10.18.2024 Practicing the Complete Path of Mindfulness   As the leading Buddhist media organization in the English language, Lion’s Roar is of course dedicated to offering Buddhism’s profound teachings and powerful meditation techniques. From experts to beginners, we aspire to serve everyone who can benefit from Buddhist wisdom, and we do that through a full range of content. Yet that’s not enough. To truly benefit the world and as many people’s lives as possible, we also need to present universal human truths—ones Buddhism teaches so effectively about—in ways that anyone can relate to and benefit from, no matter what their beliefs are. That’s why Lion’s Roar is offering a unique five week on-line program starting next week called “Five Keys to the Complete Path of Mindfulness.” This offers us the opportunity to learn about and practice a new approach to mindfulness, one that deepens and expands its benefits to our lives and our society. The five keys to Complete Mindfulness — meditation, insight, ethics, compassion, and community — are both the path to a good human life and essential parts of it. None of these is inherently Buddhist, or necessarily religious at all. They are a simply human path, one based on universal human aspirations and universal human qualities. Through the brilliant work of the secular mindfulness movement pioneered by Jon Kabat-Zinn, millions of people are enjoying the benefits of a regular mindfulness practice. As we do at Lion’s Roar, secular mindfulness often draws on Buddhist teachings. After all, the Buddha was the world’s first mindfulness teacher and Buddhists are the world’s mindfulness experts. Yet mindfulness meditators know that what they are doing is not Buddhist or non-Buddhist, spiritual or secular. They are simply training, and benefiting from, the universal human ability to pay attention. Similarly, our ability to see reality clearly, to live ethically, to be kind and compassionate, and to live in community are simply parts of who we are as human beings. Reflecting the natural goodness of human nature, beyond any religion or belief system, they are the path to the happy, meaningful, and beneficial life that is the goal of the human journey. The “Five Keys to the Complete Path of Mindfulness” online program starts next Thursday with a keynote discussion about how to harness the full power of the present moment with renowned mindfulness teachers Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman. Then over the course of the next five weeks, five outstanding teachers — Diana Winston, Rick Hanson, Rhonda Magee, Christopher Germer, and Rev. angel Kyodo williams — will show us how to transform our lives by practicing the five keys to The Complete Path of Mindfulness. I hope you’ll join us for this unique and life-changing event. —Melvin McLeod, Editor-in-Chief, Lion’s Roar   The Complete Path of Mindfulness   A life-changing journey begins with a single breath. With the simple act of paying mindful attention to one breath, says Melvin McLeod, we step onto a complete path that goes deeper and farther than we can imagine. Mindfulness is both a basic power of mind and an intentional practice. It is the universal capacity of mind to be aware, focus, and use its natural intelligence. It is present not just in us but in all beings. Mindfulness is also a specific meditation practice that cultivates and develops our innate mindfulness. We train our mind by intentionally practicing nonjudgmental awareness of whatever is happening, moment by moment, inside and outside of us. This stabilizes and focuses our mind, increasing its power and clarity. ADVERTISEMENT 5 Keys to Complete Mindfulness What are the next steps for understanding complete mindfulness and its comprehensive benefits? Five experts in the mindfulness field explain.   The widespread applications of mindfulness are based on a few general principles whose simplicity and power have sparked what has been called the “mindful revolution.” Yet with all its popularity—or because of it—certain aspects of mindfulness have become obscured or misunderstood. The science-based “Intention, Attention, Attitude” (IAA) model helps us see mindfulness in its full, multidimensional nature. Writing conceptually about mindfulness, a nonconceptual topic, is antithetical to its very nature. Mindfulness has to be experienced to be known. However, words offer us a beginning, a finger pointing to the moon. The Complete Path of Mindfulness with Melvin McLeod In this conversation, Lion’s Roar associate publisher Beth Wallace speaks with editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod about taking mindfulness beyond the basics. Together, they explore the Complete Path of Mindfulness, which presents mindfulness as a way of life that integrates meditation with insight, ethics, compassion, and community. These five keys unlock the path to deep personal growth and transformation, leading to a more fulfilling life.