Review of a bunch of different kinds of meditation cushions and one meditation bench.

In this video I review a bunch of different kinds of meditation cushions and one meditation bench. I have spent so much time on cushions in my life, not just while I was pretending to meditate, but also while receiving teachings. A good meditation cushion is essential at least as important as a good mattress. A good cushion  supports your meditation posture and is still comfortable after many hours of use. A great cushion is still comfortable after “many hours for many months or even years” of use.

I ventured down to Washington DC on Monday to give a talk at the World Bank on meditation. I was intrigued to learn that the World Bank has a meditation group.

Approximately forty-five people attended my talk, which took place in a conference room at the bank. I was really impressed by the people I met. They have very stressful jobs and not a whole lot of spare time and yet they made time to come and meditate and learn more about meditation. These folks were sincerely interested in learning how to uncover the inherent wisdom, love and compassion that we all possess. The fact that we could discuss the relationship between contentment, mind and meditation in a corporate environment is actually very cool.

Last week, I attended the regular Tuesday night sitting at Dharma Punx NYC. Led by Josh Korda, participants enjoy a 25-30 minute guided sitting followed by a Dharma talk and some Q&A.

Yesterday, I went back to Zuccotti Park to listen to Robert Thurman give a talk entitled: Cool Revolution and the Age of Wisdom. This is engaged Buddhist activism and Professor Thurman covers a lot of ground in a little more than an hour.  Analysis of the problems that led to the frustration that fueled the occupation, the importance of compassion and non-violence as the basis for protest, how meditation fits in, and even possible pitfalls in meditation and how to avoid them, economic theory and a lot of humor.

Watch this video story of Yogic Monk, named “Dada”, who was one of the first arrested in the Brooklyn Bridge arrests. As we have been hearing for days the protesters were led onto the bridge by the police. Basically they were setup to be arrested. This monk, upon realizing what was about to happen, immediately sat down and began to meditate. You can see it all in this video, plus hear from Dada after the event.