My life is about to get pretty busy so I'm going to cut back to writing once a week for a little while. I would like the blog to continue having 3 posts a week for people to read, but that will require some new writers joining the team. If you are interested in writing …
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.
Dhamma Parenting
I don't know many Dhamma Parents, but the ones that I know always speak of the struggle to continue meditating with the added responsibility of parenting on their plate. Some parents meditate less. Some say they will start meditating again when their children are older. Some parents make major changes to their career goals to …
Learning to Love and Think
Graduation ceremonies always have speakers that talk about the friendships people made in school, and the hope of teaching the world how to love, but this is the first time I hear a commencement speaker discuss without it sounding a bit cliché. The difference was that I felt I've actually learned how to be a more loving person through …
A Mixed Crowd
I attended a small dinner party of people with mixed Vipassana representation. We had a pair of serious meditators, a pair of students who had sat 1 course, and a pair of people who had never sat. There was no Vipassana agenda with this meeting. We simply enjoyed hanging out and getting to know each other. The topic …
ATs are People Too
One major obstacle I've heard from several meditators is their disconnect with their assistant teacher. They voice that the teacher couldn't answer their questions or seemed inadequate is some other way and this turns them off from Vipassana. I've had a wide variety of experiences with these teachers, but my take away was different. Instead of …
A Children’s House
The three Centers that I've visited have all shared the same dynamic of being a place for adults. Rules like no physical contact and gender separation make it very difficult for kids to be kids in the Center environment. There are no playgrounds or jungle gyms. The kitchens don't serve kid friendly foods. I've never seen …
I’m Engaged
If you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you may remember my mental struggles regarding returning to the dating scene after spending 7 months at Dhamma Patapa. The crux of the challenge was figuring out how to stay committed to my five precepts and 2 hour sitting practice while participating in the dating scene. …
Teamwork
Creating the space to sit 2 hours a day is a challenge. Part of this challenge arises because it's 2 hours I need to build into my schedule that few others in my life need to consider. As I've made a few friends who also meditate I've enjoyed sharing the responsibility of how to build …
Communal Happiness
I always understood the pursuit of happiness to mean an individual freedom to pursue their individual dreams and successes. Recently I realized that our successes, as defined by society as I see it, depend on triumph over another. Our accomplishments are great because we achieved them while others could not. With the awareness provided to …
A New Adventure
I've completed my Masters in Biomechanics, so what's my next adventure? While I understand the practicality and long term benefits of developing my career, a strong voice inside needs me to continue serving and growing in Dhamma. This world has so much suffering, and Vipassana Meditation is the best way I've learned to alleviate some …
Living Vipassana 