I've been on a quest to discover the core of love and happiness for over a decade and I believe Vipassana is the shortest path to that core. Meditation is slowly dissolving my attachments and day by day I can feel the vibration of pure love growing stronger in my body. Experiencing this has helped me develop a deeper understanding …
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.
The Needed Support Of The Vipassana Community
Over the last 2+ years that I've been practicing Vipassana I've wondered how the community of meditators could become stronger because I felt like I was on an island facing the challenges of this practice alone. Goenka expresses two foundations of Vipassana that I think foster this lack of community but I don't believe that's his …
Continue reading The Needed Support Of The Vipassana Community
Like Brushing Your Teeth
When I first started my daily meditation practice it felt like a huge chore. Every day I needed to actively convince myself that my time on the pillow was well spent. There was a pattern to these distractions. Sometimes I would be rolling in the events of the day. Sometimes my mind would try to convince …
Memory Triggers
When I return to places I've been before or repeat unique activities it often triggers certain strong memories of the past. When I go swimming I remember cliff jumping with my friends in Hawaii. When I visit my brother at the beach in Connecticut we reminisce about the wonderful parties we've had there. When I …
Group Sittings Map
Group sittings are critical for establishing your daily practice, creating a supportive community, and helping dhamma spread. So how do we help these group sittings get established and grow? While I've seen people working hard to develop and support the centers, and to provide outreach events for potential new students, I haven't observed many supports for …
What A Stress Relief!
Stress can be a major problem in our society. Traffic, exams, deadlines, finances, and family pressures cause tremendous mental anguish that can manifest into migraine headaches, eating disorders, sleep deprivation, and anxiety issues. The pharmaceutical industry has found one solution in selling drugs that can provide temporary relief but can a pill really take away …
Sleep Less, Really?
In one of Goenka's discourses he mentions that a meditator can easily cut out one hour of sleep each night. For a long time I couldn't relate to this because my experience was exactly the opposite. I found meditation to be exhausting and often after I meditated I wanted to take a nap. This new …
Diving Into Chaos
I'm impressed by leader like Mother Teresa and Gandhi who walked alongside the weak, sick, and poor communities of our planet and inspired change and love. It's one thing to be sitting in my apartment, driving my car, and attending graduate school in beautiful Chapel Hill, North Carolina while contributing to my community. It's a whole other thing to travel …
Love At First Sight
Every relationship is unique with its own story about how two people have come together. Frequently people are drawn into relationships with opposite personalities and attractions can range in sophistication from simply a physical attraction to a deep-rooted network of beliefs and shared experiences. So what is it that brings two people together into a friendship or relationship? …
How Quickly The Ego Can Return
Two weeks ago I started to notice a smile on my face while I was meditating. Several days later I found my intuition was becoming more clear. I felt good again. Good like the old days. I noticed a little bounce in my step as I adopted some of my strength from the past. But …
Living Vipassana 