I've been curious about dreaming since I was a little kid. Where do they come from? What do they mean? Why was I in control in some and just watching in others? Why were some realistic and others complete fantasy? These questions are still a mystery to me, but I have discovered that meditation helps …
Category: Personal Experiences
Committing To Metta
After completing my first course I rarely practice metta. I almost always had a gross painful sensation somewhere in my body at the end of a sit, and to be honest, I was usually ready to get up when my timer went off. It took me about 6 months to really get my daily practice going …
Eating Meat
I was raised eating meat. A lot of meat. Basically, it wasn't a meal unless it had meat. When I first really committed to my daily practice, I decided to stop eating meat all together, and I held true to this for a while, but I'm back to eating meat. Technically, I'm not breaking my …
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 …
Life Direction
My internal compass has always lead me in a slightly different direction than my peers. I've had trouble finding satisfaction in the more traditional trajectories. I always felt that there was more to life than just building a career, getting married, and having kids. What was the point of living a predictable path where every …
For Health
I used to be very competitive. I would push myself to accomplish some future goal or the other. In particular, I would compete with myself when working out. I would run to get faster or practice sports to get better or do push ups to get stronger. After meditating for a while, these motivations just didn't …
Proud To Stop Harming Others
We're taught to push. To go do something. To build a resume. To accomplish a goal. If you want to help the world, go create something that helps. I had no idea how much harm I was doing in the process of trying to help. Vipassana has taught me to slow down to observe my …
Prioritizing Precepts
It's no longer my meditation practice that makes me feel different. I was advised to take these two hours a day more as a private personal matter, and while I was resistant to hiding this part of my life, the reality is, nothing is more personal than sitting by yourself with your eyes closed. Accepting …
Leaving A Course Early
I want to give a bit of encouragement to anyone who has left a 10-day course early. These meditation courses are difficult, and sometimes on someones first or second course they get so overwhelmed that the leave. This was my experience, but I've moved on to complete a handful of courses and I've established a …
Walking The Right Path
Figuring out the proper way to live life has always been a strange combination of following my upbringing, thinking through things, listening to my intuition, and watching what the people around me are doing. It has never been clear exactly what is moral and what is not. Vipassana has simplified this complex issue and very clearly stated …
Living Vipassana 