"Passage"The way in which we go to the grocery store may tell us everything about the way in which we live a life.
Be YourselfAt least if you're failing, you know you're alive; you're participating, engaged, learning, and therefore contributing to evolution. The Japanese have a phrase for this — they call it "the nobility of failure," implying, "Look at all the great things at which this person failed. She was really alive."
- Caroline W. Casey
Grounded in GratitudeResearch has also suggested that feelings of gratitude may be beneficial to subjective emotional well-being (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). For example, Watkins and colleagues (Watkins et al., 2003) had participants test a number of different gratitude exercises, such as thinking about a living person for whom they were grateful, writing about someone for whom they were grateful, and writing a letter to deliver to someone for whom they were grateful. Participants in the control condition were asked to describe their living room. Participant who engaged in a gratitude exercise showed increases in their experiences of positive emotion immediately after the exercise, and this effect was strongest for participants who were asked to think about a person for whom they were grateful. Participants who had grateful personalities to begin with showed the greatest benefit from these gratitude exercises. In people who are grateful in general, life events have little influence on experienced gratitude (McCullough, Tsang & Emmons, 2004).
Although gratitude is something that anyone can experience, some people seem to feel grateful more often than others. People who tend to experience gratitude more frequently than do others also tend to be happier, more helpful and forgiving, and less depressed than their less grateful counterparts (Kashdan, Uswatte, & Julian, 2006; McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002; Watkins, Woodward, Stone, & Kolts, 2003)
This is always how it isAnd the second is by Rainer Maria Rilke:
when I finish a poem.
A great silence overcomes me,
and I wonder why I ever thought
to use language.
Things aren't so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us believe; most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered.It is truly important to become comfortable with silence. Those who have an aversion to silence miss so much.
CalmAnother remark I’ve often come across is “Meditation is boring.” Do you really find your own company boring? Because that’s what meditation is: being with yourself...In another part of the article he says:
Meditation does not just calm you, it also blunts that painful edge of being in a competitive environment. You do not regard another as a competitor whom you must defeat; you affectionately regard his or her high standards as those you too can achieve. If you meditate for just 20 minutes daily, you will find a new keenness in your taste; your sense of humour too will be stronger where you laugh more, and more joyously; and your physical exercise sessions will feel like fun-and-games sessions. Oh yes, please do continue your cycling, walking or any form of exercise as also your sensible eating ways.Good stuff.
An old man said: I never wanted work that was useful to me but loss to my brother. For I have this expectation, that what helps my brother is fruitful for me.It is very difficult to practice this principle 100% because there is so much exploitation in the world and we are all intricately connected. But we can work toward the ideal of not contributing to the exploitation of others.
— Desert Father in Desert Wisdom translated by Yushi Nomura
To Practice This Thought: Make sure that no aspect of your work contributes to the exploitation of another being.
If we consider ourselves to be experts, well then, we already know. There is no spaciousness within for change, for transformation.In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, but in the experts there are few.
Strictly speaking, there are no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.That's very encouraging. Very consoling. We are all mixtures - have always been mixtures and will most certainly continue to be mixtures throughout this life. So let us not become discouraged about not reaching enlightenment yet. But we can make enlightened choices whenever we wish.
Perhaps it would be a good idea, fantastic as it sounds, to muffle every telephone and halt all activity for an hour some day to give people a chance to ponder for a few moments on what it is all about, why they are living, and what they really want.— James Truslow Adams in the nineteenth century quoted in The Time Is Now by Daniel S. Wolk
"Living In The Present Moment"1. I will live in the present moment. I will not obsess about the past or worry about the future.There are seven more where these came from!
2. I will cultivate the art of making connections. I will pay attention to how my life is intimately related to all life on the planet.
3. I will be thankful for all the blessings in my life. I will spell out my days with a grammar of gratitude.
The way things are is the way things are --- regardless of whether we accept that or not. The choice we have is over how much we suffer. And the most effective way to alleviate our own suffering is through acceptance.The position that I take - partly as a result of living in Asia - is where you stop living according to your expectations and you become available to experience things as they are.
-- Martha Beck
Embracing "Not Knowing" has changed my experience of life. Not knowing what will happen next - easy in some cases, damn difficult in others. Not knowing how I will feel. Not knowing what another person is feeling, why they are doing something the way they are, why they are even wearing the darn shirt they have one, let alone what lies deep in their emotional well.This is about letting life unfold rather than trying to engineer the process. Once again (with feeling!) this does not mean we are to go passive or take no action about the world's wrongs. It means knowing we can be okay even when we can't change what we wish we could change. It means knowing we will have the inner resources to deal with whatever happens even when what happens is something we will not like or is something that is truly devastating.
"Apples and Sun"The sun is new again, all day.— Heraclitus quoted in Fragments: The Collected Wisdom of Heraclitus translated by Brooks Haxton
I try always to look upon the world and the people I meet as echoes of my spirit. I know that if I am speaking with deceit, deceit will be echoed back to me . . . Likewise, if I find that I am constantly cheerful, full of brightness and hope, or deeply contemplative in the presence of a particular person, I know I am in the presence of a gracious spirit, and I am echoing the gift that is being given to me. It is as if the lesson of the echo contains the secret to understanding the space between us all.This is really valuable to ponder as we start saying good-bye to the old year and welcoming the new.
I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas day. We try to crowd into it the long-overdue deeds of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year.
There are things that are available to us twenty-four hours a day. It depends on us to enjoy them. The fresh air is available to us twenty-four hours a day. The question is whether we have the time and awareness to enjoy it. We cannot blame the fresh air for not being there. We have to look and see whether we take the opportunity and the time to be aware of the fresh air, and to enjoy it. One of the conditions that helps us be free to enjoy what is there is our mindfulness. If our mindfulness is not there, then nothing will be there. We will not be aware of the beautiful sunshine, the fresh air, the stars, the moon, the people, the animals, and the trees.
-- Thich Nhat Hanh from Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers
So meditation is certainly not about inaction. It is, rather, about skillful action.Meditation is not to escape from society, but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. With mindfulness, we know what to do and what not to do to help.
Meditating could be a simple solution to treating depression.Of course, appropriate medical treatment is also important. I wouldn't want anyone who suffers from depression to stop taking his or her medication. But learning to meditate can help with the habitual unskillful ways depressed people typically work with the thoughts they have.
Brain scans show significant changes in brain waves after just a few weeks of meditation.
Experts say meditation helps patients get rid of anger, anxiety and just let everything go:
"You start to notice the little, itty-bitty thoughts that slowly build up," says Diane Grove, a meditation instructor. "If you let go of the thought and you come back to the sensations of the body, a lot of times you find out that things are okay."
Many who practice meditation say they're developing the mental muscle to keep negative moments from snowballing.
The Amish call house-raisings a "frolic." It's a frolic because it's the time when an entire community gathers for neighborliness and assistance. When it comes to building houses, the Amish don't "work at it"; they "play at it."
— Leonard Sweet in SoulTsunami
If we all carry a little of the burden, it will be lightened. If we share in the suffering of the world, then some will not have to endure so heavy an affliction. It evens out.— Dorothy Day quoted in Dorothy Day: Selected Writings edited by Robert Ellsberg
We have to try to discover the inner aspects of Truth and unite them in ourselves. I have to be a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Jain, a Parsee, a Sikh, a Muslim, and a Jew, as well as a Christian, if I am to know the Truth and to find the point of reconciliation in all religion.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
For many years I was reflexively turned off by the notion of sitting silently for more than a minute or two, at most. I told myself--persuasively, it seems--that I was incapable of meditation. My mind, I was convinced, was too busy, and my patience too thin. Meditation might be good for others, I magnanimously conceded. But for me it was too, well... passive.It's really amazing that the writer was able to develop a practice during a crisis. That's really not the best time to learn. Better to develop a practice when things are more or less normal and then meditation is there for you when your life becomes really difficult.
Then, a dozen years or so ago, I found myself in one of those deep and painful situations with which life has a way of confronting us at precisely the wrong (right!) time and, with the help of a couple of good friends and advisers, I decided to give meditation a try. The instructions were simple: just breathe, I was told, and keep bringing the attention gently back to the breath, no matter what thoughts and feelings may come up.
Miraculously, it worked. In the course of time, I found not only immense solace in the great silences of mediation, but also a fine way to train the mind. It became my practice, every day, to sit--at first for ten or fifteen minutes, then fifteen or twenty, then thirty or forty-five. And breathe. No more, no less. And watch the breath as it enters and leaves the body. That simple--and that hard!
Across the pond, the word for whining is "whinging". It means "to complain or protest, especially in an annoying or persistent manner." The avoidance of whining or whinging comes under the meditative principle known as restraint. I like to use the slogan, "not necessary." Even if I feel like complaining, it truly is not necessary!I have heard it said that whining is anger coming out through a very small opening.
Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
I
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye
of the blackbird.
II
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three
blackbirds.
III
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of
the pantomime.
IV
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a
blackbird
Are one.
V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the
beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.
VI
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow
of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the
shadow
An indecipherable cause.
VII
O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you
not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about
you?
VIII
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I
know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.
IX
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one
of many circles.
X
At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the
bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.
XI
He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced
him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For
blackbirds.
XII
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.
XIII
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going
to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.
This is what it looks like in Tulsa today.Silence will help you avoid engaging in the games of competition and illusion that regularly seduce us in the outside world. Silence also helps you avoid distraction. It helps focus the busy mind---the mind that always has to be doing something, thinking something, the mind that always has to be otherwise engaged lest it become introspective and allow the soul's voice to override its own. The silence I am describing is a silence that you use to contain the grace you receive when you enter the Castle of your soul. This quality of silence allows you to engage in discernment. You carry this silence within you, even when you are with others. It allows you to hold your center amid the chaos of your life; it keeps you clear so that you do not do or say things you will regret or make decisions out of fear.
-- Carolyn Myss
There is a drowsy state, between sleeping and waking, when you dream more in five minutes with your eyes half open, and yourself half conscious of everything that is passing around you, than you would in five nights with your eyes fast closed, and your senses wrapt in perfect unconsciousness. At such time, a mortal knows just enough of what his mind is doing, to form some glimmering conception of its mighty powers, its bounding from earth and spurning time and space, when freed from the restraint of its corporeal associate.
-- Charles Dickens (from Oliver Twist)
When teaching children, we must never forget that we are all children in the spiritual life. There is no age, just souls traveling together. You would know to never patronize a child, they are just as likely to be far more advanced than yourself spiritually and almost certainly have more receptivity. Undoubtedly childhood is the most precious time of all for us spiritually, for it is the natural time of openness, spontaneity and joy, in short, a time when the soul is still naturally present.I really agree with the instruction about never patronizing a child. Everyone is more likely to respond positively to respect than to condescension.
See every soul as your brother or sister, a spiritual companion that we each will learn lessons from, love and laugh with. Many great masters have taught that the best cohort is a child of heart and mind. Remember that Jesus spoke a truth that all philosophies agree with when he said that we must become as children to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Take your responsibility as parent or guardian or spiritual elder, very, very seriously for it is a sacred, sacred trust that a child naturally offers you. On many levels, that trust must be extremely deeply respected. The worst crime that we can commit is a spiritual crime against a child.
1. New strategies for dealing with cravingsTypically, people in the throes of addiction have a compulsion to change the way they feel. Meditation helps us realize that all feelings are impermanent by their nature. The cultivation of compassion is also fundamental to the meditative process and that includes compassion for oneself. Such compassion makes it less likely that we will beat up on ourselves and then try to feel better by indulging in an addictive substance or behavior.
2. Increased distress tolerance
3. Increased self-awareness and acceptance
4. New strategies for pain management
Smokey and friendIn the beginning of the Allegory of the Cave, Plato represents man’s condition as being “chained in a cave,” with only a fire behind him. He perceives the world by watching the shadows on the wall. He sits in darkness with the false light of the fire and does not realize that this existence is wrong or lacking. It merely is his existence — he knows no other nor offers any complaint.You can read a translation of the original right here.
Plato next imagines in the Allegory of the Cave what would occur if the chained man were suddenly released from his bondage and let out into the world. Plato describes how some people would immediately be frightened and want to return to the cave and the familiar dark existence. Others would look at the sun and finally see the world as it truly is.
They would know their previous existence was farce, a shadow of truth, and they would come to understand that their lives had been one of deception. A few would embrace the sun, and the true life and have a far better understanding of “truth.” They would also want to return to the cave to free the others in bondage, and would be puzzled by people still in the cave who would not believe the now “enlightened” truth bearer. Many would refuse to acknowledge any truth beyond their current existence in the cave.
Insights from myth, dreams, and intuitions, from glimpses of an invisible reality, and from perennial human wisdom provide us with hints and guesses about the meaning of life and what we are here for. Prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action are the means through which we grow and find meaning.
Compassion is not an easy practice since the ego and its enticements resist unlocking the heart. Barasch cites a poll that shows most people in the world favor this spiritual virtue as the one that can solve many of our global problems. He concludes: "A society based on universal compassion is not just our only hope; it is an evolutionary imperative." This highly readable book is an impressive achievement.I do think we are in serious trouble as a species if we don't develop universal compassion. There are too many of us and our weapons of destruction are too powerful for us to be content with a society based on hostility and competition.
Be effortlessly aware of the Ground of Being from which all things arise at each nanosecond of time and which might be described as ever-present Awareness keeping silent watch. It is non-judgmental, simple, penetrating all reality; the backdrop, background, and source of everything, and the eternal Now beneath the apparent movement of time.
Ever-present Awareness does not do anything. It just is and sustains all that exists, letting all things follow their innate nature and fulfill their created purpose.
What's encouraging about meditation is that even if we shut down, we can no longer shut down in ignorance. We see very clearly that we're closing off. That in itself begins to illuminate the darkness of ignorance.
* depressionThere are more benefits listed if you want to click through. These actually make it well worth it to take those few minutes a day for regular meditation.
* hyperactivity
* attention deficit disorder
* post traumatic stress disorder
We say, ‘In calmness there should be activity; in activity there should be calmness.’ Actually, they are the same thing; to say ‘calmness’ or to say ‘activity’ is just to express different interpretations of one fact. There is harmony in our activity, and where there is harmony there is calmness.
“What are you doing?” Dongshan asked.It reminds me of the teaching that we should meditate as if our hair were on fire. It reminds me how one of the Desert Fathers said that if we wished we could become "all flame" !
“I’m mending clothes.”
“How do you do that?“
“One stitch is like the next,” said Shenshan.
“What, after twenty years of practice – that’s all you can say?” said Dongshan.
Shenshan put down his needle and turned to his companion. “Well then tell me. How do you sew?”
“As though the entire earth were spewing flames,” said Dongshan.
Here are 3 states of mind that we can cultivate through meditation. Each one fosters creativity:So there are more benefits to meditation than just lowering the blood pressure or reducing stress. But those who meditate regularly already know this.
1. Letting go of the ‘me, mine, myself’ mind-tape
In order to do something ‘as if the whole earth were spewing flames’, we need to dive completely into the action and forget ourselves in the process.
2. Being kind to ourselves
A kindly attitude allows us to experiment with failure without our grumpy inner editor ripping us to shreds.
3. Stilling the mind
A mind cluttered with thoughts lacks the spaciousness needed for creativity. It helps to be still for a few minutes before starting a creative endeavor. The easiest way to still the mind is to pay tender regard to the breath, or to listen to sounds. When we start the creative process from this point of stillness, ideas flow naturally and freely.
There's a lot here. It's worth pondering for a long time.When I don’t have any red, I use blue.
People who meditate have been shown to quickly achieve health benefits such as slower heart rates, lower blood pressure, reduced oxygen consumption and lower lactic acid levels. Some have used meditation to help with everything from headaches and respiratory problems to cancer and coping with death. It is seen as a crucial tool in treating many mental illnesses such as depression or schizophrenia while it has also been shown to actually boost functionality of the immune system. Beyond the science, however, one common health benefit in dealing with stress is perhaps the most important, and that is meditation’s ability to help the practitioner to shut up and listen.I really like the last sentence! That's what we all need: to shut up and listen.
Meditation. Why do I find it so hard? Typically I do fine if I light a candle and stare at the flame. It is very soothing. But any other way and I feel very sleepy. So it's something I commit to continue working on. Even if it's a matter of setting a time for 5 minutes and then stopping, it's what I've got to do. Any time I actually have meditated, I've gotten so much from the experience. There are times when I've been brought to tears and couldn't even say why. Probably because I was so centered, so connected to God. So, before I go to sleep tonight, I will meditate for at least 5 minutes.It's almost impossible for perfectionist to develop the discipline of regular, consistent meditation. The perfect is truly the enemy of the good in this case. If you think you have to be perfect in order to do it at all, you probably won't do it.
It doesn't have to be perfect. I just have to take the action and do it.
Sounds Zen doesn't it? The Zen folks just love paradoxes!Easy is right.
Begin right and you are easy.
Continue easy, and you are right.
The right way to go easy is to forget the right way
and forget that
the going is easy.-- Chuang Tzu
Dive deeply into the miracle of life and let the tips of your wings be burnt by the flame, let your feet be lacerated by the thorns, let your heart be stirred by human emotion, and let your soul be lifted beyond the earth.
Here is my wish for you and every other child, woman, and man on the face of the earth: Spend one week saying only kind, caring things to yourself. Say thank you at least ten times an hour, direct five toward yourself and five to the world at large. Compliment yourself (and others) each time an effort is made. Notice all the wonderful qualities and characteristics about yourself and those around you. One week. You will never go back. And your whole life will be a glorious meditation.
-- Cheri Huber
How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.
The results of the study indicated that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. Additionally, the gratitude group experienced less depression and stress, was more likely to help others, exercised more regularly and made more progress toward personal goals. According to the findings, people who feel grateful are also more likely to feel loved.And if you need help getting started, these questions are suggested:
What am I truly grateful for in my life?This is about truly appreciating what we have without having to lose it first. Try it. (And meditate, too!)
Aim for five answers, and if you have trouble at first, ask yourself alternative probing questions such as:
What relationships do I have that others don’t?
What do I take for granted?
What freedoms, unique abilities, and options do I have that others don’t?
What advantages have I been given in life?
Which allies and supporters have helped me to get to where I am?
I think we need a new word — "comjoyment" — as a companion to "compassion" to remind us that our greatest gift to the world may be in sharing what gives us the greatest joy.
— Sam Keen in Learning to Fly
Recent research lead by INSEAD concluded that while a standard executive education approach failed to increase the likelihood of managers making socially responsible business decisions, meditation based coaching programs showed a significant impact on the probability to act in a socially responsible way.The above paragraphs were from blog posting entitled "INSEAD study shows benefits of meditation in business".
...
Overall this does suggest that meditation has a number of implications and applications in organisations beyond the simple ’stress reduction’ approaches that many people associated it with.
Photo by Jeannie DibbleAnd make your own day. Making it a point to smile frequently and genuinely really does help you do just that.Smiling Journal - For two weeks, record the moments that brought out your wonderful smile. If you are ever feel down, flip through this book to be reminded of things that make you smile. Experience those moments and notice your state shift to a positive one. You cannot be both angry and smiling at the same time. I learned in physiological psychology that if the physical action conflicts with that of your feeling, the feeling inside will shift to match that of your outer sensation. One way to shift your emotion is to change your physiology.
...
Smile at Homeless People and Street Hagglers - I live in a part of downtown Seattle with lots of street hagglers and homeless people. People often ask me whether I get ‘harassed’ often. The answer is: sometimes. But they really are very nice, just like the rest of us. They too need attention and acknowledgment. So, give them a gift worth more than money. Next time someone asks you for money, don’t try to ignore them. Turn to them, smile warmly and tell them how you feel. If you don’t feel like giving money, just tell them “Sorry, I don’t have change now. Have a beautiful day!” Similarly, if something is trying to sell you something or ‘hitting-on’ you, simply turn to them, smile and say “No thank you.” I’ve found that it takes more energy to ignore and pretend to be very serious, than it is to smile. So smile! Make someone’s day!
I know that I am more likely to be kind and open to others because I meditate. Or another way of putting it is that I am less likely to be unkind and reactive because I meditate. Mind you, I am certainly not perfect in this department. But meditation really helps and I would be foolish beyond description to give it up.To meet everything and everyone through stillness instead of mental noise is the greatest gift you can offer to the universe.
So, once more, impermanence is our friend!We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.
Light breaks where no sun shines;
Where no sea runs, the waters of the heart
Push in their tides;
And, broken ghosts with glow-worms in their heads,
The things of light
File through the flesh where no flesh decks the bones...-- Dylan Thomas
The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of being hurt.We actually cannot avoid suffering by trying to control our circumstances or other people. We can, however, very quickly alleviate our suffering by letting go of our attachment to things being other than they are. In that case, the opposite of what Merton observes takes place. Fewer and fewer things end up bothering us. It's really quite remarkable how this works!
To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell.But our culture conditions us to consider only (or, at least, primarily) the effect of other people and things on ourselves. Heck, it's no wonder so many people are so unhappy so much of the time!
Researchers have found that meditation lowers levels of stress hormones. In fact, by decreasing the level of one such hormone – epinephrine — meditation has been shown to reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood and therefore help arteries to remain clear. Reduction of stress hormones also supports the healthy functioning of the immune system.More and more the research is demonstrating that meditation really does us a world of good. So what's stopping you from doing it? :-)
This reduction in stress hormones may be explained by the relaxed state that comes about through meditation. Electroencephalograph (EEG) studies of the brain in those who are meditating show that meditation boosts the intensity of alpha waves – associated with quiet, receptive states — to levels not seen even during sleep. This relaxed state combats anxiety, and this is confirmed by research which has found lowered levels of lactic acid in the blood. (High levels of lactic acid are associated with anxiety.) Another effect of meditation is that breathing slows, so the body uses less oxygen.
Meditation has been found to be particularly helpful for the heart. Meditators have been found to have improved blood circulation, as well as a lowered heart rate, which places less demands on the heart.
Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation... Tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego. His anxiety subsides. His inhuman void spreads monstrously like a gray vegetation.
- Jean Arp
I once heard a world-renowned psychiatrist pose a question to a room full of mental health experts. He asked, "What is the 'seat belt' of mental health? Seat belts save lives, they are a simple thing people can do to protect themselves from physical harm, but what is the comparable tool to protect us from the mental hazards of life? What is the seat belt to protect against the risks for unhappiness, depression, anxiety, pain, and suffering?"True, true, true. Is it too much trouble to meditate? Well, is it too much trouble to fasten your seat belt? Think about it!
We all know that the road of life is bumpy with unexpected drop-offs, accidents, and only the occasional smooth-sailing highway. I believe that meditation -- a practice for increasing awareness -- is truly a seat belt of mental health, a protection for us on the hazardous road of life. Meditation doesn't mean sitting and reciting a mantra , although one could practice that way. Meditation is a mental exercise that heightens your awareness to experience.
Living and loving the present moment is the key to a spiritual life. Without trust, hope and love, we will not be able to endure the hardship of life.
Trust, hope and love will surely lead us to happiness, peace and consolation going beyond the ups and downs of human relationships.
I believe there is an important distinction to be made between religion and spirituality. Religion I take to be concerned with belief in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another--an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of meta-physical or philosophical reality, including perhaps an idea of heaven or hell. Connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual, prayers and so on. Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit--such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony, which bring happiness to both self and others.
· Think of your good feelings and your bad feelings as the players holding the white and black pieces in a chess game. Struggling against your bad feelings means joining a meaningless and futile contest with yourself.I really recommend that you click through and read the whole article. It's good.
· Imagine your situation as a tug-of-war in which you are pulling harder and harder against an opponent who is dragging you toward a pit. Instead you have to drop the rope.
· Sit and picture thoughts passing through your mind in the form of words on signs held by people in a parade you are watching from a reviewing stand. Eventually you may find that you can't keep your thoughts on that kind of helpful distance. Back up and try to recall what you were thinking when the shift occurred. Then try again.
· Imagine that you are connected to a device that infallibly detects anxiety. Would this help you avoid or control the anxiety, or would the effort simply create more discomfort?
In the Northern Hemisphere, November it is a time of waning light, a time for more indoor activities of reading and reflection. It is a time of celebration for a bountiful harvest, or a time of quiet and joyful anticipation of a better year to come.To me the best thing about the saints is their companionship. We are not alone. They are always their to cheer us on and provide enouragement and inspiration.
Reflecting on the lives of saints shows us the path through life, though it may be materially difficult at times, has a built in reward in that forever in our meditation we can commune with Peace and Joy.
...
Remember that by their lives the saints have shown that joy is an inner quality that bubbles up to fill in the spaces of each empty-seeming moment with peace and joy, fueling the fires of caring and loving devotion in activities in the world.
Finish your meditation with a deep breath in and out; stretch and go on with peace and joy, renewed and rejuvenated as with the lives of saints before and of today.
May we be united in heart.
May we be united in speech.
May we be united in mind.
May we perform our duties
As did the wise of old.
May we be united in our prayer.
May we be united in our goal.
May we be united in our resolve.
May we be united in our understanding.
May we be united in our offering.
May we be united in our feelings.
May we be united in our hearts.
May we be united in our thoughts.
May there be perfect unity amongst us.From the Rig Veda
Seek the truth; come whence it may, cost what it will.I found myself thinking about those words today and appreciating them. Easy answers are cheap and often very destructive. Don't let yourself be seduced by them!
Modern scientific studies have proved that meditation, if practiced regularly, is beneficial in many ways. You will be able to cope with stress in a better way. Your anxiety levels will go down. Your high blood pressure will come under control. Meditation helps you deal with life’s problems. Since meditation helps you to focus better on the present moment, it works well to relieve you of the suffering you experience due to your past traumas and memories or the fears about the uncertain future.Of course, in order to reap these benefits, we've actually got to do it. Please don't consider meditation to be a luxury that can be skipped when you're busy. During busy times is when we need meditation the most!
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Proven benefits of meditation include increase in the blood flow and slowing down of the heart rate and respiratory rate, increase in the levels of tolerance among patients suffering from various illnesses, increase in the level of serotonin, which influences mood and behavior. Meditation strengthens the immune system, because of which the body is better equipped to deal with infections and allergies. It works wonders for depressed people, as it raises the levels of serotonin. People can free themselves from the feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, if they practice meditation regularly. Studies have shown that even those who are prone to panic attacks experience considerable relief, as meditation lowers the levels of blood lactate. Meditation is even known to alleviate physical pain.
