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Erric Solomon
Executive Director WhatMeditationReallyIs.comRecent items
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Steve Cope
After many years of teaching high school maths (amongst other things) in countries as far flung as the UK, NZ, and Eritrea I am currently managing the development of a series of courses providing a universal and non-sectarian training in empathy and compassion.Recent items
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Tahlia Newland
Visit my blog at http://happyhonkers.wordpress.com/Recent items
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Miles Neale
Dr. Miles Neale is a Buddhist psychotherapist, meditation teacher, and Assistant Director of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science. He has studied with American Buddhist scholars Joe Loizzo and Bob Thurman and Tibetan masters Gelek Rinpoche and Lama Zopa. www.milesneale.com www.nalandascience.orgRecent items
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Ian Ives
I've been seriously addicted to Buddhist philosophy and practice for over 15 years. Originally from Oregon in the USA, I studied international relations and modern dance at the University of Washington in Seattle, but finding little desire to become a lawyer or work for the UN, as well as a…Recent items
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Marieke van Vugt
I am a neuroscientist studying memory and decision making using neural activity and computational models. In my free time, I am a dancer. I have been a student of Sogyal Rinpoche since approximately 1998. I am fascinated by the human mind and brain, and like to study it both from…Recent items
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Elizabeth Namgyel
Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel has studied and practiced the Buddhadharma for twenty-seven years under the guidance of her teacher and husband Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. She is the retreat master of Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado and has spent over six years in retreat. She holds a degree in anthropology and an M.A.…Recent items
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Sandra Pawula
My aspiration is to help others find true happiness and freedom. I write about personal transformation at Always Well Within (dot) com and instruct online courses for the Rigpa Distance Learning Program.Recent items
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Charles T.Tart
Charles T. Tart, Ph.D., is internationally known for his psychological work on the nature of consciousness (particularly altered states of consciousness), as one of the founders of the field of Transpersonal Psychology, and for his research in scientific parapsychology. His two classic books, Altered States of Consciousness (1969) and Transpersonal…Recent items
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Kirsten DeLeo
Kirsten Deleo has studied and practiced Buddhism under the guidance of Sogyal Rinpoche since 1994 and completed a three-year meditation retreat. Trained as a counselor she has been active in the hospice movement since the early 90’s. She currently works as International Trainer for Rigpa’s Spiritual Care Program, an international…Recent items
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Christian Kohl
After my Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics I got somehow pulled away from science and now work as an International IT Manager. I practise meditation since 2004 following the approaches of Qigong, Zazen and Vajrayana Buddhism.Recent items
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Christian Meier
Regular meditation practice since 2008; working in communications, owner of an advertising agencyRecent items
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Josh Korda
Josh Korda has been meditating for over two decades and began his studies of Theravada Buddhism in 1996. He has been the teacher at New York Dharmapunx since 2005, and at the Monday night Brooklyn Dharma class. For the last three years Josh has been a visiting teacher at ZenCare.org,…Recent items
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Jerome Stone
Jerome Stone is a student of Sogyal Rinpoche, and is the author of the upcoming (publish date - 26 September 2011) book, Minding the Bedside: Nursing from the Heart of the Awakened Mind, a book about mindfulness, meditation and compassion practices, written specifically for nurses.Recent items
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Med in school
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Zanna Yardas
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S in the City
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Jeremy Tattersall
I started trying to meditate in 1985. Did I miss something? My work mostly concerns the editing of text. I tried being a professional photographer, but am now a contented amateur. I have taught English as a foreign language in various places at various times.Recent items
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Marcia Binder-Schmidt
Marcia Dechen Wangmo, AKA Marcia Binder Schmidt is renown Buddhist translator, editor and writer. Marcia is a publisher of her own imprint, Rangjung Yeshe Publications (www.rangjung.com). She compiled one book The Dzogchen Primer for Shambhala, 2002, and Dzogchen Essentials, 2004 and Quintessential Dzogchen 2006 under her own imprint. Together with…Recent items
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Bernie Schreck
My journey of searching for how to live a meaningful life has led me to the Tibetan Buddhist teachings which have given me guidance and inspiration for over twenty years. I live on the Big Island of Hawaii with my wife Sandra and instruct some of the online classes of…Recent items
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Sharon Salzberg
One of America’s leading spiritual teachers and authors, Sharon Salzberg is cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts. She has played a crucial role in bringing Asian meditation practices to the West. http://www.sharonsalzberg.com/Recent items
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Eva Hopf
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Bert van Baar
Hi, I have been meditating for thirty years and I have studied with a Tibetan lama for 20 years now. I'm a writer and hold a PhD in Cultural Anthropology. I published books on Tibet, Buddhism and the Dalai Lama. Currently I'm involved in the curriculum team of a new…Recent items
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Andy Fraser
Journalist and meditatorRecent items
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Volker Dencks
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Meditation Blog
Sogyal Rinpoche on the Appearance and Essence of Mind
Written by Erric Solomon
In this video, Sogyal Rinpoche explains that we are usually lost in the appearance of mind, our thoughts and emotions, instead of recognizing the essence or nature of mind. Essentially, we are turned in the wrong direction. This is the root of suffering and dissatisfaction. But by turning our attention to the essence of mind itself and learning how to simply be, we can find true contentment.
In January, I was fortunate enough to speak to Diane Grady about meditation. Diane is one of the founding members of a group of business and community leaders in Australia called ‘Practical Wisdom’ and has herself been on the board of a number of large Australian public companies for over 15 years. The Practical Wisdom group began about 12 years ago following a dharma talk given by Sogyal Rinpoche at the Australian School of Management and a question he posed: “Is this relevant to business?” The response was an overwhelming “Yes” and since then the Practical Wisdom group has gathered each year to receive further teachings on meditation and Buddhist wisdom. In addition, the group also now meets for a few hours each month to practise meditation together.
It is an incredible privilege to be able to say that Kyabjé Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was my teacher. In honor of the 16th anniversary of his passing, here are a few stories about some of the time I spent with him.
Happiness doesn’t depend on what happens to you, but on how you see, think and feel about what happens to you.
Here’s an example: John and Jenny are visiting their Grandma. She serves them a cream filled chocolate cake. John is happy because he likes chocolate cake but Jenny is unhappy because she has sworn off eating chocolate cake and having one in front of her is making it extremely difficult for her to stick to her vow. It’s the same external situation for both people, but one is happy about it and one is unhappy.
What Buddhist Psychotherapy Really Is: Part 2 Treatment
Written by Miles Neale
Treatment Methods in Buddhist Psychotherapy
It is clear that all psychotherapies emphasize introspection aimed at self-understanding and rely on the healing relationship. The Buddhist method in particular, incorporates an insight-oriented dialog and interpersonal role-modeling during the session with a contemplative educational triad of meditation, study, and lifestyle between sessions.
As many of us have experienced, it can be hard to speak with family and friends about our meditation practice. And yet it is so important to be able to speak about what we believe and to do it with courage.
Not long ago I came across this very simple statement from the Buddha in a book by the great Vietnamese teacher Thich Nhat Hanh:
Love is understanding.
I find this to be such a beautiful statement and I think it reveals a lot about how the practice of meditation can change the world and make us more loving. Here are a few reflections…
The meditation of dance, or the dance of meditation
Written by Marieke van Vugt
Jealousy is a painful emotion, in part, because when we get jealous we lose our self-respect. It is deeply embarrassing to watch ourselves feel displeasure at the happiness and good fortune of others, whether it be their wealth, physical attributes, money...whatever.
I suppose, if we look at it in one way, it is good news that we feel disturbed when we feel jealous. This shows that we have a conscience – that in truth we really do want others to be happy and don’t want to feel uncomfortable about their good fortune. And yet we experience this inner-conflict.
Jealousy comes from feeling impoverished in our own minds. We wish we possessed the attributes that belong to someone else…therefore we feel we “lack” something in some way. So jealousy comes from being totally self-focused. Herein lies the problem.
What Buddhist Psychotherapy Really Is: Part 1 Objectives & Goal
Written by Miles Neale
Buddhist psychotherapy, which has been adopted in the last several decades, is a novel approach to the clinical practice of mental health. It combines aspects of conventional psychotherapy with traditional Buddhist psychological theory and practice. Because there are several sub-schools of psychotherapy and Buddhism from which to integrate, there currently is no single formalized clinical approach to its practice. Therefore, Buddhist psychotherapy differs widely in its presentation among diverse practitioners.