PhD Thesis: The Ecological Body ~ extracts
SatipatthānaI trained with John Garrie Rōshi from 1981-1995.
My training in Satipatthāna[1] with John Garrie Rōshi fundamentally influenced my experience of myself through, amongst other practices, the understanding of the Four Noble Truths, the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and the investigation of Paticca-samuppāda [2]. These practices shifted my awareness towards how I was doing things, rather thanwhat I was doing, to the experience of change as the only constant factor in life and to my self as process. They also challenged any notion of a linear relationship between cause and effect and invited me to examine how through kamma I was co-creating my own reality at any given moment. Transformation, defined as a release from old conditionings which permitted fresh choices rather than compulsive behaviours, was seen as a step towards liberation or nibbāna. John Garrie Rōshi dedicated his life to developing an approach to mindfulness practice which would make Buddhist practice both accessible and relevant to everyday life in a twentieth century European context. The lineage of this practice has been visible as a matrix informing my enquiry into an ecological approach to movement practice. [1] Satipatthāna: a Way of Mindfulness. [2] Paticca-samuppāda : the Law of Dependent Origination |
Thesis pages
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