Meditation: A worthy resolution — even if you really would “rather be thrown into a shark-infested ocean”
Meditation: A worthy resolution — even if you really would “rather be thrown into a shark-infested ocean” |
- Meditation: A worthy resolution — even if you really would “rather be thrown into a shark-infested ocean”
- A day in the life of a Tibetan Buddhist
- Get Out Of The Car!
- Natalie Goldberg on “Another New Year”
| Posted: 31 Dec 2011 09:00 AM PST
You'll find plenty of guidance in our special online How to Meditate Spotlight. And don't miss Diana Winston's helpful (and playful) "Sit Every Day" — a reader favorite — complete with its "Ten Suggestions for Having a Regular Daily Practice Even if You Would Rather Be Thrown into a Shark-Infested Ocean." (If you saw our recent posting here about Diana's guidance for a greed-free holiday season, then you know friendly and plain-spoken she is.) Thank you for a great 2011, and may you, your loved ones, and all beings everywhere have a safe and happy 2012. Basic meditation instruction 
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| A day in the life of a Tibetan Buddhist Posted: 31 Dec 2011 06:00 AM PST  I asked the father and mother to which Tibetan ethnolinguistic category they belonged (i.e. Aba, Chabao-Jiarong, Zhugqu), but the father admitted he didn't know; he was, he said, simply Tibetan. Indeed, such classifications are made by a government on the other side of the country, not Tibetans themselves. http://redroom.com/member/tom-carter/writing/the-pilgrims-of-langmusi-a-day-in-t...
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| Posted: 31 Dec 2011 04:00 AM PST Sometimes, when things don't work, you just have to get out of the car. And then get back in it again. And that's what I did with my laptop yesterday. I reinstalled Windows, returned the computer to it's factory settings. A first for me and it was relatively painless. Far better than a car that, in the end, wouldn't even start! How interesting it is to notice how we can put up with mal functioning, work around them, try to ignore them, hope they will go away, take a walk and see if anything is better on returning. This can happen not only with machines and the like. It happens with us on all the levels that we can 'mal function'. Over the holidays I'd eaten more sugar than I ever do. But, I reasoned (unreasonably), it's just a bit more, no problems. But, and a big but, there are consequences and it's commonly known as a 'sugar low'. I don't think I'd noticed how extreme that low can be. It lasted a day, with a head ache to beat the band! I'm now back in the car and running just fine. Thankfully. Yes, some mal functions do come right with time but others do not. What's the lesson here? Listen I guess, and keep on listening. And take action in sensible and measured ways. And talking of cars why not take a trip in one via Google Streets View. This video titled Address Is Approximate. A must for those who want to travel across America but won't be doing that any time soon. Thanks Julius for the link. You have made many a person smile, me included. Read More @ Source
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| Natalie Goldberg on “Another New Year” Posted: 30 Dec 2011 02:00 PM PST
I snapped my Yaktrax to the bottom of my snow boots and trudged under a full complement of stars in a black sky to Upaya Zen Center across the road. There seventy of us sat for two hours, then listened at midnight to 108 bells ring out the night, a short talk by the roshi (Joan Halifax, my dear friend) and had tea and cookies in the kitchen. I ate way too many but insisted this was just what I needed. At the time I meant the cookies, but really it was sitting still in the dark zendo, breathing with others, coming together in this sober way on the last night of the year. More than deep or spiritual or any of the words one would associate with Manjushri, his sword of wisdom slicing through ignorance, his statue on the altar and candles flickering, what I felt was relief. To stop at the end of a hectic year that I was trying so hard to rein in, then surrender to, then wonder what this human life is all about. –Natalie Goldberg, from "Another New Year," found in the January 2012 Shambhala Sun. And for more, visit our special page of all of Natalie Goldberg's writings from the pages of the Shambhala Sun. (And if you're looking for a place to sit with others on New Year's Eve, see this posting over at Buddhadharma News for some ideas.) Read More @ Source
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You can, of course, start meditating any time. But maybe you're the type who goes in for New Year's Resolutions. If so: why not let 2012 be your year to get started with meditation?
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