Stepping onto the Path:

Foundations of Insight Meditation for Beginners and Beyond

This page contains recordings, readings, guided meditations, and other materials for participants in the eight-week course. We’ll update it as the course progresses.

Week 1

Optional Readings & Listening

• Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation - Gil Fronsdal
  An hour-long talk introducing mindfulness meditation. If you'd like a shorter version, you can skip the guided meditation from 17:00-39:00 and the final five minutes, for about 35 minutes of listening.

• What’s a Meditation Anchor? - Lama Rod Owens
  A 20-minute interview and guided meditation introducing the idea of a meditation “anchor.”

• Mindfulness in Plain English - Bhante Gunaratana
  Chapter 13: Mindfulness (Sati)

Guided Meditation Resources

• Gil Fronsdal guided meditations

• Zac’s BDC guided meditations

• Zac’s UVM mindfulness class guided meditations

Week 2

Optional Readings

• Mindfulness in Plain English - Bhante Gunaratana
  Chapter 1: Meditation: Why Bother?

• Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening - Joseph Goldstein
  Chapter 5: Contemplating the Four Foundations

• Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta
  Read from the beginning of the translation of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta to the "[FEELINGS] / II. The Contemplation of Feeling" section

  • Bhikkhu Anālayo translation

  • Nyanasatta Thera translation

Week 3

Readings & Listening

• Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening - Joseph Goldstein
  Chapter: Feelings

• The Mindful Geek - Michael W. Taft
  Chapter 8: Darwin’s Dharma

• “How to Control (and Even Use) Your Anger” - Lama Rod Owens
  NPR interview

• Mindfulness in Plain English - Bhante Gunaratana
  Chapter 7: What to Do with Your Mind