So what career allows someone to invest in the growth of people, take two week breaks periodically for meditation courses, provide enough income to support a family, and still permit enough time and resources to have a life? My best answer is to teach. I've enjoyed working with kids in the past, and with a …
Author: Ryan Shelton
While my job description is to lead the science department and teach physics at Padua Academy in Wilmington, DE, my calling is to prepare teenagers to lead their communities towards a vibrant and healthy future. This purpose has lead to the creation of Loving Lives Delaware.
Before becoming a teacher, I explored many careers and had many adventures in search of the best way to make a difference in the world. I hiked over 1700 miles, traveled to 5 continents, managed a bakery, started a meditation center, counseled troubled teens, attended Duke, UNC, and Harvard, protected forests as a wildland firefighter, volunteered thousands of hours with Americorps, rafted the Grand Canyon, and SCUBA dived on the Great Barrier Reef.
My next adventure is starting a family with my beautiful wife in our Wilmington home. I'm sure there will be many mistakes along the way, but I hope we're able to create a loving household that's a beacon of support and clarity for others in our community. Thank you for all of your support throughout our journey.
Returning to Normal Life
My year of service at Dhamma Delaware is coming to a close with all my short term goals nearly accomplished. The new "urban" Vipassana Meditation Center has successfully completed five 10-day residential courses and new management is trained and ready for departure. This took a lot of hard work, but these are merely the prerequisites …
Complete Surrender
I don't understand what it means to completely surrender to Dhamma and the technique of Vipassana. The first step to surrendering is to let go of control and have faith in the practice to guide me, but am I also relinquishing responsibility and ownership of my life and actions? Once I accept that someone else …
Interested in Writing?
If you are an old student of SN Goenka and would like to write for this blog send me an email at ryanshelton7@yahoo.com.
We All Have Flaws
On a train ride down the East Coast I noticed the individuals stepping outside for smoke breaks and read an article judging obesity. It remember judging people and thinking, "You should really change your life habits." I had this idea that it was a simple choice like turning a light switch on or off. I …
The Riches of Service
Giving service has always felt like a luxury only the rich and healthy can afford. While most people are grinding away at their jobs to provide the needs of life, a select population can volunteer time and resources to aid one cause or another. Kind people use this surplus of resources to serve while others use …
Moral Unity
A moral foundation allows people to coexist within communities. The Golden Rule, which exists in some form within all the major religions, reminds individuals of how it feels to be mistreated, and encourages them to act nobly. When we feel or witness the suffering we cause in others, we are much less likely to act in negative ways, but when …
Living With Reality
How much time do I spend distracting myself from reality? The obvious distractors are television, movies, and internet, but I want to look a little bit deeper. When I see a model seductively posed in an advertisement, how many seconds does this distract me from the people and circumstances around me? After watching a nice car drive …
The Non-Profit Paradigm
The Non-Profit businesses that I've worked or volunteered for depend on a paradigm which prevents a long term solution. It separates our population into Takers, Givers, and Normals. Takers are at the bottom of the totem pole, and are considered helpless and needy. Givers are willing to sacrifice the opportunity to live normal independent lives to …
I’ve Established My Practice, Now What?
I've been sitting 2 hours a day for 4 years, and my life has changed for the better, but there is still a major disconnect between my practice and the world around me. I've strived to contribute to the world throughout my adult life, and this meditation practice is the most powerful tool for personal positive change that …
Living Vipassana 