Apparently we all like to talk about ourselves. I don't know why it took me 60+ days (not consecutive!) of being quiet to become aware of this. Yesterday I met with a friend after years. She is surfing through some serious vicissitudes right now. As our evening progressed, I realized my frustration with not getting …
Author: Serial Vipassanator
Attachment to Pain
When something deeply stirs me up in the realm of fear or pain, I outwardly express my internal emotions by smiling less or not at all, by feeling and being impatient with myself and others, by staying to the point in communication and speaking in monotone so much so that it may easily be perceived …
Let Them Be
Meditating / Sitting in silence, quiet and alert, observing the self without reacting brings forth many awarenesses. With continuous practice, this awareness grows, comes alive and stays alive in the undercurrents, ever-present even off-the-cushion. Which is exactly the point of daily meditation. I think it is accurate to say that at one point in time, I …
I am still a Whiner
"Oh my God, you're such a whiner!", said my girlfriend smilingly to me. I replied back with a mix of whining and knowing, "Yes, and now you see why meditation is so necessary for me!" Not that she doubted the positive effects of meditation, after all she meditates herself, but in that moment praising meditation seemed …
Truth over False Safety
This is my fourth post on Living Vipassana. I have been excited about being a contributor here from Day 1. It was exactly the right addition to my week; it fits perfectly with how I am carving out my life and where I want it to head. For example, although regular meditation has always been an …
Life Balance
Balance is important in life. Before Vipassana, I was very unhappy with my life but did not know why. Yes, there were some things that obviously needed to be changed to shift the mood, however, they were all rooted in deeper unresolved, unaddressed, non-identified issues. A little over a year before I sat my first …
Focusing on the Positive
Goenkaji says that craving and aversion are two sides of the same coin, as well as emotions and sensations being two sides of the same coin. My practice of choosing beyond the negative, which over time morphs into focusing on the positive, is teaching me that Positive and Negative can be looked at the same …
Choosing Beyond the Negative
A series of choices makes life. One's mindset and perspective makes life. What one focuses on makes life. This week, life has been schooling me in the power of saying, "thanks, but no thanks" to the Negative. What power it has and how its power disempowers me. I've been reading and hearing from good sources that when we get …
Living Vipassana 