Hollywood has been mutating our understanding of love for a long time. We have this idea that we give our hearts away to someone and we depend on that person to protect it. Essentially, we are at the mercy of this individual. What I've learned from meditation is that love is the opposite of vulnerable. …
Category: Personal Experiences
Don’t Waste Your Sorry’s
There's a story I heard about the first time Goenka visited the Dhamma Surabhi (The Vipassana centre in Merritt, B.C.) Everyone was getting ready for the first meditation with Goenkaji, which I imagine would be exciting, or tiring, considering his energy is so high that I would probably pass out meditating next to him. Right …
Life Balance
Balance is important in life. Before Vipassana, I was very unhappy with my life but did not know why. Yes, there were some things that obviously needed to be changed to shift the mood, however, they were all rooted in deeper unresolved, unaddressed, non-identified issues. A little over a year before I sat my first …
Add “Let Go of This” to your To-Do List
There’s the old romantic cliché about liking long walks on the beach and then there's the reality of long walks on the beach resulting in feet blistered from the sand and shoulders from the sun. I’ve taken half-day-long journeys down the shore every summer since I was 17. The only thing romantic about them is …
A Global Awakening
The clean slate of a child's mind is so wonderful to watch grow. We become excited with each new growth from discovering how to walk to learning algebra. When a child struggles, we don't get mad or frustrated that they are slow learners. We simply know that child development takes many years based on basic …
Attending What Is and What Is Attending
I recall being at the center for one of my courses and having re-occurring thoughts about a conversation or speech I would make to someone when I returned. The conversation that kept running through my mind was one that involved sexual activity with a girl that may have taken place after the course depending on …
Focusing on the Positive
Goenkaji says that craving and aversion are two sides of the same coin, as well as emotions and sensations being two sides of the same coin. My practice of choosing beyond the negative, which over time morphs into focusing on the positive, is teaching me that Positive and Negative can be looked at the same …
A Thousand Kisses Deep.
Hi everybody – I will be contributing my thoughts here every fortnight. I would like to start my introduction today with lyrics from the song of Leonard Cohen. The ponies run, the girls are young, The odds are there to beat. You win a while, and then it’s done – Your little winning streak. And summoned now …
The Secret of Continuity
We've all heard it. Continuity is the secret of success. It's Goenka's favorite, but it's not a secret. He straight up tells us, again and again. Continuity is success. We are successful through the continuity of practice. It's obvious when you practice. So why say it's a secret? I think I know the secret to …
Choosing Beyond the Negative
A series of choices makes life. One's mindset and perspective makes life. What one focuses on makes life. This week, life has been schooling me in the power of saying, "thanks, but no thanks" to the Negative. What power it has and how its power disempowers me. I've been reading and hearing from good sources that when we get …
Living Vipassana 