples.
If meditation is to have any relevance to everyday life it has to be done at home. This does not just mean your residence but wherever your attention happens to reside. To meditate at home requires a 'hands-on', dynamic practice that is not restricted to any particular time, place or posture. When applied in this way, it naturally becomes integrated into the ordinary activities of life and becomes the basis for a meditative lifestyle in everyday life.
Yet it has to be acknowledged that integrating meditation into daily life is not easy. Therefore you need to purposefully set yourself up to do it; good intention is not enough. There has to be commitment. So consider your priorities, what is more important, hours sitting in front of the TV screen (or computer monitor ) or a half to an hour or so of sitting meditation. The regular daily home sit is the anchor for the practice. Even if it is only used as a form of mental hygiene, as in 'unstressing', it will greatly contribute towards harmonizing family and work relationships.
Essentially meditating at home is about paying attention. The actual meaning of 'attention' indicates its practice: 'to attend upon', 'to be present with'. So by being attentive 'presence of mind' is developed. While there are degrees of attention (down to lack of attention), it can be said that there are two types: natural attention, which is 'automated attention' and the intentionally 'deployed' attention that is developed in 'meditative attention'.
Deployed attention is either passive, or in the sense of being applied, active. The passive mode is 'bare attention', that is just registering what is happening, in a receptive state of mind, without reaction. While the active mode of attention is applied when any kind of movement or action is done, including active reflective thought on things observed. So what do you pay attention to? Your own body and mind. There are four areas to establish attention on:
Body - either tuning into its elemental qualities and/or sensations or actively monitoring body movements and actions;
Feelings - knowing the feeling tone as either pleasant, unpleasant or neutral (not to be confused with emotion);
Mind-states - happiness, sadness, calm, anger, fear, elation, etc.;
Mental Content - the things of the mind e.g. thinking, concepts, ideas.
Whatever is the predominant experience in any of these 'four spheres of attention' is used as a frames of reference to help guide the practice of paying attention to whatever is happening in your body and mind from moment to moment.
It is important to get your bearings. So it is a matter of literally coming to your senses, by being attentive at one of the "Six Sense-Doors": these are the five senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching plus the sixth sense or mind-door which is the consciousness or knowing. By being present with bare attention at any of these six sense-doors you observe what happens between the senses and their objects during a sense impression. One thing to notice when watching at a sense-door during a sense impression is the feelings that arise. If the feeling is unpleasant a negative reaction occurs; if it's pleasant grasping arises. Thus the mind is mostly just reacting: liking, disliking. The result is that you are being caught in the conditioned cycle of suffering at the linkage of feelings and grasping. But there is no need to be. By intercepting the primary feeling at a sense-door, without the following emotion, the feeling will go no further, therefore no attachments, no liking or disliking, end of story, end of suffering. The ability to 'home in' is really the key to this practice. Get your bearings at a sense-door and keep in mind the 'four areas of attention'. Success in doing so also depends very much on the way you are relating to things: witnessing the experience rather than just reacting to it; having an attitude of acceptance of all thoughts, feelings and mind states into awareness without discrimination or selection. The kind of 'spaciousness in the mind' allows you to be more receptive and intimate with what is observed.
Awareness of Daily Activities
For awareness to deepen, continuity of attention, which gives momentum to the practice, needs to be maintained for at least a few hours in the day. Continuity arises through careful and precise attention to movements, actions, feelings and mind-states, "whatever is prominent", for as long as possible in whatever situation you are in during the daily routine.
Nothing can be dismissed as unimportant: domestic chores, eating, cleaning your teeth. Any and every movement and activity is repeatedly noted in order to establish the habit so that it becomes your second nature to note during the daily routine. Of course, this is not easy to establish and so requires patience, perseverance and a sense of humour, especially when you feel frustrated by constant forgetfulness.
Set yourself up to do a daily mindfulness exercise using 'triggers' as reminders. Such a trigger can be every time there is contact with water to remind you to be present with whatever you are doing while you are doing it. So what are the situations when you come into contact with water: washing your hands, the dishes, hosing the garden, washing the dog, etc. If you succeed only once in paying full attention it can be the start of establishing the habit of being mindful at home.
It is very helpful as well to reinforce your efforts by reviewing or taking stock of you daily notings at the end of the day. You can record your efforts in a meditation diary, so long as you do not make judgments on the quality of the practice or be discouraged by blank pages.
It is important to maintain the daily meditation sits at home as a way of sustaining and stabilizing your practice. With a busy life it is easy to convince yourself that you really haven't the time anymore to maintain the regular sitting or when you are feeling tired, just want to drop it. Naturally, when you get stressed or overtired there is resistance to facing the stress by meditating. But it is usually only an initial resistance you have to face before you go through it. Also, do not evaluate your practice, thinking if the meditation isn't of sufficient good quality you are wasting your time. It is all grist for the mill, you must persist as it is vital to maintain the habit of practice to get the long term benefits.
It is worth quoting from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama for the more compassionate aspect of the practice.
"I myself feel and also tell other Buddhists that the question of Nirvana will come later.
There is not much hurry. But if in day-to-day life you lead a good life, honestly with love,
with compassion, with less selfishness then automatically it will lead to Nirvana.
Opposite to this, if we talk about Nirvana, talk about philosophy but do not much bother
about day-to-day practice, then you may reach a strange Nirvana but will not reach the
correct Nirvana because your daily practice is nothing. We must implement the teaching in
daily life."
There is a saying that the beginning and the end of a journey are essentially the same. This is especially true of meditation. For there is nowhere you need to go to discover your true nature other than where you can be now - meditating at your home-base.
What is Buddhist Meditation? 
Meditation is interpreted differently by different cultures, traditions, and religious practices. For constructive discussion we need to clearly define the terms and underlying concepts to understand exactly what is meant by the words being used. Every culture on earth has produced some sort of mental discipline that could be considered meditation that vary widely in technique; most of these traditions focus an individual’s ability to develop mental or spiritual concentration. I make no attempt to survey these practices here - there are many other sources for that. I am only addressing the practices as defined and developed by Gautama Buddha and practiced by Buddhist traditions worldwide.
There are many people talking, writing, and running workshops today about various meditation techniques: mindfulness meditation, focused concentration, increasing creativity, meditation for stress reduction, creating positive energy, you name it. And there is building scientific evidence gained from brain scanning technology (such as fMRI) that show actual physical changes in the brains of people who have years of meditation experience.
Buddhist meditation practice, as originally taught by Gautama Buddha, incorporates two distinct forms of meditation, known by the Pali words “Vipassana” and “Samatha” meditation. Vipassana can be translated as “insight,” a clear awareness of exactly what is happening as it happens in the present moment. Samatha can be translated as “concentration” or “tranquility,” a state in which the mind is brought to rest, focused only on one item and not allowed to wander. In the Buddhist tradition, Samatha is practiced as an exercise to prepare the mind for practicing Vipassana / Insight meditation, which was and remains the more important of the two. I am going to use the term Insight meditation throughout the remainder of this article.
The Insight mediator uses his samadhi concentration as a tool to blow away the fog of illusion to extinguish the fires that cause dukkha (suffering); the fires of attachment (raga), aversion (dvesha) and ignorance (moha or avidya) that are the roots of craving. It is a gradual process of ever-increasing awareness into the inner workings of reality itself. The ultimate goal is to reach a state where craving for things to be different than they are is completely eliminated. In the Buddha’s Pali language, attaining the state of Nibbana liberates the meditator from the illusions arising from desire, which is the goal of all Buddhist systems of practice. The routes to the attainment of that end are quite diverse.
Within the Buddhist tradition, concentration, known as Samatha in Pali, is highly valued. The Buddhist meditation practice also includes another component, known as Vipassana in Pali, which sets Buddhism apart from all other meditation practices. Vipassana translates as “insight” - awareness into the true nature of reality. Buddhist meditation focuses on development of Vipassana or insight awareness, using concentration as a tool. While there are numerous Buddhist lineages and traditions, all traditions use Vipassana meditation. 
Vipassana is the oldest of Buddhist meditation practices. It is 2,500+ years old and is a codified system of sensitivity training that uses various mind exercises dedicated to becoming more aware, perceptive, and receptive to our own life experience. The method comes directly from the Sitipatthana Sutta, a discourse attributed to Buddha himself. Vipassana is a direct and gradual cultivation of mindfulness or insightful awareness. The practitioner’s attention is carefully directed to intensely examine the true nature of their own existence. The meditator is trained to notice more and more of his own moment-by-moment flowing life experience by using attentive listening, total seeing, and careful testing. We learn to smell acutely, to touch fully, and really pay attention to what we feel in the present moment. We learn to pause before reacting. We learn to listen to and observe our own thoughts without being caught up in them. We are training ourselves to be mindfully aware of each present moment experience without being attached to outcomes, craving things to be different, and letting go of the past and future.
The object of Vipassana practice is to learn to pay attention to “now.” We think we are doing this already, but that is an illusion. It comes from the fact that we are distracted by monkey mind (kapicitta). Monkey mind is a term used by the Buddha to describe the agitated, easily distracted and incessantly moving behaviour of ordinary human consciousness. Once he 
observed:
`Just as a monkey swinging through the trees grabs one branch and lets it go only to seize another, so too, that which is called thought, mind or consciousness arises and disappears continually both day and night'.
Anyone who has spent even a little time observing his own mind and then watched a troop of monkeys will have to admit that this comparison is an accurate and not very flattering one. On another occasion the Buddha said that a person with uncontrolled craving:
`jumps from here to there like a monkey searching for fruit in the forest'
Vipassana is a form of mental training that will teach you to experience the world in an entirely new way. Through Vipassana and mindfulness, we slowly develop the ability to quiet our monkey mind and become aware of what we really are down below the ego image. We wake up to the reality that life is not just an illusory parade of ups and downs, happiness and sadness. We learn to see through this illusion and realize that life has a much deeper texture and meaning, if we look in the right way.
You will learn for the first time what is truly happening to you, around you and within you. It is a process of self discovery, a participatory investigation in which you observe your own experiences while fully participating in them as they occur.
The Pali term for Insight meditation is Vipassana Bhavana. Bhavana comes from the root 'Bhu' meaning to grow or to become. Thus Bhavana means to cultivate and the word is always used in reference to the mind. Bhavana means mental cultivation. 'Vipassana' is derived from two roots. 'Passana' means seeing or perceiving. 'Vi' is a prefix with a complex set of connotations. The basic meaning is 'in a special way.' But there also is the connotation of both 'into' and 'through'. The whole meaning of the word is looking into something with clarity and precision, seeing each component as distinct and separate, yet interdependent, and piercing all the way through so as to perceive the most fundamental reality of that thing. This process leads to insight into the basic reality of whatever is being inspected. Put it all together and 'Vipassana Bhavana' means the cultivation of the mind, aimed at seeing in a special way that leads to insight and to full understanding.
In Vipassana mediation, we cultivate this special way of seeing life. We train ourselves to see reality exactly as it is and we call this special mode of perception 'mindfulness.' This process of mindfulness is really quite different from what we usually do. We usually do not look into what is really there in front of us. We see life through 
conditioned screens of thoughts and concepts, and we mistake those mental constructs and objects for reality. We get so caught up in this endless thought stream that reality flows by unnoticed. We spend our time engrossed in activity, caught up in an eternal pursuit of pleasure and gratification and an eternal flight from pain and unpleasantness. We spend all of our energies trying to make ourselves feel better, trying to bury our fears. We are endlessly seeking security. Meanwhile, the world of real experience flows by untouched and untasted. In Vipassana meditation we train ourselves to ignore the constant impulses to be more comfortable, as well as the background “chatter” of our monkey mind, and we dive into the flow of reality instead. The ironic thing is that real peace comes only when you stop chasing it.
When you relax your driving desire for comfort, real fulfillment arises. When you drop your hectic pursuit of gratification, the real beauty of life comes out. When you seek to know the reality without illusion, complete with all its pain and danger, that is when real freedom and security are yours. This is not some doctrine being drilled into you. Vipassana a practice of investigative personal discovery that is inherently experiential. It is not theoretical. In the practice of mediation you become sensitive to the actual experience of living, to your true feelings and reactions to your inner thoughts and external stimuli. You do not sit around developing subtle and aesthetic thoughts about living. You live. Vipassana meditation more than anything else is learning to live.
Vipassana meditation practice must be approached with the following attitude: 
‘Never mind what I have been taught. Forget about theories and prejudgments and stereotypes. I want to understand the true nature of life. I want to know what this experience of being alive really is. I want to apprehend the true and deepest qualities of life, and I don't want to just accept somebody else's explanation. I want to see it for myself.’
If you pursue your meditation practice with this attitude, you will succeed. You'll find yourself observing things objectively, exactly as they are--flowing and changing from moment to moment. Life then takes on an unbelievable richness which cannot be described. It has to be experienced.
Follow the links in the upper right menu to learn more about meditation practice techniques and resources for beginning a journey of discovery.
Basic Tenets of Buddhism
Buddha was a list maker (or bullet-point maker). He lived before paper was invented, so out of necessity his teachings were passed on through spoken teachings and memory. And we all know it’s easier to memorize items in short lists than long stories. So Buddha made lots of lists to distill and transmit his wisdom. The lists on the following pages itemize the basic tenets that Buddha taught. There are numerous online resources that offer detailed discussion of these teachings, if you wish to delve deeper. I have included links to some sites which are excellent sources for further investigation into Buddhism.
Note that Buddha’s native language was Pali and English translations often fail to express the original intent of the Pali word. I have included clarification where appropriate.
4 Seals of Buddha’s Teachings*
1. Compound phenomena are impermanent1
2. All stained emotions are painful2
3. All phenomena are empty3
4. Nibbana* is the emptiness / extinction of all Dukkha4
* The 4 Seals are probably the most misunderstood of all Buddha’s teachings.
1 - Anything that is assembled will, sooner or later, come apart.
2 - Buddhists consider emotion a compound phenomena and all emotions are dualistic & dependent on your mind: dualism means emotions are impermanent since even great happiness fades to be replaced by a different emotion (e.g., boredom).
3 - Empty means without having inherent existence, since we perceive all phenomena by our mind and with meaning interpreted through our emotions - our perception of an object is dependent upon how we feel at any given moment: sad, angry, happy, cheerful, fearful.
4 - Nibbāna is the state one attains by extinguishing all fires of craving and attachment (raga), aversion (dvesha) and ignorance (moha or avidya) and is no longer entangled by craving that which one cannot have, thus releasing the bonds of dualistic thinking of dukkha. Nibbana is the Pali word for Nirvana
3 Jewels of Refuge*
Buddha (the teacher)
Dharma (the teachings)
Sangha (the Buddhist community)
* Follow this URL for more information the 3 Jewels of Refuge
4 Noble Truths*
Dukkha exists (aka: suffering**) - because all things are impermanent
Dukkha is caused by craving - because craving is a painful, unfulfilling emotion
Craving can be stopped - if we accept that there is nothing permanent
Practice the Eight-fold path to stop craving - because it provides a tool to extinguish Dukkha
* Each of the 4 Noble Truths is directly tied to each of the 4 Seals of Buddha's teachings listed above.
** Dukkha, often translated as suffering, is better understood being as unhappy or dissatisfied with something in your life and craving it were different. This could be feeling jealousy for what another may have, craving something that you do not have, or being in great physical or emotional pain and being unable to accept it as a condition of ones life in the present moment.
8-Fold Path 
Right view
Right intention
Right speech
Right action
Right livelihood
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right concentration
3 Higher Trainings
Morality
Concentration
Wisdom
5 Aggregates (Skandhas)
Form
Feeling
Recognition
Mental formations
Consciousness
5 Powers
Saddha (Trust in the Practice)
Effort/Energy
Mindfulness
Concentration 
Wisdom
4 Reliances
Rely on the dharma, not the teacher
Rely on the meaning, not the words
Rely on explicit meanings, not implicit meanings
Rely on wisdom, not on consciousness
7 Factors of Enlightenment
Mindfulness 
Investigation
Energy
Happiness
Tranquility
Concentration
Equanimity
10 Perfections (from Theravada school)
Generosity 
Moral discipline
Patience
Effort
Meditative concentration
Wisdom
Renunciation
Truthfulness
Loving-kindness
Equanimity
10 Non-Virtuous Actions & Wheel of Life
The Wheel of Life describes the cause of all evil and its effects, mirrored in earthly phenomena just as it is experienced by every person from the cradle to the grave. Picture by picture it reminds us that everyone is always his or her own judge responsible for their own fate, because our actions and their effects are the fruits of one's own deeds. This so-called fate is demonstrated by the Lord of Dead, who like a monster holds the Wheel of Life in his claws; he is a symbol of the transitory nature of all earthly phenomena. This list contains the ten non-virtuous actions which Buddhists vow to avoid or eliminate from their life.
Personal bodily harm 
Killing
Stealing
Sexual misconduct
False speech
Lying
Divisive speech
Harsh speech
Idle gossip
Mindlessness
Craving
Aversion
Delusion
The image at right is called Bhavachakra and is a Tibetan Buddhist representation of the "wheel of life," or cycle of existence. (posted by MarenYumi/Flickr). The following URL links to a web page by Barbara O'Brien which provides a detailed description of each of the multiple components of the Wheel of Life.
12 Links of Dependent Arising
The Wheel of Life represents the Buddhist teaching that nothing in the universe can arise and stand independent by itself. To exist, everything and everyone in the universe depends upon innumerable interrelated elements and events. You could not exist without food and water, a mother, father and innumerable ancestors, air to breathe, other people who plant, grow, harvest, pack, ship, deliver, and sell the food you eat, manufacture the goods you use, and deliver the services your use on a daily basis. Even if you moved into the wilderness, grew/hunted all you own food, built your own dwelling, hauled your own water, and were able to make all of you own tools and clothing, you would still be dependent upon the animals, seeds from plants to grow your crops, streams, raw materials, and the accumulated knowledge of people and objects outside of yourself.
Ignorance
Mental formations 
Consciousness
Name and form
Six Senses
Contact
Feeling
Craving
Grasping
Becoming
Birth
Aging and death
10 Basic Beliefs & Understandings of Buddhism
Everyone would like to lead a happier life, but few know what that would mean or how to accomplish it.
Our emotions and attitudes affect how we feel. With training, we can rid ourselves of negative ones and develop those that are healthier and more positive. Doing that will make our lives happier and more fulfilling.
Disturbing emotions such as anger, fear, greed and attachment make us lose peace of mind and self-control.
With training, we can free ourselves from being under their control.
Acting compulsively out of anger or greed creates problems for us and leads to unhappiness. With training, we can learn to calm down, think clearly and act wisely.
Positive emotions such as love, compassion, patience and understanding help us remain calm, open and clear, and bring us more happiness. With training, we can learn to develop them.
Self-centered, selfish behavior and thought close us off from others and make us unhappy. With training, we can overcome them.
Realizing that we are all interconnected and that our survival depends on each other opens our hearts and minds, helps us develop concern for others, and brings us more happiness.
Most of what we perceive in ourselves and in others are projections of fantasy, based on confusion. When we believe that our projections correspond to reality, we create problems for ourselves and others. With correct understanding, we can rid ourselves of confusion and see reality. This enables us to deal calmly and wisely with whatever happens in life.
Working on ourselves to become a better person is a life-long challenge, but the most meaningful thing we can do with our lives.
The Fourteen Precepts of Engaged Buddhism
The Order of Interbeing (Tiep Hien) was formed by the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh in the mid-1960’s, at a time when the Vietnam War was escalating and the teachings of the Buddha were desperately needed to combat the hatred, violence, and divisiveness enveloping his country.
On the full moon day of February 1966, Zen Master Nhat Hanh ordained six members into the Order—three men and three women ranging in age from twenty-two to thirty-two. All were board members of the School of Youth for Social Service, which he had helped found the year before. During the ceremony, the six ordainees vowed to study, practice, and observe the Fourteen Precepts of the Order of Interbeing, a wonderful blend of traditional Buddhist morality and contemporary social concerns.
For ten years, no new members were permitted to join the Order’s core community. In fact, this “period of experimentation” was extended until 1981, when Nguyen Anh Huong, a microbiologist and lay meditation teacher, became the seventh member of the Order.
Today, there are thousands worldwide who regularly recite the Fourteen Precepts of Engaged Buddhism, which remain uniquely applicable to contemporary moral dilemmas. They are guidelines for anyone wishing to live mindfully. By developing peace and serenity through ethical and conscientious living, we can help our society make the transition from one based on greed and consumerism to one in which thoughtfulness and compassionate action are of the deepest value.
—Fred Eppsteiner
The Fourteen Precepts of Engaged Buddhism
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Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.
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Do not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to receive others’ viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout your entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.
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Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness.
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Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, including personal contact, visits, images, and sounds. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.
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Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life Fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need.
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Do not maintain anger or hatred. Learn to penetrate and transform them when they are still seeds in your consciousness. As soon as they arise, turn your attention to your breath in order to see and understand the nature of your hatred.
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Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings. Practice mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the present moment. Be in touch with what is wondrous, refreshing, and healing both inside and around you. Plant seeds of joy, peace, and understanding in yourself in order to facilitate the work of transformation in the depths of your consciousness.
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Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.
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Do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest or to impress people. Do not utter words that cause division and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things of which you are not sure. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety.
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Do not use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit, or transform your community into a political party. A religious community, however, should take a clear stand against oppression and injustice and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.
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Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to live. Select a vocation that helps realize your ideal of compassion.
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Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and prevent war.
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Possess nothing that should belong to others. Respect the property of others, but prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.
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Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect. Do not look on your body as only an instrument. Preserve vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of the Way. (For brothers and sisters who are not monks and nuns:) Sexual expression should not take place without love and commitment. In sexual relationships, be aware of future suffering that may be caused. To preserve the happiness of others, respect the rights and commitments of others. Be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which you are bringing new beings.
From “Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism,” Revised edition: Oct. 1993 by Thich Nhat Hanh, published by Parallax Press, Berkeley, California.