How To Meditate: Don’t Focus on the Emotion

Do You Get Caught Up In Emotions? How often do you find yourself caught up in an emotion, seemingly stuck in a box with no way out? How often do you wish with all of your might that you could free yourself from the grips of strong emotions? Can meditation help you to deal with emotions? What you formally practice in meditation should prepare you for everything that you encounter in your daily life...shouldn't it? Despite many hours of practice, many meditators - myself very much included - find that although their meditation feels stable, when a sudden, unexpected and [...]

2015-01-20T15:07:05-07:00By |Meditation|2 Comments
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How to Meditate, How to Die, Part 1

Headstone Photo from Customheadstones.net 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. [...]

2014-02-25T14:26:23-07:00By |Meditation|4 Comments
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Meditation and Compassion, Part 4: Meditating on Suicide

(Photo courtesy of Audrey Nadia Rubenstein) At first I felt as though my heart had been ripped open. Then my mind went into a state of disbelief and confusion. I felt a sort of numbness and despair. Finally, my heart and mind came to rest in a state of meditation and compassion… and I didn’t even know her. I just learned of the suicide of a brilliant young woman, Sharoni Stern Siegel, a local artist who was beloved by those who knew her and had shared in her art and her passion for life. Her Facebook page has [...]

2014-08-25T17:37:54-06:00By |Compassion, Meditation|6 Comments
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Too Much Chaos in Your Life? Shut Up and Meditate

(Caution, this post is not my "usual style" nor is it my customary way of presenting material, but it is a very real look at what's going on behind the scenes with this one blog-writer. Enter at your own risk and...enjoy!!) Seriously, I've had it with life's problems lately. I'm up to my arse in alligators and nothing seems to be going the way that I want it to go or even the way that I've imagined that it would go. There seems to be nothing in life that's bringing me any sense of real peace...except for meditation. And THAT [...]

2012-08-16T11:58:32-06:00By |Meditation|3 Comments
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Meditation and Compassion, Part 3: Open Your Mind, Open Your Heart

In the past two weeks, we've talked a lot about meditation and compassion, and how the meditative mind opens up the heart of compassion. This week we'll continue on this topic by reflecting on a comment made by Sogyal Rinpoche, meditation master and author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. In a teaching that Sogyal Rinpoche presented on July 6, 1999, at the retreat center in Lerab Ling, France, he stated that, "...without an open heart, the practice of your mind [meditation] won't work...The true nature of your mind is wisdom and compassion..." I had to think about [...]

2015-01-28T19:03:10-07:00By |Compassion, Meditation|1 Comment
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Meditation and Compassion, Part 2: Get Real!

In last week's post, Meditation and Compassion, Part I: The Man in the Mirror, we discussed the need to examine ourselves and the nature of who we call the "self" as a means to entering into an understanding of the relationship between meditation and compassion. This week we'll continue with that theme and "get real" with ourselves as a means to engaging in our most compassionate nature. What does "getting real" mean to you? Does it mean getting honest? I know that sometimes when someone says "get real," I think of honesty...to the point of being "brutally" honest. But, what [...]

2014-08-25T17:39:58-06:00By |Compassion, Meditation|1 Comment
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How to Meditate: Reflect on Margaret Meade for Compassion

Cultural anthropologist and writer Margaret Meade once wrote the oft-quoted line, "Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only  thing that ever has." When we meditate on compassion and on how we, in our smallness, can make a difference in the world, let's embrace Meade's view of what a "small group of committed people..." can do to change our world. When we begin to practice meditation, we can find ourselves caught up in our claustrophobic sense of self, lacking compassion for ourselves as well as for others. [...]

2014-08-25T17:41:21-06:00By |Compassion, Meditation|0 Comments
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