popular posts

There is now a list of this blog's most popular posts in the column on the right

two people

Sogyal Rinpoche

“Two people have been living in you all your life. One is the ego, garrulous, demanding, hysterical, calculating; the other is the hidden spiritual being, whose still voice of wisdom you have only rarely heard or attended to. ”
― Sogyal Rinpoche

Towards Uncommon Sense

Towards Uncommon Sense by George Clark

Could beditation be the answer to exam nerves? | Education | The Guardian

Could beditation be the answer to exam nerves? | Education | The Guardian

Flourishing flat back mindfulness in schools

Mindful eating

Mindful Eating

“Mindful eating is a very pleasant practice. It is a deep practice. Each morsel of food becomes an ambassador from the cosmos.

Some of us while looking at a piece of carrot can see the whole cosmos in it, can see the sunshine in it, can see the earth in it, and the rain. It has come from the whole cosmos for our nourishment.

You may like to smile to your food before you put it in your mouth. When you chew it, you are aware that you are chewing it, and don’t put anything else into your mouth, like your projects, your worries, your fear, just put the carrot in, and when you chew, chew only the carrot, not your projects or your ideas.

You are capable of living in the present moment in the here and now. It is simple but you need some training to just enjoy the piece of carrot. That is a miracle.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Ken Wilber's spectrum of consciousness

Ken Wilber (1979, 2001) No Boundary, eastern and western approaches to personal growth.

Click on the pictures for a larger view

the spectrum of consciousness

Therapies and levels of the spectrum

Unraveling Desire

“The truth is that we like our preferences and prejudices, we like defining ourselves in terms of what we like and don’t like. It is precisely desire’s entanglement with the sense of self that makes this all so difficult to unravel.

Fortunately, there is a relatively easy and accessible way to counter the powerful forces of desire: the cultivation of equanimity. Every moment of mindfulness is also a moment of equanimity.”

- Andrew Olendzki, "The Buddha's Smile" - Tricycle Daily Dharma

Mindfulness at work

Mindfulness at work: what are the benefits? | Guardian Careers | guardian.co.uk 
It is spreading - the massive peace

massive peace

Thich Nhat Hahn (Thay)

Two articles in today’s Guardian suggest a liaison. Have Thich Nhat Hahn address Davos about climate change. Personal peace gone to scale.

laying on of hands

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

Proudhon was the first person to refer to himself as an anarchist. He declared in 1849: "Whoever lays his hand on me to govern me is a usurper and tyrant, and I declare him my enemy." 

In What is Property?, published in 1840, he defined anarchy as "the absence of a master, of a sovereign", and in The General idea of the Revolution (1851) he urged a "society without authority." 

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Joseph_Proudhon

64th year begins

the only constant thing is change

I was taught to be a teacher but I self learned to be a facilitator of learning. 

So I gave up teaching for curriculum development then for social development then for personal development.

Thay's new year message

He covers the Buddhist basics and touches on the dualism of Christianity. Watch and listen on vimeo

stopping and seeing

Thich Nhat Hanh

"Meditation practice awakens our trust that the wisdom and compassion that we need are already within us. It helps us to know ourselves: our rough parts and our smooth parts, our passion, aggression, ignorance, and wisdom.

The reason that people harm other people, the reason that the planet is polluted and people and animals are not doing so well these days is that individuals don’t know or trust or love themselves enough.

The technique of sitting meditation called shamatha-vipashyana (“tranquility-insight”) is like a golden key that helps us to know ourselves."

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Why Neuroscience Matters: Concrete Strategies for Your Practice

NP0032: Why Neuroscience Matters: Concrete Strategies for Your Practice

Abnormal ease

There is an inbuilt state of mind that is more peaceful and insightful than the agitated and automatic state that passes for normal in normal people. Anyone can, at any time, sit quietly and witness the beginning, middle and end of thoughts and feelings that flow into attention and muddy its waters before passing on. But - only a very few people take time out to let the mud settle and to observe and analyse the goings on in their head.

At various times over the last 40 years I have been one of the few. I have made time to stand and stare. Most times there was despair and an ‘I’ frantically searching for philosophical comprehension and peace. Most times the search was guided by the wise written or spoken words of a guru or teacher. But the intellect on its own could not solve my spiritual problems.

hard-copy spiritual library

My present, spiritual, hard-copy library contains almost a thousand books; and these days there is a massive, open, online source of the dharma in textual, audio and video format. It is thus very easy to engage intellectually in the process of being, knowing, and understanding beyond the intellect. But such academia in itself is of limited value.

The intellectual frame of mind has its work to do in the real world of practicalities but an exclusive overreliance on it is a sure way to reify and delimit viewpoints. But old habits die hard. I am a compulsive intellectual. It takes motivation and clarity of intention to remember about the need for, and the practice of, sitting. 

“Present moment, wonderful moment.” Less than a minute into the past or future. Sit at the keyboard and record relevant mental formations as they arise. ‘I’ have no clear idea of what this piece of writing is about. ‘I’ cannot remember the story line in the above paragraphs. But they can be reread and edited into a cogent and flowing story. 

So might it be said that I am flowing in the zone; and that the muse (the unconscious) is pumping words through ‘me’? Perhaps! The deep truth, the dharma can be experienced but it is in essence unspeakable – words cannot do it justice. But words are what we use for communication. They can be used to make metaphors that reach out into the unknown. Hopefully some of them will be turning words or phrases that unlock the door leading to illumination and inner peace. 

Several times each day –

Turn the mind around

Just sit

Feel the abnormal ease