Down to earth dharma Insight meditation to awaken the heart

Spiritual seekers should engage with the world through their practice rather than aim to transcend it, according to this wise debut from Buddhist teacher Bradshaw. Yet today's Buddhism--shaped by the transmission of male-authored Buddhist texts and the "historical loss of the female monastic order"--embraces a masculine spiritual paradigm of transcendence and abstraction at the expense of feminine principles of process, "not-knowing," and embodiment, Bradshaw writes. (She claims this is particularly evident in U.S. "convert communities" established in the 1960s and '70s by Westerners who imported teachings from India and elsewhere that fit with the masculine paradigms of American culture.) To embrace the feminine paradigm, seekers should establish a connection with the Earth during meditation by moving energy into one's body and toward the ground; embrace painful emotions without being overwhelmed by them; and abandon attitudes of resistance and "inflexibility... within the heart, body, and mind" ("Our job is to feel where we have hardened and meet these places with softness. When in doubt, soften, soften, soften"). While Bradshaw's focus on outlining a more holistic philosophy of meditation comes at the expense of concrete instructions for one's practice, her revival of feminine Buddhist tradition is smart and cogent. Buddhists seeking a fresh approach will find plenty to ponder. (Nov.)