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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…Read more... -
Meditation: reducing noise in your brain or improving policy?
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…Read more... -
Bringing Compassion into Everyday Life
Compassion is a gift that keeps on giving. When you develop a sense of connection and genuine concern for others, you not only help them with your presence and actions,…Read more... -
Mindrolling Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche: Mindful Awareness without the Cushion
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…Read more... -
Insanity, Espresso and Teenage Wisdom
“Are you insane?” was one of my first thoughts on this melancholic and allegedly spring morning. My alarm was set early so that I could drag myself out of bed…Read more... -
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…Read more... -
Meditation & compassion – how do they fit together?
The Buddhist teachings tell us that wisdom and compassion are like the two wings of a bird that will fly you to enlightenment and that you need both wings in…Read more... -
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…Read more... -
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…Read more... -
Social Emotional Learning and Mindfulness-based Contemplative Practices in Education
A Meditation from the Field from Linda Lantieri and Madhavi Nambiar Mr. Gray, an educator in his second year of teaching in New York City wrote out his resignation letter…Read more...
To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him. If you want to attain perfect calmness in your zazen [meditation], you should not be bothered by the various images you find in your mind. Let them come, and let them go. Then they will be under control.
Suzuki Roshi
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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.
How we manifest the universe
I only hope this does not end up to become some "Chopra meets The Secret"...
The role of consciousness in quantum physics – do photons know our mind?
In the previous 2 posts of this series we looked at some of the pillars of quantum physics: the measurement problem & quantum entanglement and the way both can be demonstrated in the infamous double slit experiment. There we saw that the way an experiment is carried out seems to determine what we measure - an objective reality is nowhere to be seen, in other words: a conscious observer influences the result of a quantum measurement.
Let's take this one step further: In this post I'd like to demonstrate that on the quantum level even the law of cause and effect seems to break down.
Confessions of a Buddhist Slacker: House Painting
I’m sitting on my cushion, looking out the sliding glass doors at the valley below. The trees are bare. The land is sighing peacefully, catching its breath before winter. I fervently resolve to meditate on equanimity so that, for the sake of others, I may attain complete enlightenment.
The role of consciousness in quantum physics – Wave, or particle, or both?
This central statement is where we left off:
Only when a measurement is carried out, ONE of the variety of possible states of any given quantum system is magically picked out and is then called "reality". This reality depends on how the observer looks, i.e. on the particular way the experiment is carried out. The process of picking out one of many possibility is what we call 'collapse of the wave function'. Nobody knows how the system 'truly' looks like, and when we look we see only one aspect.
The double-slit experiment is a very tangible and certainly the most prominent way to demonstrate how the measurement problem can manifest. It works as follows:
Jon Kabat-Zinn: What meditation Really Is

Jon Kabat-Zinn, a pioneer of scientific research on meditation and founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, defines meditation as “living your life as if it really mattered”.
Check our video section and watch what he says about what meditation really is and the benefits of meditation.
The role of consciousness in Quantum Physics – where Einstein was wrong
Here we go, this is the first in a series of three posts about the effect of an observer in quantum physics.
I'd like to focus on 2 of the seven principles of Lanza's theory::
What we perceive as reality is a process that involves our consciousness. An "external" reality, if it existed, would by definition have to exist in space. But this is meaningless, because space and time are not absolute realities but rather tools of the human and animal mind.
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The behaviour of subatomic particles, indeed all particles and objects, is inextricably linked to the presence of an observer. Without the presence of a conscious observer, they at best exist in an undetermined state of probability waves (or 'wave functions').
Let's begin by a quote from Richard Conn Henry, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University. He pointed out that Lanza's theory is consistent with quantum physics: “What Lanza says in this book is not new. Then why does Robert have to say it at all? It is because we, the physicists, do NOT say it - or if we do say it, we only whisper it, and in private - furiously blushing as we mouth the words. True, yes; politically correct, hell no!”
What meditation is not
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":
Video on 'How to meditate'
Enjoy lots of interesting videos on our 'Sound & Vision' page and the What Meditation Really Is vimeo channel.
Meditation is really humorous
"Fine, thanks," replied the other.
"How's your son doing? Is he still unemployed?"
"Yes. But he's meditating now."
"Meditating? What's that?"
"I don't know," answered the woman with a shrug. "But at least it's better than sitting around and doing nothing!"
Meditation and health care
Health care providers are increasingly suggesting that their patients look to meditation and other integrative techniques to improve their health, according to a report released Monday by Harvard Medical School and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Many medical centers and institutions, in fact, are providing such services themselves.
The ABC News Medical Unit heard from 31 such institutions. They are listed in this article, along with some of their integrative offerings.





