I was once addicted to marijuana. It started as a recreational activity which I did with friends. It inspired me with visions that I could use in my art and ideas that I thought were very unique and astounding while I was high. Sometimes these ideas helped me when I sobered up to have a …
Dhamma in My Catholic High School
I started teaching at a Catholic High School in August with the no intention of discussing meditation. I was hired to teach Chemistry and Physics, so that was my focus, but a strange series of events has caused the wheel of dhamma to start turning. When the administration informed me that their primary goal was …
Between Things
Marilyn and Steve snuck up behind me on the boardwalk where I’d been trying to still my fiery brain with the sound of rippling water. I’d seen them here before. They scan the landscape through binoculars for blue herons, and wallow in wonder with every glimpse of one. I wanted to wallow in wonder, too. …
Returning to Living Vipassana
I stopped writing regularly for this blog about 8 months ago. I had run out of things to say, and there were aspects of my life outside of dhamma that required my focus. Today, I feel new questions surfacing within me, and the answers aren't obvious. When I started this blog in 2012 I had …
Stopping and Snowballing
Last week I started to stop my daily meditations. By the end of the week I was not getting my two sits in. This problem reminds me of a poem that was in the book, "The Moon Appears When the Water is Still." A monk arrives at a woman's house and is looking for a …
Meditation Takes a Backseat
For 6 months, my afternoon meditation took a backseat to everything else going on in my life. My life was full of positive things that needed my attention (wedding, new house, new job), and my afternoon meditation just didn't make the list. My morning routine was strong enough that I continued to sit for an …
What Has Helped Me
Ryan Shelton, creator of this blog, wrote in a most recent post, "I want people to feel encouraged and supported in practicing however they can within the limitations of the rest of their lives. I don’t know exactly how to help..." That struck me. I too, as a writer for this blog, feel the same …
Every Step Helps
Long before I learned to meditate, I decided to dedicate my life to helping all people grow and live better lives. Along this journey, I discovered Vipassana, and I believe the 10-day course teaches a complete path to purification. I struggle with the gap between providing the teaching, and helping people walk the path. From …
Safe
I find it unspeakable to speak the truth. I find all shallow thoughts of men are my own. I find wholeness lights every way I can see. Now, moving in truth, I see no other way. I find myself feeling for sensation, when my heart is weary and tender. I find the cries of old …
Be Quiet and Listen
This is a discussion that I have listened to multiple times and continue to get more out of it. I've posted it on this blog before, because it is a truly marvelous and very Dhamma-like conversation. http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/krishnamurti-teachings/view-video/knowledge-and-the-transformation-of-man-part-1-of-18.php The discussion is about as close to 'what is' as you can get, aside from meditating. It's the …
Living Vipassana 