Many years ago, after several years of experiencing a long chronic illness, I attended a six-week Vipassana meditation retreat. Given my struggles with sickness, I looked forward to this time entirely dedicated to sitting and walking...
The controversy surrounding whether meditation practice should be accessible to those suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) brings up a lot of interesting and important questions.
Daily Sit invites you to practice meditation with a live online community. Inspired by "Sitting Project," a daily meditation piece, Kim Brown and I thought it would be supportive to the community to offer an online interactive presence for...
After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, as many people feared an ongoing and vicious spiral of retaliation and global violence, a wonderful and well-known Cherokee legend went viral on the Internet: An old grandfather is...
Mindfulness meditation helped reduce stress-induced inflammation in people who have chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center...
When Buddhist teachers talk about sitting with intense emotions, they're generally speaking about ones we'd characterize as negative: loneliness, anger, sadness, grief, insecurity. I've never heard a teacher talk about sitting with happiness.
Each week there will be an opportunity for anyone who wants to participate online in a community sit. This weekend I will be practicing with IDP Sangha on a mindfulness retreat. There is still room to join us in person or you can practice from home...
If I said all experience is my experience, would you shy away?
Right before Part II of his book, “Thoughts Without a Thinker,” Mark Epstein presents a poem written in “the seventh century A.D.” by “the third Zen patriarch,”
When the mind exists...
The conversation went something like this:
My friend: Emily, I need some writing advice.
Me: Okay…
Friend: How do I make myself just do my work?
Me: What work do you have to do?
Friend: SO MUCH.
Me: What is the work, specifically?
Friend: I have...
As I write this, my mind is filled with the prospect of something fresh and new -- to cultivate something that is completely out of my choosing. To take advantage of life's choices.
The Buddha -- who was reluctant to teach in the first place -- didn't set out to create Buddhism. I think he'd endorse using the path he laid out to find your own wisdom. But the path requires you to keep checking in, to see if your wisdom comes...
Aesthetic appeals to achieve a sense of awakening could be seen as a trivial issue, straying from genuine intention while entering a superficial dimension.
The New York Times has an article on what to wear while meditating that notes the availability of clothes designed for meditation, such as the $1,000 sweatpants from Donna Karan's Urban Zen line. (shown below)
Many years ago, after several years of experiencing a long chronic illness, I attended a six-week Vipassana meditation retreat. Given my struggles with sickness, I looked forward to this time entirely dedicated to sitting and walking...
I love my free time like a dog loves a bone. I guard it jealously and always look back to see who might snatch some of it from me. I look forward to filling up my time with entertainment from video games to catching up on dharma reading.
But...
One of the more distinctive concepts in Buddhism is non-self. It does not mean that you do not exist physically. It does mean that you don't exist as a permanent, solid, independent entity. "You" are as changeable as the weather -- and that's good...
I feel a general sense of excitement and promise for our days in 2013. Mindful community is growing and connecting with one another other. Just thinking about that warms my heart and brings a smile to my face and yes, a bit watery in the eyes. I am...
Apple COO Tim Cook. Frank Lloyd Wright. Tolstoy. The Italian Futurists. What do all these folks have in common? They all set their intentions and wrote them down.
Here’s a snippet from the colorful Italian Futurist Manifesto:
“We have been raised to fear…our deepest cravings. And the fear of our deepest cravings keeps them suspect, keeps us docile and loyal and obedient, and leads us to settle for…many facets of our own oppression.” – Audre Lourde
I've been thinking about Adam Lanza, the 20-year-old man who shot his mother in her bed, killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school, then shot himself as police arrived at the scene.
