Before I started meditating, I couldn't imagine a completely silent mind. Further, I would have considered mental silence a waste of my mental abilities. It took me several courses to realize that thinking was getting in the way of my meditation. In the process of establishing my daily practice, I found that the less busy my life was, …
The Art of Perception
What is beauty? Does it need to be expressed? When I meditate, I'm not expressing anything and that makes it my biggest expression. Not because I'm outwardly expressing anything, but because I'm feeling all these expressions inwardly. In stillness, all the movement moves freely. Nature is changing and it doesn't need our two bits to …
Truth over False Safety
This is my fourth post on Living Vipassana. I have been excited about being a contributor here from Day 1. It was exactly the right addition to my week; it fits perfectly with how I am carving out my life and where I want it to head. For example, although regular meditation has always been an …
The Words…
I was thinking about the power of words, and I wanted to start today with Mr. Cohen verses: Do Not Be a Magician - Be Magic. Leonard is certainly a master with the words but then I realized that the words we use can be both - magic or evil. There are many words we …
Love Is Not Vulnerable
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. …
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 …
Living Vipassana 