Buddhist teacher Beth Upton on vacation

Monthly update: a month offline. Please rejoice!

I was a British Buddhist nun in Burma

Hello, friends. Those who have been on retreat with me will know that love this part of the Vitakkasanthana Sutta (MN20):

“Just as a person walking quickly might consider, 'Why am I walking quickly? Why don’t I walk slowly?’ And that person would walk slowly. Then one might consider, 'Why am I walking slowly? What if I were to stand still?’ And one would stand still. Then one might consider, 'Why am I standing still? What if I were to sit down?’ And one would sit down. Then one might consider, 'Why am I sitting? Why don’t I lie down?’ And one would lie down.”

Buddhist meditation teacher Beth Upton 2025

This is me this summer. If August has been me slowing down, then September is me stopping. For the first time in a very long time, I do not have a single online commitment for the entire month. Please rejoice!

I will be using the time to meditate and nourish myself in the Dhamma, the Buddha's Teachings, and my sincere wish is that as I deepen my own practice, so do others.

Sangha Support Group (bethupton.com)

While I am offline, please make good use of our Sangha (Spiritual Community) support groups and our wonderful Team of Teaching Assistants to keep nourished and supported in Buddhist practice.

If anyone really misses me, then remember, I also have a YouTube channel. 😁

This week’s video is about a topic very dear to my heart: science and what I would like scientists to know about the Dhamma. So watch the video, spread the word, and let’s see if we can make some cross-cultural magic happen! WATCH:

Consciousness and science

• Meditation and Daily Life – Guided by Beth Upton

In addition, Kerem will kindly be leading September’s Full Moon Gathering. This month it lands on Sunday, Sept. 7th, and will be on the juicy topic of the third Noble Truth: Nirvana (Nibbana).

And for those of you wanting to deepen a sense of global Sangha, Jon Krop of Sit Heads Meditation Club is valiantly organizing an international “meditate-a-thon” in support for humanitarian aid for the children of Gaza. He welcomes all to join the global sitting on Sept. 6th, 2025, or sponsor a meditator, or both. Register to join the sitting here. And sponsor a meditator here. It would be great to see a lot of support for this, so please do join in if you can.

Urgent Gaza relief [from Israel's famine, genocide, extermination] needed (pcrf.net)

.

We can all support each other and rest.

The plan is for me to be back online in October 2025 with the usual array of online groups and offerings to be announced in my October newsletter.

Lastly, thanks! Retreat time is only possible for me because of generous voluntary support. I will be sharing merits with all who have contributed to making this month happen. Support my work.

With much metta and gratitude,

Beth Upton

• Beth Upton, bethupton.com, Sept. 1, 2025; Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Comic relief: MAD TV (comedy)

MAD TV: Fearlessly Funny

(Eric Thigpen) As a tribute to MADtv, I assembled a compilation of clips focusing on the first few seasons of the show. The team at that time was clearly fearless, unafraid to risk controversy with its choice of subject matter. And the results were hilarious, sweet memories that will stand the test of time because they were clearly ahead of their time.

• MADtv on YouTube, Fearlessly Funny, Oct. 17, 2020; Sheldon S., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

COMICS: The Far Side's creator reveals limits

Andrew Firestone, ScreenRant, 2/17/23; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

.

Far Side's creator reveals the one animal he was never allowed to use

Gary Larson dared to be a brilliant genius.

Despite beginning publication in 1979, Gary Larson’s The Far Side comic remains an enduring fixture.

In the age of internet meme culture, it inspires everything from paleontological terminology to the scientific names of multiple insects.

• VIDEO: The Far Side by Gary Larson

However, despite Larson's characteristic appreciation for the animal kingdom, there's one creature he was surprisingly never able to include in his work.

The Far Side's creator reveals the one animal he was never allowed to use (©ScreenRant)

Hey, Mendelbaum, workin' hard or hardly workin'? - Shut up, Flanagan! Can't you see I'm busy?

.

Cow Dharma is bovine comedy.

Often featuring all manner of critters and creatures, Larson's work is famous for drawing surreal humor from the animal kingdom, but he was too frightened of censorship to use one specific species.

Serializing his final strip in 1995, Larson has published numerous collections of his cartoons in full-sized books, including his anthologies, dubbed The Far Side Gallery in parody of high art.

Great material is easy to milk.

One of these comic collections, published in 1989, is slightly different from all the rest, for it features a detailed account by Larson on his creative process and history, along with other curiosities of his career.

Entitled The Prehistory of The Far Side: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit, the book is full of many interesting minutiae and factoids regarding the acclaimed series, including a section of rejected cartoons, with one comic featuring an insect unused in the entirety of the strip: the dung beetle. Hey, Gary, dung beetle comics exist.More  COMMENTS

• Related: Gary Larson's Misunderstood Far Side comic was deemed offensive and sick
• Dung beetle life stages comic (Swamp Cartoons)

Buddhist teachers form "Dharma Relief"

Rod Meade Sperry (Lions Roar, 4/14/20); Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhist teachers offer coronavirus-age advice in new Dharma Relief video

Ken Shoriak and Paul Martin (Dharma Relief)

"Dharma Relief" — the online response to the coronavirus panic crisis created by Guo Gu of the Tallahassee Chan Center — put out a video featuring multiple Buddhist teachers offering advice and leading us in practices to help us in the face of COVID-19.

• System director of operations and development rep at Lee Health Foundation Hospital, Fort Myers, Florida. Dharma Relief reports 300,000 masks have been shipped (Paul Martin).

Included in the video are Guo Gu, Jack Kornfield (Spirit Rock Meditation Center), Dharma Drum Abbot Guo Yuan, Rinzai Zen teacher Meido Moore, Tibetan Buddhist teacher Thubten Chodron, Zen teacher John Tarrant, Narayan Helen Liebenson (Cambridge Insight Meditation Center), Dharma Drum Abbess and teacher Chang Wu, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies executive director Richard Henning, and Rinzai Zen teacher Jeff Shore.

Kwan Yin: Buddhist Goddess of Compassion

The Dharma Relief effort, which began with trying to secure medical masks for health workers, is working. Reports Guo Gu:

“Since we started this on March 30th, with your help, we have r[aise]d $485,000 — only $15,000 short of our goal. Your continued support and spreading the message is so vital. Since then we’ve funneled that money to create masks and have shipped out 300,000 masks already! We have updated our website with infographs to reflect this transparency, dharmarelief.org. (Click 'our process' on the top menu).” More

FREE Trauma Relief Workshop (April 9)

Hoberleigh.com (The SuperQuack); Wisdom Quarterly

• Trauma Relief Workshop
• Tuesday, April 9, 2019 7:00 PM
• Grassroots Natural Market & Kitchen
• 1119 Fair Oaks Avenue
• South Pasadena, CA 91030

The SuperQuack

Are you living with the emotional impact of a past traumatic experience?

Hoberleigh Phreigh, LAc, MSOM, author of The SuperQuack will give a live demonstration of the trauma relief energetic technique she created after 20 years of education and experience.

She will share information and teach two techniques anyone can use to help release the pain from the past to live more peacefully in the present. Copies of The SuperQuack will be available for sale

RSVP to (626) 799-0156. Limited seats available. Bring a friend. Follow Grassroots Market (grassroots1968.com) on instagram and facebook@grassroots68. More

• 30th annual Stay Home and Read a Book Ball (donate to libraries)
• LAist.com: 24 of the coolest events happening in SoCal this week
• Vegan in Los Angeles (veganstreetfair.com)

Scientific study: Mindfulness for pain relief

Wisdom Quarterly; JAMA: Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD^1,2,3; Karen J. Sherman, PhD^1,4; Benjamin H. Balderson, PhD¹; et al Andrea J. Cook, PhD^1,5; Melissa L. Anderson, MS¹; Rene J. Hawkes, BS¹; Kelly E. Hansen, BS¹; Judith A. Turner, PhD^6,7 Author affiliations Information

In the lab or on campus I have to dress like this, but at home I'm nude in full lotus.

Original Investigation: (March NaN, 2016) 

Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Usual Care on Back Pain and Functional Limitations in Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain

 

Abstract

This is gov't science, so it's OK.

Importance  Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has [previously] not been rigorously evaluated for young and middle-aged adults with chronic low back pain.

 

Objective  To evaluate the effectiveness for chronic low back pain of MBSR vs cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or usual care.

Design, Setting, and Participants  Randomized, interviewer-blind, clinical trial in an integrated health care system in Washington State of 342 adults aged 20 to 70 years with chronic low back pain enrolled between September 2012 and April 2014 and randomly assigned to receive MBSR (n = 116), CBT (n = 113), or usual care (n = 113).

 

Interventions  CBT (training to change pain-related thoughts and behaviors) and MBSR (training in mindfulness meditation and yoga) were delivered in 8 weekly 2-hour groups. Usual care included whatever care participants received.

 

Main Outcomes and Measures  Coprimary outcomes were the percentages of participants with clinically meaningful (≥30%) improvement from baseline in functional limitations (modified Roland Disability Questionnaire [RDQ]; range, 0-23) and in self-reported back pain bothersomeness (scale, 0-10) at 26 weeks. Outcomes were also assessed at 4, 8, and 52 weeks.

 

Results  There were 342 randomized participants, the mean (SD) [range] age was 49.3 (12.3) [20-70] years, 224 (65.7%) were women, mean duration of back pain was 7.3 years (range, 3 months-50 years), 123 (53.7%) attended 6 or more of the 8 sessions, 294 (86.0%) completed the study at 26 weeks, and 290 (84.8%) completed the study at 52 weeks.

In intent-to-treat analyses at 26 weeks, the percentage of participants with clinically meaningful improvement on the RDQ was higher for those who received MBSR (60.5%) and CBT (57.7%) than for usual care (44.1%) (overall P = .04; relative risk [RR] for MBSR vs usual care, 1.37 [95% CI, 1.06-1.77]; RR for MBSR vs CBT, 0.95 [95% CI, 0.77-1.18]; and RR for CBT vs usual care, 1.31 [95% CI, 1.01-1.69]).

The percentage of participants with clinically meaningful improvement in pain bothersomeness at 26 weeks was 43.6% in the MBSR group and 44.9% in the CBT group, vs 26.6% in the usual care group (overall P = .01; RR for MBSR vs usual care, 1.64 [95% CI, 1.15-2.34]; RR for MBSR vs CBT, 1.03 [95% CI, 0.78-1.36]; and RR for CBT vs usual care, 1.69 [95% CI, 1.18-2.41]).

Findings for MBSR persisted with little change at 52 weeks for both primary outcomes.

 

Conclusions and Relevance  Among adults with chronic low back pain, treatment with MBSR or CBT, compared with usual care, resulted in greater improvement in back pain and functional limitations at 26 weeks, with no significant differences in outcomes between MBSR and CBT. These findings suggest that MBSR may be an effective treatment option for patients with chronic low back pain.

 

Trial Registration  clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01467843

Introduction

Ahhh, my back hurts, stupid science!

Low back pain is a leading cause of disability in the United States.¹ Despite numerous treatment options and greatly increased medical care resources devoted to this problem, the functional status of persons with back pain in the United States has deteriorated.^2,3 There is need for treatments with demonstrated effectiveness that are low risk and have potential for widespread availability.
 

Psychosocial factors play important roles in pain and associated physical and psychosocial disability.⁴ In fact, 4 of the 8 nonpharmacologic treatments recommended for persistent back pain include mind-body components.⁴ One of these, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), has demonstrated effectiveness for various chronic pain conditions^5- 8 and is widely recommended for patients with chronic low back pain.

However, patient access to CBT is limited. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR),⁹ another mind-body approach, focuses on increasing awareness and acceptance of moment-to-moment experiences including physical discomfort and difficult emotions.

MBSR is becoming increasingly popular and available in the United States. Thus, if demonstrated as beneficial for chronic low back pain, MBSR could offer another psychosocial treatment option for the large number of US residents with this condition.

MBSR and other mindfulness-based interventions have been recognized as helpful for a range of conditions including chronic pain.^10- 12 However, only 1 large randomized clinical trial (RCT) has evaluated MBSR for chronic low back pain,¹³ and that trial was limited to older adults.
 

This RCT compared MBSR with CBT and with usual care. We hypothesized that adults with chronic low back pain randomized to receive MBSR would show greater short- and long-term improvement in back pain–related functional limitations, back pain bothersomeness, and other outcomes as compared with those randomized to usual care.

We also hypothesized that MBSR would be superior to CBT because it includes yoga, which has been found to be effective in treating chronic low back pain.¹⁴ More

• Editorial: Mind-Body Approaches for Chronic Low Back Pain (Madhav Goyal, MD, MPH; Jennifer A. Haythornthwaite, PhD)
• Comment & Response: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain—Reply
• Comment & Response: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain (Robert J. Gatchel, PhD, ABPP; John C. Licciardone, DO, MS, MBA; Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD; Karen J. Sherman, PhD; Judith A. Turner, PhD
• Author Video Interviews (3:50) Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain
• Author Interviews (03:29) Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain
• JAMA Report Video (2:26) Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit

First I stretch, do my yoga asanas or poses, then I'm ready to relax.

 

Part of a series on
MINDFULNESS
Buddhism
Psychology
Other
Similar concepts
Category: Mindfulness

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a program that incorporates Buddhist mindfulness (sati) practice to assist people with pain and a range of conditions and life issues that were initially difficult to treat in a hospital setting.

Developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in the 1970s by Prof. Jon Kabat-Zinn, MBSR uses a combination of mindfulness meditation, body awareness, and yoga to help people become more mindful.^[1][2]

MBSR programs have been proposed for a wide variety of conditions including stress reduction.^[3][4][5] 

Clinical research studies have documented various physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness in different patient categories as well as in healthy adults and children.^[2][6][7] While MBSR has its roots in spiritual teachings, the program itself is secular.^[2][5][1] 

  

History

The concept of mindfulness has existed for over five millennia.^[8][9][10] Many credit the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course for introducing mindfulness to mainstream Western culture.^[11]

In 1979 Kabat-Zinn founded the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts and nearly 20 years later the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine.^[1] 

Both of these institutions supported the successful growth and implementation of MBSR into hospitals worldwide.^[1][2] Today close to 80% of medical schools offer some element of mindfulness training and research and education centers dedicated to mindfulness have proliferated.^[12] More

The Buddha's Mindfulness Practice
Ven. Nyanatiloka (Buddhist Dictionary) edited by Wisdom Quarterly

The Four "Foundations of Mindfulness," literally "awareness of mindfulness" (sati-upatthāna), are the systematic contemplation of:

1. body
2. feeling
3. mind
4. mind-objects.

A detailed treatment of this subject, so important for the practice of Buddhist mental cultivation, is given in the two Sati-patthāna Sutras (DN 22 and MN 10), which at the start as well as the conclusion, proclaim the weighty words:

"The only [or the direct] way that leads to the attainment of purity, to the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, to the end of pain and grief, to the entering of the right path, and to the realization of nirvana is the Four Foundations of Mindfulness."

After these introductory words and upon the question which these four are, it is said that the meditator dwells in contemplation of the body (the four elements), the feelings (sensations), the mind (four of the five khandhas), and the mind-objects "ardent, clearly conscious and mindful, after putting away greed and grief with regard to the world."
 
These four contemplations are in reality not separate exercises but, on the contrary, at least in many cases, especially in the meditative absorptions (jhanas), as things inseparably associated with each other.

Thereby the Satipathāna Sutra forms an illustration of the way in which these four contemplations relating to the Five Aggregates (khandha) simultaneously come to be realized, and finally lead to insight into the impersonality (not-self nature) of all existence.
 
(1) The contemplation of the body (kāyanupassanā) consists of the following exercises: More

Comic relief: dumb Trump, Netherlands

Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Larry, Wisdom Quarterly; The Netherlands (comic video); JenSorensen.com; Tom Tomorrow (thismodernworld.com)

(The Netherlands) Begins at Min. 0:35. The whole world was watching the inauguration of the 45th president of the US: DJ Trump. Because the Netherlands realizes it's better for the two countries to get along, they decided to introduce their tiny country to the Donald -- in his own words and in a way that will probably appeal to him most. Voice-over by Greg Shapiro. (vpro.nl/zml/npo3.nl/zondagmetlubach).

• AUDIO: Jimmy Dore Comedy (KPFK FM)
• Over 1 million join anti-Trump women's marches worldwide
• Trump dogged by insecurity over US vote, media coverage
• Trump moves to pull US out of big Asia trade deal