Meditation Blog

Following up on what Sandra wrote in her last post about the pitfalls of meditation, watch Khandro Rinpoche and Mingyur Rinpoche, two of the most prominient meditation teachers talking about "What meditation is not":

"In the practice of meditation, having developed a sense of trust in oneself, slowly that expands its expression outward, and the world becomes a friendly world rather than a hostile world. You could say that you have changed the world: you have become the king or queen of the universe.

On the other hand, you can’t exactly say that, because the world has come toward you, to return your friendship. It tried all kinds of harsh ways to deal with you at the beginning, but finally the world and you begin to speak with each other, and the world becomes a real world, a completely real world, not at all an illusory world or a confused world. It is a real world. You begin to realize the reality of elements, the reality of time and space, the reality of emotions—the reality of everything."

Meditation without action can simply become another way to check out, to absolve oneself of one's responsibilities within the world, leaving us "blissed out" with no particular orbit within the "reality" that is our lives.

As a Registered Nurse, working at the bedside, I’ve found countless opportunities to check-in using my meditation practice, instead of disappearing. Sogyal Rinpoche, as well as other teachers, refer to this checking-in as “integration.”

In July, I asked Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche to share a few words with our WhatMeditationReallyIs.com community. The following seven minute video is what he said.

I'll be in New York for the next couple of months. While I am there I will be giving the What Meditation Really Is class on Thursdays, starting October 6th. I'll also be doing a weekend seminar in November called Finding Spiritual Courage: Profound Contemplations for Life Transformation. That will happen on November 5 & 6th. More info after the jump...

Yesterday I heard a teaching by Tsoknyi Rinpoche, who taught about the speed and agression of the modern world. Although I have heard these kinds of teachings before, they always really hit me. Maybe because I am particularly prone to this hurried syndrome, being a pretty ambitious person in a competitive world... 

Daniel Goleman speaks candidly about how meditation makes a positive difference in his work as a writer.

Sogyal Rinpoche is Basel, Switzerland the 24th & 25th of September giving a seminar called:

What Meditation Really Is: Transforming Everyday Life Through the Wisdom of Awareness

And below is a humorous video about meditation made in honor of the event.

Here is a video from Sharon Salzberg's talk during the June Wisdom of Awareness retreat.

I recently came across a very interesting TEDx talk by a colleague and collaborator of mine: Willoughby Britton, who is an assistant professor and clinical psychologist at Brown University. Here is the link.