Mindful Awareness without the Cushion
Khandro Rinpoche on how we can keep the mindfulness we discover on the cushion as we go about daily activity.
Running with a kind mind
With a recent article on the Huffington Post by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche on meditation and running and Jerome's recent post on biking, I felt it was a good time to share my own experiences in this domain. Last Thursday I ran my first race, a half marathon. I did it kind of impulsively and for fun (some of you may wonder what kind of fun that is, and I myself started doubting that in the last few kilometers as well... Nevertheless, it was a very interesting experiment in what my mind does when my body wants to give up. In particular, many meditation techniques, especially those related to kindness, were of immense benefit.
Meditation on the Bicycle-Seat of Awareness
Oh my God do I love to bicycle...and meditate! Maybe not in that order, maybe in no order at all, maybe at the same time!
These days my time has become even more limited than previously. I'm finding myself having to put every-bloody-thing on my iCal (computer-based calendar) and schedule things like...calling my mom! Does that ever happen to you, or is it that I'm just too busy? Anyhow...
Isn't It Amazing? No Matter What, Our Undistracted Mind is Always Available to Us!
Sometimes I feel like my life is spent in a dark, smoky, crowded, and noisy nightclub and that I’ve forgotten that there’s a door that’s always open if I choose to leave.
Compassion is Expanding the View of Self
This five minute video is the first part of a fascinating skype conversation between Elizabeth Namgyel and Erric. Elizabeth describes compassion as a radical expansion of self. Then she gives some tips about how we can begin to cultivate this expanded sense of self.
Love and Insecurity
Not long ago, I fell in love with a beautiful woman. Gently, we became a bit closer. She rejected me, right at the moment, when I was SURE that we had just opened up for each other, and I thought I could FEEL the love she also had for me. At first, my mind reacted with complete disbelieve. It told me that this must be some kind of error. Something within her must have closed down, she might be just not able to face the love and affection for her. When the rejection was confirmed, it really hurt. I was left with the pain of feeling cut off something really precious. And I couldn’t escape facing some of my deep-rooted believes around love and relationship. Which turned out to be a great opportunity for development.
Five Sure-Fire Steps to Igniting a Daily Meditation Practice
One of the most common questions that come up for beginning meditators is something like: “although I want to establish a regular daily meditation practice, I start out great at first but then after a while it fades away. What can I do?”
Actually, it isn’t all that hard to establish a lifelong habit of meditation, but it does take a little time to build it up.
By following these five easy steps, our meditation practice will gradually become an effortless habit. Guaranteed!
The Buddha Walks Into A Bar
There’s a standard American joke that goes, “A man walks into a bar…” and proceeds to have a short story ending with a punch-line. To get this post started right, I’ll finish the joke:
Dealing with strong emotions in a complex world
Last week for me was a whirl-wind of emotions. I was getting ready for a conference, and at the same time had to deal with a co-author on a paper who kept wanting to change things (which involved me doing a lot more work in time that I simply did not have). In short, it was a great chance to work with my emotions. And today was the travel day to the conference, with the lovely surprise that someone decided to jump in front of the train, such that all trains were out of commission and I had to find another route to Berlin. Yet, surprisingly, after not dealing with the previous issues very elegantly, this last little bit of train delays did not disturb me majorly. At every road block (e.g., a bus driver driving very slowly although all passengers had a connection to catch on the other end) somehow there was a voice in me that said something about that all these feelings and emotions were just that: thoughts and emotions (and not atom bombs!).
Roshi Joan Halifax on Buddhism, Technology and Work
Roshi Joan Halifax is Founder, Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center, a Buddhist monastery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and author. Roshi is also a great human being. Enjoy the video!