This is a nice idea but unless there's a good alternative it's hard to escape the world of comparison. We are constantly compared when applying for jobs, loans, and friends. The best example for me is knowing that most Americans have more gadgets that someone from the 1980s could imagine but it's still not enough. Live …
Category: For Non Meditators
Peace from Truth
Remember when "spiritual, not religious" was one of the options for publicly announcing your religion on Facebook? Or maybe it was MySpace. I always wondered what people meant by that. It seems to imply a Cartesian duality, where some immaterial spirit or soul is something you hold more precious than the bland solid matter encountered …
Unrealistic Expectations
I took my first 10-day meditation course 2.5 years ago and I thought I had discovered the tool that would empower me to help people find peace and happiness in their lives. I've come to realize that finding peace and happiness is a very personal journey full of complex choices. While I've found this technique …
The Search That Vipassana Ended
I've written a lot about questions I still have, but I want to write some about the answers Vipassana has brought to my life. First, Vipassana is a tool to help me discover truth. Like many people, I felt that both organized religions and science were only able to provide part of the truth about life on …
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 …
Evaluating Right And Wrong
The most powerful aspect of Vipassana for me is the ability to verify what is right or wholesome and what is wrong or unwholesome within my own body. I didn't grow up in a religious household so while my brother and I were taught the importance of morality it was never exactly clear what was moral …
The Monk And The Homeless Man
Both the monk and the homeless man are starving and begging for food but their state of mind is very different. If you were in the same position which mind would you embody? To answer this question let's explain the difference. The homeless man has one thing on his mind. He's starving and he needs …
Global Interest In This Blog
Its been two weeks since I started sharing this blog and I've been amazed by the interest not only from the USA but from around the world. I've received 922 hits total and I've posted the by country hits below. The US is 66% but the top 5 countries are from 5 different continents and there are …
Insight And Mindfulness Meditation Communities
I've been sitting with a group of Vipassana meditators that have been trained by other teachers or who haven't been trained at all to help motivating me to sit twice a day. I wasn't sure if our goals were the same and I was pretty sure the techniques were slightly different but it didn't matter …
Continue reading Insight And Mindfulness Meditation Communities
Prison Courses
Prison courses are awesome. There appears to be an unlimited upside and very little downside to teaching prisoners how to meditate. Our prisons are incredibly overpopulated and the "lock them up as punishment so they change" model isn't working. In 2002 the first 10 day course was held at Donaldson Correctional Facility, a high security …
Living Vipassana 