Meditation and mindfulness are key elements of the Buddhist path, but we may sometimes overemphasize them and underemphasize other equally important elements.  There is much more to a Buddhist spiritual life than mindfulness alone – even if mindfulness is the foundation that supports other practices.  Something I find very helpful is cultivating the paramis (literally, perfections of a Buddha), of which there are 10 in the Theravada tradition:  Generosity, Ethics, Renunciation, Wisdom, Vitality, Patience, Truthfulness, Resolve/Determination, Loving-kindness and Equanimity.

The paramis are not meant simply to be thought of in a cognitive way, but to be intuitively and practically cultivated and applied. In fact, they are basic aspects of insight practice, and not separate from it.  When the paramis are undeveloped, the possibilities of development in meditation are limited. Just as mindfulness supports daily practice, the cultivation of excellent qualities of mind supports meditation practice.

A great way to work with them is to take one parami each week and spend the week looking at your life in relationship to it.  This could be a wonderful way to begin the new year… If you like, you can read more about the paramis as daily practice here.