Trying to help people can be very complicated. The goal is usually to support and encourage someone to live a "better" life but this is more difficult than it first appears. I see two major obstacles. First, I see a lot of people who don't want help or don't want to change. Instead of taking advantage …
Valuing People Over Everything Else
Thinking about my death is a useful tool when evaluating my live. There are many timelines to evaluate my goals and each timeline prioritize something different. On a daily or weekly basis it's easy to focus on our immediate goals: take care of all of my chores, get an A on that math test, go …
Accepting Vs. Confronting
We all face difficult challenges in our lives. The bigger the challenge is, the more our choices and actions seem to define us. I've worked hard in my life to learn how to run into challenges instead of running away. I'm defined my willingness to step into chaos without a plan and to be there for …
Self-confidence
Self-confidence is a complicated concept. Dictionary.com has two definitions: 1) realistic confidence in one's one judgment, ability, power, etc. 2) excessive or inflated confidence in one's own judgement, ability, power, etc. Self-confidence simultaneously defines a "realistic" and an "excessive or inflate" confidence. There is such a fine line between confidence and arrogance and ego. It feels …
The Search That Vipassana Ended
I've written a lot about questions I still have, but I want to write some about the answers Vipassana has brought to my life. First, Vipassana is a tool to help me discover truth. Like many people, I felt that both organized religions and science were only able to provide part of the truth about life on …
Navigating My Community Role
The most confusing and potentially useful aspect of integrating Vipassana into my daily life is learning how to interact with the individuals and communities in my life. Before Vipassana I learned that being extraverted and personable were important skill when trying to accomplish a goal. Communication channels need to be open in any calibration and if …
Loving The World
My Vipassana practice is changing my understanding of what it means to help people. The injustices of this world and the apathy of the people living in it have always stuck out to me. For over a decade I've tried to figure out how to fight against these injustices and to inspire apathetic people. While …
My Blogging Goals
I started this blog to help me process all of the thoughts and emotions I faced while when returning to the real world after spending time at the center. I didn't feel like I was having all of the conversations I needed to properly integrate this practice into my life so I decided to have …
The Vulnerability Of Facing Myself
A reader commented that my posts brought up vulnerability in connection with Vipassana several time and wondered if this wasn't the right practice for me. I've been thinking about this, and I think she's correct that I've made it sound like Vipassana causes vulnerability in me. Why would I do something that makes me feel vulnerable? I've realized that it's not Vipassana that …
Vipassana In A Hostile Environment
There are so many wonderful aspects of this technique, but one that still concerns me is whether it can protect people in a hostile environment. There are certain communities where vulnerability causes you to become a target. Travelers learn to act confidently and blend in as not to draw attention to themselves. People who, "Aren't from …
Living Vipassana 