Growth and development from meditation is slow and steady with progress usually measured in weeks rather than hours. Like many activities, practice makes perfect, but if you don't practice, you're not going to improve. A new meditator interested in Vipassana is presented with the massive challenges of completing a silent 10 day meditation course to learn the …
Finding Support
This is such a unique path. It's so different from anything else I've experienced in the West, and the insights are so subtle. In the beginning, this can feel like a lonely path with little support. I was the first person in my family to take a meditation course, and 2.5 years later, I'm still the …
A Subtler And Subtler Reality
I'm amazed by how many versions of reality exist. Each person on this planet has pieced together their life experiences into their own personal truth. The strange part is that they're all true. I can't tell someone else that their personal experiences are false and no one can tell me my personal experiences are false. So …
Why Rationalize Vipassana?
Vipassana is not an intellectual path, so why do I spend so much time trying to understand it? I grew up in and live in an intellectual world. Most people I know build their lives around intellectual understanding rather than faith. In order to build a new belief system, it must be acceptable to the old …
Facing Conflict With Love
I might be discovering what this truly means for the first time. It's easy to mirror love with love, but what is the right way to face conflict? In the past I've used a modification of the fight or flight strategy. If someone was instigating conflict or bullying their way into getting something, I would …
We Have Enough Stuff
As a barista I met some interesting people with some great one liners. I met a simple man with a simple belief. He told me, "I have more stuff then the Queen of England had 300 years ago. Why do I need more?" This statement blew me away. A second gentleman said, "Everyone is running …
Facing Mortality In The Present
A reader, Trygve, mentioned that by visualizing myself on my death-bed reflecting on my life I was actually two steps removed from being present. Meditation teaches us to be present with every moment. While I've always found this visualization exercise to be helpful in evaluating how I allocate my time, he makes a very good point. It …
Detached Unconditional Love
The idea of detached unconditional love seemed like an oxymoron to me for most of my life but I'm starting to realize that it's the only type of pure love. Love for me used to be characterized by always being there for someone. Being present, and maybe even attached. I would ride each emotional wave …
Community Living
If I want to work less so I have more time to meditate and connect with loved ones, I'm going to have much less money. Can I make this work to my advantage? The biggest expense we all have is housing. In August I moved into my own place for the first time ever and it's expensive. I could live for …
Time
Time is our most valuable asset because it's the only thing you can't get back. I don't think I would get much disagreement with that statement. Opinions start flying when people discuss how to utilize this time. The primary point I want to discuss in this post is the contrast between understanding what we're doing with …
Living Vipassana 