Learn Meditation Online - Wildmind (original) (raw)
Join a Global Community Focused on Mindful and Compassionate Living
Wildmind is an online meditation center — a place where anyone can learn to meditate or deepen their existing practice.
Wildmind is a Community-Supported Meditation Initiative. We're supported by a community of sponsors, who receive many benefits, including:
- Access to all of Bodhipaksa's past online meditation courses, of which there are currently more than 40.
- Articles, meditation downloads, and recordings of meditation workshops.
- An online sponsors' forum where you can share your practice and get feedback, support, and encouragement.
- Free access to any new meditation courses that Bodhipaksa develops through Wildmind.
You can get all this by sponsoring one or more Community Shares. These are only $8 a month each, which makes the benefits you receive a tremendous bargain. Make sure you don't miss out by sponsoring one or more shares today!
Finding Calm In a Crisis: A Free Course
As we go through these "interesting times," many of us are seeking ways to return to balance and calm, and to find relief from fear, anxiety, and dread.
This free course offers 28 guided meditations to help you tap into your innate potential for emotional resilience.
Most of the meditations are between 12 and 15 minutes in length, although some are shorter or longer.
I hope you enjoy this offering!
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The Bodhi Mind meditation app—for iPhone and iPad—gives you access to more than 200 guided meditations, recorded by Bodhipaksa, the founder of Wildmind.
The Bodhi Mind app available for download on the app store.
You’ll find all the guided meditations from Bodhipaksa's CDs and meditation courses, plus materials that he's recorded for other purposes. Some live recordings from retreats and workshops have been added, with more on the way!
The app is free to download.
All of the meditations are available for a two week trial. After that you’ll have access to a selection of tracks, and you can unlock the rest by signing up for a subscription.
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About Buddhist meditation
In a way there's nothing very "Buddhist" about the meditation you'll find on Wildmind. When you pay attention to your breath, or to the sensations in your body as you walk, or when you cultivate feelings of love for another person, you won't have a sense that you're doing anything very "religious." In a way these are simply "human" meditation practices -- ways that a human being can pay attention to his or her own experience, and gently cultivate greater awareness and love.
The simplest form of meditation we teach here is mindfulness of breathing. The essence of this practice is that we simply bring our attention to the sensations of the breathing, and when the mind wanders, as it will, we gently steer it back to the breath once again. However in the form we teach here, there are four stages, each of which has a specific purpose in helping us to develop calmness, energy, continuity of awareness, or one-pointedness.
The other main form of meditation that we teach is the cultivation of lovingkindness, in which we take responsibility for our emotions, and encourage the development of qualities of empathy, patience, kindness, and compassion.
We also teach you how to set up your meditation posture (an essential consideration in any form of meditation practice), as well as walking meditation.
And outside of these structured guides to meditation, we have a blog with a vast collection of news stories about meditation, articles on practice, and reviews of books, CDS, and videos.
About Buddhist meditation
In a way there's nothing very "Buddhist" about the meditation you'll find on Wildmind. When you pay attention to your breath, or to the sensations in your body as you walk, or when you cultivate feelings of love for another person, you won't have a sense that you're doing anything very "religious." In a way these are simply "human" meditation practices -- ways that a human being can pay attention to his or her own experience, and gently cultivate greater awareness and love.
The simplest form of meditation we teach here is mindfulness of breathing. The essence of this practice is that we simply bring our attention to the sensations of the breathing, and when the mind wanders, as it will, we gently steer it back to the breath once again. However in the form we teach here, there are four stages, each of which has a specific purpose in helping us to develop calmness, energy, continuity of awareness, or one-pointedness.
The other main form of meditation that we teach is the cultivation of lovingkindness, in which we take responsibility for our emotions, and encourage the development of qualities of empathy, patience, kindness, and compassion.
We also teach you how to set up your meditation posture (an essential consideration in any form of meditation practice), as well as walking meditation.
And outside of these structured guides to meditation, we have a blog with a vast collection of news stories about meditation, articles on practice, and reviews of books, CDS, and videos.
About the meditation practices you can learn on this site
Our Posture Workshop
Our posture workshop is where we suggest you start if you don't already have a meditation practice (and perhaps even if you do). We'll take you step-by-step through the process of setting up a meditation posture that will allow you to be both alert and relaxed.
The mindfulness of breathing
The mindfulness of breathing is a fundamental meditation practice that everyone should know. The benefits? You'll find that this practice helps you to calm your mind so that there's less inner chatter (especially the stuff that makes you unhappy). You'll find also that you're less distractible and better able to pay attention.
The development of lovingkindness
The development of lovingkindness (metta bhavana) works directly on our emotional habits, helping us to become more emotionally positive. You'll learn to be kinder to yourself: more patient, more understanding. You'll find that you're more considerate to others and that it's easier to forgive. You may even find (as others have) that others around you mysteriously become easier to be around. Hmmm.. wonder why that is?
Walking meditation
Walking meditation is a great way to bring more meditation into your daily life; it's a practice that can be done even in a busy city street. In this form of practice we develop greater mindfulness of the body, but we also become more aware of our thought patterns, our emotions, and even of the outside world. It's a calming practice. Walking meditation can also be a lovingkindness practice, especially when you're walking in a public place.
Mantra meditation
Our mantra meditation section is the most popular destination for our visitors. Mantras are simply phrases that we repeat (usually internally, but they can also be chanted out loud). As well as occupying the mind and thus calming it by preventing it from getting up to the usual mischief that causes us pain, mantras also have a symbolic value that evokes spiritual qualities.
The six element practice
The six element practice is a profound reflection on interconnectedness and impermanence. It's a very beautiful form of meditation. It not only helps us to calm the mind and give us a reassuring sense of our place in the great scheme of things, but it can be unsettling and challenging as well. Yes, I know. Reassuring and unsettling. That's Buddhist practice for you!