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Wednesday, 16 May 2012 13:47

Mindful with J

I'm sitting in my friend W's backyard, making a choo-choo train out of rocks with her 28-month old son while Mama rests inside. I've known W since she was a little more than a year old; now, at thirty-seven, I savor the times I get to stop the train of my own busy life to hang out with her two year old for an afternoon. Today is one of those days, and I'm in my own little slice of heaven.

I recently read a very interesting paper by Shadlen and colleagues, who discussed the neural correlates of decision making. In this paper they discussed the issue of responsibility: if our brain is fully deterministic, and our actions are governed by our brain, then can we said to be responsible for our actions? In particular, if there is a lot of noise in our brain, and that causes us to accidentally commit a negative action. So the question is: what are we to do?
Here is Khandro Rinpoche on how we can keep the mindfulness we discover on the cushion as we go about daily activity. Hearing from my friend Gabriele that Rinpoche would be teaching in Berlin, I asked Gabriele to ask Khandro Rinpoche to make another What Meditation Really Is video. Rinpoche quickly agreed!

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.

Thursday, 19 April 2012 03:54

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:

U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan, a big believer in the benefits of meditation, is advocating for making mindfulness a part of the lives of everyday Americans.

Watch this interview with Arturo Behar, an Engineering Director at Facebook, on the opportunity for mindfulness, compassion and empathy in social media and the necessity for developing tools within Facebook for enabling it.

Thursday, 12 April 2012 13:29

How long before you are paid to meditate?

There is not one but four delightful, fresh roses on the table. They are glorious buds; a superb pink, and they smell divine. I am sitting having lunch while my wife Ruth and I are leading a meditation retreat. I find myself marveling at the attention to detail and then my mind turns to wondering how long it will be before people are paid to come to these programs?

Thursday, 05 April 2012 09:06

Are You Meditating from the Head Up?

Do you sometimes - or perhaps often - feel disconnected from your body?  Mentally overactive, an intellectual athlete, internet addict, or couch potato?  
Maybe you are like my friend who reads a book while holding her yoga stretches or the reluctant exerciser who devours the paper while walking briskly on his treadmill.  It’s possible: you may exercise and still be relatively oblivious to the felt sense of your body.

When the mind is highly active, even meditation can become a stressful game of catching the thoughts or emotions before they catch you.  It can be like watching a tennis match, where all your attention is on the ball.  So much so that there’s a sense of meditating from the head up. 
Sunday, 25 March 2012 10:25

Memento Mori; Remembering Impermanence

The Latin words memento mori—“remember death” or “remember that you must die”—were used in ancient Rome and in medieval times to remind the people of the imminence of death and the uncertainty as to its hour or circumstances. It was also believed to have been used in Rome during parades for Roman generals celebrating victories or triumphs in battle. Walking behind the victorious general would be his slave, who was given the task of reminding the general that, although he was celebrating his victory, at any moment he could be brought down by defeat. The slave would shout the words, “Memento mori!”
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