7 Treasures of Awakening: The Benefits of Mindfulness

Among the Buddha's many teachings, his instruction on the Seven Factors of Awakening stands alone for the cumulative benefits it makes available to us. When we are firmly established in mindfulness, the Buddha explained, these seven "treasures" serve to steer the mind away from delusion and the causes of suffering, guiding us to the realization of freedom. In 7 Treasures of Awakening, Insight Meditation Society cofounder Joseph Goldstein reveals how each one of these qualities of enlightenment sequentially develop and support each other as our practice of mindfulness matures.
Program highlights:
- Mindfulness, discrimination of states, energy, rapture, calm, concentration, and equanimity: the seven "treasures" of awakening
- The four qualities of mindful attention
- Dhammavicaya, or "knowing what's what"
- Viriya (or energy), the root of all accomplishment
- Well-balanced effort
- Pīti, the antidote to anger and ill will
- Reflecting on the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha
- The role of calm on the path to awakening
- Jhāna and the four developments of concentration
- Sīla, ethical conduct
- Equanimity versus indifference
- The "great way" of non-preferential awareness
- The deep delight born of peace
- Excerpted from Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening, Joseph Goldstein's masterwork on the Buddha's instructions for a life lived consciously