What is Meditation? What is Compassion?
Meditation is the practice or the art of non-distraction and compassion (in meditation) is the art of being compassionate for ourselves when we are distracted.
Meditation and Its Regulatory Role on Sleep
If you want the greatest benefits from your sleep, whether eight-hours of uninterrupted sleep, or a four-hour insomniac’s sleep, you've got to meditate!
How to Meditate, How to Die, Part 2 – Even Famous Rapper – Buddhists Die!
Meditate - This post is dedicated to Adam "MCA" Yauch, Co-Founder of the Beastie-Boys, devoted husband to his wife Dechen, and father to his daughter Tenzin
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. [...]
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 [...]
The Buddha Walks Into a Bar…[this is meditation?]
There's a joke that goes something like this: A monk walks up to a hot-dog stand and says "make me one with everything"...you've heard this one before? Well, you may have heard that corny joke about the hot-dog stand, but you haven't read a book like this before...unless you've read some of the late Chogyam Trungpa's works, in which case you're ahead of the crowd. And even then, what author Lodro Rinzler has to say is new, fresh and definitely unique. Appealing to a younger crowd, "The Buddha Walks Into a Bar" brings some key Buddhist concepts about meditation and [...]
Incorporating Mindfulness into Motherhood, by Guest Author Cassi Vieten
(Reprinted with the author's permission from: Psychology Today, Published on May 3, 2010 in Consciousness Matters) Mindful Motherhood Mindful Motherhood, simply put, is being present in your body, and connected with your baby even when the going gets rough. It's being aware of your experience from moment to moment, as it is happening, without pushing it away, trying to make it stay, or judging it as bad or good. It is meeting each situation as it is, and over time, more and more often, approaching whatever is happening with curiosity and compassion. Mindful Motherhood is a way of approaching all [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]