I've been wondering about the concept of making friends. I've moved a number of times, and each time I actively went into the world and made friends by engaging strangers. Basically, I would be giving parts of myself and seeing if they wanted to take it. After engaging a whole bunch of strangers through a …
Category: Observations
Increasing Presence deliberatly, outside of Meditation
I came across Ivan Campuzano recently, a blogger who shares perceptions based on personal experience, and the integrated teachings of: J. Krishnamurti, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Paramahansa Yogananda, Samael Aun Weor, and A. H. Almaas. He reminded me of how I used to attempt self-observation before I found Dhamma. As …
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Can Meditation cause too much Introversion?
I like to regard myself as an ambivert because relative to my loved ones, I fall on either side of the spectrum about half the time. Yet, in relation to the cultural ideal I probably fare more as an introvert. What I've seen happen since starting a regular meditation practice, is that I don’t feel …
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How can Therapy and Dhamma Best Complement Each Other?
I've worked on myself in so many different ways; through art, dream work, various kinds of yoga, meditation; presently, vipassana meditation, but never have I gone to therapy. I’m now seriously considering therapy as a future line of work, and I want to be sure I understand the value of the service, and how it …
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A Better World
The problems that currently face the world seem impossible to overcome. If humanity is doomed to fail what is the motivation to try to make a difference? We don't know for sure what the future holds so maybe we should simply be content with doing the best we can? I've found meditation to be the …
The Excitement of “What if”
Feelings of romantic attraction can be very ungrounding. They evoke a novel kind of storm, and when I get quiet enough in meditation, beneath the pleasured agitation, I come to hear a bubbling undercurrent of possibility….what if this?? what if that?? what if! what if! what if my life completely changed? I suppose it’s a …
The Right Type of Encouragement
I've always found the question of proper encouragement to be an interesting topic because determining what's right and wrong can be subtle and personal. For example, a Christian missionary believes people who don't believe in Jesus will go to hell so he or she is willing to do whatever it takes to convert people. She is …
The joys of meditation
Why do people come to a Vipassana course? In talking with people who come to our Center in the Southeast on registration day and Metta day, I find there are almost as many reasons as there are people. There are some common themes, including life crisis, emotional trauma, and long-term need for ‘something more’ in …
Dhamma Muscles
There are times when I'm just not strong enough to be the person I want to be. Maybe there's a bully I want to confront or social standard I want to hold myself to and I just can't bring myself to do it. In the past when this happened I felt like a failure because …
If I don’t Need it Throw it out!
As a meditator I just love throwing stuff out! I get much more joy out of organizing disorderly things for some reason. Most of my life I’d felt stressed for time, and I couldn't put my creative thoughts on a schedule. If an insight came to mind in the middle of the night or when …
Living Vipassana 