My sister visited this weekend and shared something wonderful with me. She recently completed some professional training (she's a therapist in the counseling field) and was so excited to tell me about "the Merritt thing". Merritt is the name of the town where I did my 10-day course. It turns out that the guy presenting …
Category: Personal Experiences
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 …
The Social Scene
So I'm leaving my introverted space and I'm reengaging the world and the first thing that comes up is, "How should I be engaging my social scene?" I really dislike social obligation. You know, those conversations where you talk about the weather because it would be rude not to talk but you don't think you want …
How do you do it?
Yesterday I got inquiries about Vipassana from an unexpected quarter. My eye doctor’s receptionist/assistant was using a machine to measure various aspects of my eyes. The process requires that I stare at a lighted green cross that moves around in the viewer, while holding my head very still, and this goes on with each eye …
Pride In My Work
Ever since I started graduate school I've been trying to run away from it. I keep telling myself, "I want to serve people. I don't want to be paid by the military. My research isn't going to matter to anyone. I'm just buying time until I find a better path. I'm just here because as …
Assumptions we make – is it faith?
In my last post I talked about one of the dimensions of faith - a dimension which is based on experience and analysis, a dimension where I see what me believe and hence each such experience makes me stronger. As I delved in on this idea, I discovered some more dimensions of faith. At numerous occasions …
Convenient Food
What a privilege it is to live in a time and place where I don't need to grow or cook my own food. Even as a poor graduate student I can purchase cheap take-out or microwaveable food. I'm still amazed that I can buy a $5 sandwich with meat from three different animals. We have …
Blarg!
I haven't meditated for a week and it's definitely showing. I just remembered this blog and have to leave for work now. On the flip side, my garden is planted and I met someone wonderful. Sorry if you feel let down. It will pass. Love to you all; and don't forget to meditate.
The Equaliser
The dichotomy between the status-watching and egalitarian behavior has been an issue for me in the past. I’m definitely an equaliser at heart; trusting authority and respecting hierarchy does not come naturally for me. However, I have played along clumsily when I perceived the game of “status” and “competition” as crucial to my survival-needs, but because I …
The Mirror
Every time I want the world to change, a person to act differently, or to make a greater impact, this mirror keeps showing me my reflection. The mirror is telling me to look inside. I keep wanting to impact all of these things I have no control over. I keep believing I can change things …
Living Vipassana 