I left the center 30 days ago with a very specific goal: Establish Vipassana into my daily life in a positive way. I want express what has worked and what has not. I've completed all of my daily sittings. That's one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening every day. I've attended …
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.
I Think Therefore I Am Not?
In response to my "Trusting The Rip Tide" post Trygve wrote about accepting that there is no self makes letting go easier. Intellectually I understand where he's coming from but experientially I'm not even close. Trygve warns against seeking rational answer because it will result in chasing my own tail but since this blog is about …
Helping Others Live The “Right Way”
I've been fascinated by the diversity of people, their lives, and their choices since I left protected and sheltered cocoon of my parents house to work for a non-profit in Harlem, NY. When my best friend became a 50-year-old happy black ex-con my bubble was officially burst. I was raised in a culture that described a …
My Changing Diet
Food has never been that important to me. I preferred simple over tasty. I preferred convenient over healthy. I grew up believing that a meal required meat. I could alway intellectually try to convince myself that I should eat less meat but it never happened. I didn't feel full unless I had something heavy in …
Trusting The Rip Tide
The experiences in our lives are determined by these subconscious undercurrents. We collect these sankaras, or past cravings and aversions, and they impact how we react to current situations. By observing sensations we can retrain the subconscious to allow us to act instead of react based on past experiences. I'm not sure if that's completely accurate but …
New To Meditation Or Curious About Vipassana?
I start a conversation with a stranger and we start sharing our interests and hobbies. I mention I'm interested in Vipassana meditation and naturally they start asking questions. I explain how the practice helps me and how it has helped other people and they become interested enough that they what to try it. What do …
Continue reading New To Meditation Or Curious About Vipassana?
The New Feeling Of Friendship
I used to connect with friends by riding their rollercoaster. If they needed to get drunk and let off some steam I was the first one step up and join them. If they needed to share a space where they could talk through some difficult times I met them in their energy space. There are communication …
What If Practicing Vipassana Daily Was Normal?
One of the unique challenges of maintaining my Vipassana practice is meditating two hours a day. While I find this time is well spent it doesn't necessarily fit well into my schedule. I've been wondering what it would be like if everyone was trying to fit in these one-hour meditation blocks. Would universities have set …
Continue reading What If Practicing Vipassana Daily Was Normal?
Everyone Knows How To Be Kind And Giving. Vipassana Just Helps.
Everyone knows how to be kind. Everyone knows how to be supportive. Everyone know how to be giving, loving, and appreciative. Goenka says that the only way to liberation is through meditation but does this mean that the only way to live a good life is through meditation? When I was introduced to Vipassana I …
Continue reading Everyone Knows How To Be Kind And Giving. Vipassana Just Helps.
Inspiring Change
We have more problems on this planet than we can count. War, crime, exploiting natural resources, overpopulation, famine, and on and on. All of these problems are made better or worse based on the choices we make. With 7 billion people on the planet, that's a lot of different choices. There are hundreds of thousands of belief systems …
Living Vipassana 