A selection of useful English-speaking information online and in Hong Kong
Free Reading and listening – online
- Mindfulness in plain English (PDF)
- buddhistgeeks.com – great talks as text, audio and video (very helpful podcast)
- soundstrue.com – lots of information, free interviews with experts and a radio
Where to find formal training in Hong Kong?
Where to find regular practice and retreats in Hong Kong?
- Hong Kong Insight Meditation Society http://www.hkims.org
- Plum Village Hong Kong: http://www.pvfhk.org
- Facebook: Mindful Hong Kong (“I like”)
- Integrated Medicine Institute: http://www.imi.com.hk
- Smartspace at Smartcells: free morning meditation open group contact sebastian (at) counsellinghongkong.com
Institutions which promote mindfulness within a broader scope (Find more on news, lectures, workshops and retreats and contact them to join their newsletters)
- Centre for Buddhist Studies, Hong Kong University www.buddhism.hku.hk
- Centre on Behavioural Health, Hong Kong University http://cbh.hku.hk
- Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education, Institute of Education
Here a short sample from my favorite Intro text “Mindfulness in Plain English” by Ven. Henepola Gunaratana:
“… Take worry. We worry a lot. Worry itself is the problem. Worry is a process. It has steps. Anxiety is not just a state of existence but a procedure. What you’ve got to do is to look at the very beginning of that procedure, those initial stages before the process has built up a head of steam. The very first link of the worry chain is the grasping/rejecting reaction. As soon as some phenomenon pops into the mind, we try mentally to grab onto it or push it away. That sets the worry response in motion. Luckily, there is a handy little tool called Vipassana meditation which you can use to short-circuit the whole mechanism.