What are we doing in meditation in order to achieve enlightenment? Simply put we are both objectifying everything while de-objectifying everything. What do I mean by this? Well, I mean two different things by ‘objectify’ here. Before proceeding with the article, please note that everything being talked about is from a phenomenological stance, i.e. of experiential mind, perception stuff (and
Love in its many forms Lovely people how are you? Given the date, it seems appropriate we may make contact with the topic of love this week. But what is love? Something I’ve found very helpful in coming to understand our one big L-word is with the ancient Greeks’ many words:
Hello you, In past sessions, we’ve done a lot of noting/labelling and although it is extremely useful, at some point you have to drop all those labels and be able to clearly perceive what is arising in the mind without conceptualizing it. Do not confuse the finger pointing to the moon as the moon itself.
It is clear to me that there is no one best technique for training the mind in order to attain all the desired qualities we would like of a fully, actualised individual. Some such traits being: equanimity, clarity, focus, concentration, compassion, creativity, gratuity, confidence, stability, open-mindedness and wisdom. Different meditative practices yield different rewards, and
I am grateful for so, so many things in this life (lest I forget). When I was 18 I read Marcus Aurelius’ ‘Meditations’ for the first time. Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor (161-180 AD) and a Stoic philosopher. His book, which is essentially the man’s diary, has been and still is tremendously formative for me. It
Hey you guys, So we’ve done metta (loving-kindness) meditation before, but have you heard of muditā (sympathetic joy)? This is a slightly different, but also highly skilful attitude to cultivate within ourselves. Though not an English word, schadenfreude – the pleasure felt when learning of someone else’s failure – has been picked up by the English language and
Hey meditators, So what are the 2 subtlest movements of mind? Well, expansion and contraction. Other names could be: -Lightness and Heaviness, -Release and Pressure, -Outwardness and Inwardness, -Going and Coming, -Air and Earth, -The big bang and The big crunch, -Yang and Yin, -Order and Chaos, -Form and Emptiness. “If you know the way
A core theme that comes up in meditation circles is the insight into ‘no-self’. Understanding what this piece of wisdom pertains to is indeed key to the restructuring project of mind, which leads to a life of less suffering. “No self = No suffering” so they say. However, it is beyond not obvious what this really
“Tough time never last. Only tough people last wldjdfhdflsdkds.” – Demi Demi Last time we explored the flexibility of the mind with our practice. We expanded awareness and conjured a soft, loving, warming metta; adopting the mindset of a tender, gentle Bodhisattva. This is one spiritual archetype, but we can inhabit many more and indeed
Why meditate? Why do we do this? To reduce stress? To improve focus? To have a better understanding of our thoughts and emotions? Yes to all these, but at our core why do we care to improve ourselves in these areas through practice? What lies upstream of all these desires and sub-goals? It is my belief that
