A not-entirely-random selection of blog posts on meditation.

C4Chaos heaps praise upon B. Alan Wallace, who he describes as a “kick-ass Dharma teacher,” as well as a “hardcore dharma practitioner, well-versed in both Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist tradition … [and] a prolific author, translator, and researcher whose primary interest is to integrate Buddhism with Western science.”

Anna Narvid has a piece titled Mindfulness for children, with three simple meditation exercises broken down into a step-by-step guides for parents who want calmer kids.

Shambhala Sun Space has a timely article on Facing the Financial Crisis: How Buddhism Can Help, written by Michael Carroll. It’s really just an introduction to some other pieces, designed to whet your spiritual appetite. It certainly made me want to read the rest of the contributions, which are by John Tarrant, Sharon Salzberg, and David Loy.

In Tricycle, Cynthia Thatcher asks What’s So Great About Now? and suggests that we should give up the notion that mindfulness brings a greater appreciation of ordinary objects.

As paradoxical as it sounds, we can only find this genuine happiness by first understanding that the present moment of mind and body is unsatisfactory. By progressing through the stages of insight – experiencing fear, then weariness, then dispassion when noting phenomena – we can give up attachment, the real cause of distress. The more clearly we see the lack of worth in mental and physical sensations, the less desire we’ll have for them until, thoroughly disenchanted, craving will be snuffed out automatically. As soon as that occurs, pure happiness will arise by itself.

A blog called Living the Question has a nice parable about two friends who part ways — one takes up the path of therapy and the other explores meditation. How do they each get on? Read more in A Meditation and Psychotherapy Story.