While I listened to Rick Hanson‘s talk on The Science of Attention and Mind Training in the Science of Meditation Summit offered last month by Shambhala Mountain Center, I was happy to hear him speak about gamma waves and synchronized firing of neurons. As he answered a question about how does meditation practice or mindfulness […]
Everything Changes
“Everything changes,” says the law of impermanence – one of the major insights of the Buddha. Nothing stays the same, no matter how much we desire it. There is no escaping the fact that everything changes, just like the weather, the tides, the leaves, and other physical phenomena. As summer flows into winter through the […]
The Pale Blue Dot
Last night, I saw a remarkable image of the pale blue dot (planet Earth) as viewed from the Cassini spacecraft during an eclipse of the sun by Saturn. The image was shown on the California Academy of Sciences Planetarium at the Dean Lecture on astronomy by Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini Imaging Team Leader from Boulder, […]
Practicing Loving Speech
The Fourth Mindfulness Training is concerned with practicing loving speech and deep listening. A practitioner commits to speaking from her or his heart with complete honesty, sincerity, and authenticity. In these days when we have an absence of loving speech from many political candidates and people in charge of hiding the truth of what happened […]
Love Lifts Me
When I think about the love I have for my children, love lifts me out of whatever unwholesome thoughts I may have in my mind. When I look down on China Beach in Point Lobos State Reserve just a few miles south of Carmel, California, love lifts me due to the white sands, blue-green sea […]
Zen Meditation Study
A recent Zen meditation study reveals that experienced meditators have a high degree of resilience when it comes to dealing with distractions. This implies that distractions caused by thoughts can be noted and discarded easily as well. They can dismiss the negative effects of stress and let them go. “Researchers conducting the Zen meditation study […]
The Holy Life
What does it mean to live the holy life? According to David Brooks, it means to live a life of purpose. It means to live a life with moral values. It means to live a life with a sense of gratitude and tranquility and also helping others to do so. “We don’t live for happiness, […]
True Presence
What are the attributes of true presence? How do we learn to cultivate and activate them? Cheri Huber advises us that, Only presence gives us what our hearts long for. So simple, easy, beautiful and affordable! Costs us nothing; gives us everything. – Cheri Huber Her close friend, Ashwini Narayanan adds, With practice, it becomes […]
Thich Nhat Hanh on Interbeing
These words of wisdom for Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on interbeing are a classic statement about the interconnectedness of all phenomena. For example, if you think about the recent tragedy in the marine ecosystem of central Vietnam, where a massive toxic waste disposal by Formosa Steel caused the death of millions of sea animals […]
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