The Practice Halls
The trainings of the traditions, instructed and sourced.
Practices you can do tonight, written plainly, with their lineage named and their evidence weighed. The halls are arranged by what each practice trains: attention, heart, breath and body, reflection, and the remembrance of death. That frame is of this library’s own making, laid gently over trainings that are centuries old.
12 entries on these shelves · growing moon by moon
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the training of attention
the training of heart
- Dhikr: The Remembrance of God Sufi invocation of the divine names, breath by breath, bead by bead Sufism · Qur'an 13:28 · al-Ghazali (1058–1111)
- The Jesus Prayer: Lord, Have Mercy Hesychasm's single sentence, said until it prays itself Eastern Orthodox hesychasm · Philokalia, 1782 · The Way of a Pilgrim, 1884
- Mettā: The Cultivated Heart Loving-kindness, radiated in widening circles Early Buddhism · Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta (Sn 1.8) · Visuddhimagga IX
- Tonglen: Sending and Taking Breathing in what hurts, breathing out what helps Tibetan Buddhism, lojong · Atiśa (982–1054) · Chekawa, Seven Points of Mind Training, 12th c.
the training of breath & body
- Nadi Shodhana: Alternate-Nostril Breathing The channel-clearing breath of Hatha yoga Hatha yoga · Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā, 15th c.
- Box Breathing The square of four, a portable stillness samavṛtti pranayama · adopted by clinical & tactical trainers
- Kinhin: Walking Between Sittings The pace of a breath, carried from cushion to floor Zen Buddhism (Sōtō & Rinzai) · recorded in English by Nukariya, 1913