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.
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 [...]
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 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 [...]
Meditation and Compassion, Part I: The Man in the Mirror
Looking at oneself honestly is about having compassion for who we are. Meditation is also about having compassion for who we are.
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. [...]
How to Meditate: Who Is the Meditator? Nine Questions…
When I began to meditate, I found that I kept on returning to my thoughts, emotions, ideas, distractions...basically, everything that I use to identify myself as "me." What meditation does, at its deepest level, is to help us to free ourselves from this grasping after a "self," a self that we identify with our feelings, our hopes and fears, our projections. For some people, and in some methods, "meditation" is defined as a relaxation technique, a way to de-stress from everyday life and find inner piece. That's good; most of us need a way to remove ourselves from normal speed [...]
How To Meditate: Start Where You Are. Five Tips…
Many people believe that in order to meditate, it's necessary to have special circumstances, special incense or a special method. Start where you are. What that means is that when we start to meditate, we start with the mind that we have, in the circumstances that we're in, with the method that we have. The mind that we have is one that is capable of both distraction and meditation. The circumstances that we're in are whatever life is providing us with at the moment. And, the method that we have...well, that can be whichever one we've learned or used. Too [...]