As I reflect upon my Vipassana journey I've noticed how far I've deviated from my infant mind. While hanging out with my 15-month-old friend I'm amazed at how freely and energetically she engages unknown environments. As long as her parents are around, she feels optimistic about facing anything. I want to reconnect with this optimistic …
Category: Observations
Opening up to Synchronicity
Now that my school schedule has lightened up, I've started sitting with the local meditators once a week. The site is about an hour away, but well worth the journey! I’m not sure if it’s the presence of other meditators, or listening to the instruction again, but I’m definitely noticing a difference with these sits. …
The Natural Law
I'm going to run you through some definitions to see if we're on the same page. Dhamma is the natural law; dhamma is not a belief. Meditation helps me learn the natural law at deeper and deeper levels over time. The insights I gain from my daily practice impact my beliefs. My beliefs are not …
Menstrual Awareness
Is it my menstrual cycle or a saṅkhāra? Maybe it doesn't have to be one or the other, maybe both are a seamless part of my purification process… A female friend and I both agreed the our menstrual cycles sometimes took us into mind altering states; along with the negative emotional states and physical pains most …
Am I Strong Enough?
After clearing my plate of intertwined and complicated decisions my life has started to settle allowing my mind to settle. I feel solid about where I am, the decisions I've made, and the direction I'm heading when suddenly, a whole new set of obstacles are starting to become clear. I'm reminded of just how long …
Connection
Connecting with people is what life is all about. It's so hard to explain what that connection feels like, how it is built, and why we care so much about it. If we're not careful that connection can turn into an attachment and cause us a lot of pain when it's lost. What I want …
Faith – the foundation of Vipassana.
Some time back Ryan talked about one of the most important concepts in spiritual world – Faith. Perhaps this is one of the most profound concepts in my life and I had difficult time digesting this concept. I still remember, my first Vipassana course which metamorphosed my concept of faith. I am an Engineer by …
Conflict Resolution for Meditators
If conflict acts as an opportunity and anger as a catalyst, what happens when the catalyst no longer arises? …and the opportunity no longer makes sense? This past year has been an unusual one; not ONCE have I felt anger towards an individual! Where I used to experience anger or annoyance, I now get curious. …
Can Anything Be Service?
I'm one of those people who was trying to help people. I wondered things like: is this really helping? Am I doing this just because it makes me look good? Do these people want my help? What are we trying to help these people do? Am I just trying to make them more like me? …
Faith
What a strange word. One definition from dictionary.com is, "a belief that is not based on proof." This made no sense to me when I was younger. Why would anyone believe in something that can't be proven? Can't we just accept that we don't know everything there is to know? Why do people need to …
Living Vipassana 