Are you a student of SN Goenka and interested in writing for this blog? Let me know at ryanshelton7@yahoo.com
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.
Overcoming Doubt
Written by Jessica Wright I was very grateful to find this blog recently, after sitting my third course. At times on the course, I thought that I wouldn't overcome the doubts and resistance that I was struggling with and continue to practise, so I was keen to read about other people's experiences of establishing long-term …
2 Years of Blogging!
I started this blog 2 years ago, and I'm proud to say that I've written at least once a week for 104 weeks straight. I started writing because I needed a way to process through my Vipassana experience. Shortly after I started publishing my blog because I felt so alone in my journey, and I …
Results Don’t Matter
We have very little control over the results of our actions. The physical products of our choices depend on a large group of people and how they respond to each other. For example, if I build beautiful sculpture, it's possible that someone will dislike it and destroy it, or maybe someone will transport it to …
Right Action
Can I only be successful by keeping busy? Sometimes I feel like we perceive the people who do the most or produce the most as the most successful people. For example, if I'm in charge of running a factory and I figure out how to produce twice as many goods for no additional cost, I …
Complete Self Love
Compliments feel good, and insults hurt. On a subtler level, compliments improve our self confidence and insults weaken it. Even more subtly, we may start to choose our actions by guessing what others would compliment us for doing. Upon further reflection, I discover that a large percentage of my actions are dictated by what other people will …
Glory to the Sun
written by Elena Olejarz from Toronto, Canada Perhaps the title of this post contrasts with the real precepts of the Dhamma way. After all, we don’t want to spend too much resting time in a tall, fluffy, cozy bed during a ten day sit. Neither would we want to sit too comfortably so as to …
Increasing Distractions
Before I started meditating, I couldn't imagine a completely silent mind. Further, I would have considered mental silence a waste of my mental abilities. It took me several courses to realize that thinking was getting in the way of my meditation. In the process of establishing my daily practice, I found that the less busy my life was, …
Love Is Not Vulnerable
Hollywood has been mutating our understanding of love for a long time. We have this idea that we give our hearts away to someone and we depend on that person to protect it. Essentially, we are at the mercy of this individual. What I've learned from meditation is that love is the opposite of vulnerable. …
A Global Awakening
The clean slate of a child's mind is so wonderful to watch grow. We become excited with each new growth from discovering how to walk to learning algebra. When a child struggles, we don't get mad or frustrated that they are slow learners. We simply know that child development takes many years based on basic …
Living Vipassana 