Feb 03, 2012
Don’t worry, be happy
Leicester Mercury: Mornings can be a tense part of the day. Rolling out of bed, frantically dressing, scalding your tongue on hot tea, then slamming the door shut and rushing to the nearest traffic jam.
But does it need to be that way?
Today, I was going to do it differently. I was going to start my day with a peaceful meditative half hour at the Nagarjuna Kadampa Buddhist Centre.
Arriving at the conspicuous large black door on Guildhall Lane, Leicester, I didn’t really know what to expect.
But my vision of an incense-filled corridor, with monks draped in saffron robes, chanting ancient …
Feb 02, 2012
Top five regrets of the dying
Susie Steiner, The Guardian: A nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying, and among the top ones is ‘I wish I hadn’t worked so hard’.
There was no mention of more sex or bungee jumps. A palliative nurse who has counselled the dying in …
Jan 31, 2012
Ten days meditating in search of enlightenment
Maarten Dankers, Globe and Mail: I never thought I’d look forward to brushing my teeth. It’s not a task I consider particularly exciting. But late last November, it came to that. After eating an apple for dinner, I found myself rushing toward the bathroom for some quality dental hygiene time. That’s what happens when you’re not allowed to partake in many activities of ordinary life.
For 10 days this past fall, I subjected myself to a meditation retreat. Along with about 70 other souls, I was confined to a basic compound in the woods along the shore of Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island. We were …
Jan 27, 2012
China’s bloody crackdown on Tibetan protesters escalates, as self-immolations continue
Xeni Jardin (BoingBoing): Ethnic Tibetans throughout Tibet this week held some of the largest demonstrations against Chinese rule in four years. Chinese forces responded by shooting protesters. Up to 5 are said to have been killed and more than 30 wounded, according to Tibetan advocacy groups. On January 9, a 42-year-old monk became the latest in a continuing string of desperate protesters who burned themselves alive to protest Chinese military rule and cultural repression. A New York Times report gathered accounts from a number of human rights groups. NPR’s Morning Edition today aired an extensive report on the worsening human rights crisis in Tibet (MP3 link). Details are hard to …
Jan 26, 2012
The power of meditation: How a quiet mind can unlock wonders
Cheryl Clemens (Baltimore Sun): To understand the impact meditation can have on the human mind, picture a glass of muddy water. If you stir it, the water stays cloudy and anything that might sink to the bottom is instantly sucked back into motion. But if you allow the glass to become still, slowly the dirt settles to the bottom and the water begins to clear.
Meditation means different things to different people, but most agree that it is a means of quieting the mind, of stilling the parade of daily distractions and becoming less reactive to the stimulation that assaults our senses and …
Jan 25, 2012
Learn how to beat stress
Helena Oliviera, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Naomi Tsu battles high levels of stress every day at work. And increasingly, the Atlanta attorney, doesn’t always cut it off when she goes home.
“It’s hard to put down that BlackBerry,” laments Tsu.
Tsu carves out time every day to rest her busy mind and ease her stress levels. She enjoys cooking and spending time with friends. And she routinely begins her day with meditation — lasting anywhere between five minutes to an hour. With every breath in — and out — she feels her body relax.
“It makes my stress level livable,” she said. “After I meditate …
Jan 23, 2012
Can you have faith, but disbelieve the Buddha?
Facebook’s a funny place. You’ll post a link to a really brilliant, informative, insightful, and useful article on meditation and get very little response, and then post a picture of a dog meditating and get swamped with “likes” and comments. An example of the latter happened recently when I idly shared this cartoon on reincarnation. (It’s from speedbump.com — go visit the site, and consider buying a cartoon.)
Of course someone asked me what my own view on rebirth was, and I replied to the effect that on balance I’m not a believer. I made clear it’s not that I deny the possibility of rebirth — it just …
Jan 22, 2012
Vets find ways to de-stress using yoga, meditation
Lindsay Wise, Houston Chronicle: Army veteran Weldon Holder stood barefoot on a yoga mat and extended his arms straight in front of him, fingers interlaced and palms pushed away from his chest.
“Drink the breath and let the awareness reside in the body,” urged his instructor, Pam Johnson. “Long and smooth. Stay with the breath.”
The pair slowly raised their arms above their heads, then back to their sides.
“Stay, stay in this place, be present,” Johnson said. “Let it happen. … Exhale.”
Holder, a burly 37-year-old former Cavalry scout from Houston, started practicing yoga in September at the suggestion of his wife …
Jan 20, 2012
Freed prisoners add momentum, risks to Myanmar reform
Buddhist monk Shin Gambira endured solitary confinement, beatings and sleep deprivation in Myanmar’s prisons for his leading role in the 2007 “Saffron Revolution” — peaceful protests that were crushed by the country’s military.
Finally free at a monastery on the outskirts of Myanmar’s main city of Yangon, about the worst he will say of his captors is that they were “very rude and cruel”.
“Don’t let me elaborate on it. Let bygones be bygones,” the 33-year-old former protest leader said of his ordeal, following his release last week with about 300 other political prisoners.
Interviews by Reuters with more than a dozen of the …
Jan 20, 2012
Woman brings meditation movement into south Chicago suburbs
A small, quiet flash mob assembled Dec. 22 at the New Lenox Public Library and, instead of singing, they mediated, leaving behind a spirit of calm, serenity and stillness.
The event was soothing and educational for participants and those spectators unaccustomed to the mechanics and benefits of meditation. More than 20 cities worldwide participated in meditation on the same night, said Michelle Ann Frank, founder of MedMob South Suburban Chicago.
“Some people think meditation is religious, that’s it’s about worshipping false gods or that it’s for pot-smoking hippies, but science has shown we’re wired for this,” Frank said. “I just want people to know all …
Jan 18, 2012
Prayer versus meditation? They’re more alike than we realize
Doug Todd (Vancouver Sun): You could call it a religious war of words, with the West Coast serving as one of its most intense battlegrounds.
The bid to win hearts and minds pits Buddhist meditation against Christian prayer, with meditation, especially so-called “mindfulness,” seeming to be gaining ground.
It’s been the focus of more than 60 recent scholarly studies. It’s being embraced by hundreds of psychotherapists, who increasingly offer Buddhist mindfulness to clients dealing with depression and anxiety. It’s been on the cover of Time magazine.
Even though polls show there are 10 times more Christians in the Pacific Northwest than Buddhists, the forms of …
Jan 18, 2012
Destress your life in 10 easy steps
Danny Penman and Mark Williams: The gloomy days of January can be the most miserable and stressful of the year, but it doesn’t have to be this way. If you follow this ten step guide to destressing your life, then the next few weeks just might become the most serene and fulfilling ones of the year.
One step should be carried out on each of the next 10 days. They’re based on the ideas found in the international best-seller “Mindfulness: An Eight Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World.”
The book uses a program based on mindfulness meditation developed by us at Oxford …
Jan 17, 2012
Teaching Michigan prisoners the art of meditation
Christina Shockley: For 2012, we’re going to talk with people who are standing apart from the crowd, being and making the kind of change they want to see in the state. Throughout the year you’ll hear from people making waves and going against the grain. We’ll ask them why they’re working so hard on their projects, and try to see things from their perspective. This morning we speak with Reverend Sokuzan Robert Brown. He teaches meditation in Michigan prisons.
Shockley: What do the prisoners say to you when you lead these teachings? What is this experience like?
Brown: Oh, my. They’re all different …
Jan 17, 2012
Meditating on how the Iceman warmeth
Dr. Dustin Ballard: The mind has incredible powers. It can create illusions out of thin air and hear voices that don’t exist. It can modify the body’s response to pain, disease and stress. It can eliminate symptoms simply through the power of belief.
The mind is powerful, but is it capable of regulating bodily temperature? Wim Hof of the Netherlands, known to some as “the Iceman,” would have us believe that it is.
When I first learned of Wim from my neighborhood YMCA Zennie, I was quite skeptical. I remained unconvinced after skimming through his recently released and quite disjointed book, “Becoming the …
Jan 11, 2012
Mind reading: Jon Kabat-Zinn talks about bringing mindfulness meditation to medicine
Maia Szalavitz: Jon Kabat-Zinn, an MIT-trained molecular biologist, began meditating in 1966, when the practice was primarily the province of hippies and gurus, not scientists. Now, thanks in large part to his efforts, it has become mainstream medicine. Dozens of studies have since shown the benefits of what he termed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in treating cardiovascular disease, depression, addictions, chronic pain and many other conditions.
Kabat-Zinn has authored a new book, Mindfulness for Beginners, that aims to introduce meditation to first-timers.
Why did you first get involved with meditation?
The one word answer would be karma. Basically, I always felt in some sense …
Jan 10, 2012
More monks die by fire in protest
Sharon LaFraniere: Three Tibetan monks in central China set themselves on fire this weekend, raising to 15 the number of suicides in the last year by Buddhist clergy members protesting aspects of Beijing’s rule in Tibet.
The deaths suggest that self-immolation is gaining favor as a form of political protest for Tibetan clergy. And they underscore the challenges the Chinese authorities face in controlling more than five million ethnic Tibetans living in what China calls the Tibet autonomous region and adjacent Sichuan and Qinghai Provinces.
China’s central government has cracked down hard on religious activism in Tibet since ethnic riots in 2008 killed 19 people, many …
Jan 09, 2012
Scans ‘show mindfulness meditation brain boost’
The theory that meditation can reduce stress, depression …
Jan 07, 2012
Calgary writer explores ‘flash mob’ meditation to draw people to practice
Writer Megan Bishop-Scott has had this one idea percolating in her mind for some time now.
What she calls a “flash mob meditation” in Calgary where people get together for the spiritual practice.
The challenge, she says, is helping people understand what meditation is all about.
One of her main contracts is writing life histories for foster children.
“Because of that, I’ve actually been asked to go to group homes where some of these really hard foster kids are,” she says. “I’ve taught them how to meditate. And they get it in a second. Basically what I explain to them is that life …
Jan 06, 2012
The Buddha Play comes to LA
I saw this during its first run in Cambridge MA, and thought it was excellent. If you’re in the LA area, I recommend you see it!
Here’s the original article:
Oscar and Tony-nominated actor John C. Reilly — you know him from an impressively long list of films including Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Gangs of New York, Cedar Rapids, and on and on — has been selected to direct Buddha: Triumph in the Life of the Great Sage, written and performed by Evan Brenner at LA’s Bootleg Theater. The drama is set for this February 3 to 25, 2012 — a reenactment of the life of the Buddha. The play is based on Buddhist texts.
While discussing his play, Brenner said, “I …
Jan 06, 2012
Man’s request to use his garage as a meditation gathering room is denied
Deena DiBacco: Wednesday night, Collingswood [New Jersey] Zoning Board members unanimously denied a borough man’s use variance application, aimed at using his detached garage as a gathering place for group meditation.
Applicant Stephen Tumolo, who owns the said property at the unit block of Coulter Ave., holds a master’s degree in Theology and currently teaches religion at Camden Catholic High School.
Tumolo has lived at the 2-and-a-half story Coulter Ave. property for the past two years, which features a detached garage.
Wednesday night, Tumolo testified that 10 months after purchasing his home, he began making improvements to the garage space without building permits.
“A …