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February 2003 Dear Wildmind Subscriber, We're delighted to bring you more news and information on meditation and the Wildmind site. In this issue:
Do your body a favor -- learn to meditate A Medical College of Georgia pilot study using meditation to help lower blood pressure in teens was so successful that the project has been extended to five high schools and a middle school. The project backs up what many other studies have shown -- that meditation can be immensely beneficial to your health. As well as being good for your physical health, meditating also helps you to deal with worry and stress, and makes it less likely that you'll experience depression. A course in meditation may be the most cost-effective investment in your health that you'll ever make. Our next online courses start on Monday, February 3! Our online courses offer what you need to create more balance in your life, maintain fulfilling relationships, make time for yourself, and create beliefs, opinions and points of view that work for you, rather than against you. You can check out our course offerings below. Meditation in the news As well as the above news story about the health benefits of meditation, you might also want to check the following recent news stories from around the world. Wrestling
with mind games The
fine art of doing nothing Give $1 to Wildmind We'd like to thank everyone who has kindly donated to help support our work. Our mission is to benefit the world by promoting awareness and compassionate values through the practice of meditation. If you've benefited from our site and would like to help us out, then making a small donation can help us enormously in fulfilling that aim. Of course you can feel free to give more than a dollar! 
Our online courses A student comments: "I have found this course incredibly helpful. Your comments have been insightful and practical. I would definitely like to take another course. I would also like to encourage others to benefit from the course." Marilyn, New Hampshire, USA We offer four online courses as well as our popular Life Member Program. For more information, click on any of the photographs or links and you'll be taken to our online store, where more details are available. Our next online courses
start on Monday, February 3. | |
 | Life
Member Program Lifelong access to all of our course materials, but without personal feedback and guidance. Suitable for self-directed students. |
| "The Path of Mindfulness and Love" Our introduction to meditation, teaching the fundamental principles of mindfulness and lovingkindness, and helping you as you set up a regular practice. |
 | A level two course, introducing advanced techniques for combating negative mental states and for cultivating calmness, energy, contentment, and concentration. |
 | "Entering
the Path of Insight" Introducing the practice of insight meditation, which helps us to appreciate the interdependent nature of the reality we live in. |
 | "Awakening
the Heart" An alternative level two course, introducing the cultivation of lovingkindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and emotional balance. |
New material on Wildmind We've posted another eight new pages since the last newsletter. These represent the start of a new section on Mindfulness in Everyday life. The first eight pages are about taking metta into your everyday activities.
Wildmind book news The latest news is that Bodhipaksa's book, Wildmind: A Step-by-Step Guide to Meditation, will go to press on February 5, and will be available in bookstores outside the US in May. We're still waiting to hear about a publisher for the US edition, and we'll let you know as soon as we hear something. Classes in New Hampshire If you live in New Hampshire, southern Maine, or northern Massachusetts, you might be interested in the forthcoming class. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a clinically proven eight-week program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and others at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Our 8-week class starts:
There's also a free introductory evening on February 11, at 7 p.m. We'll also have another course starting in Manchester in mid-March. Dates and venue to be announced. For further details or to reserve a place, point your browser here. | |
| Book of the month
Destructive
Emotions: A Scientific conversation with the Dalai Lama |
A new book from Buddhist author Daniel Goleman ("Emotional Intelligence") is always going to be an exciting event. More so in this case because of the extraordinary background out of which the book emerged. Daniel Goleman presents dialogues between the Dalai Lama and a group of eminent psychologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers that probe the challenging questions: Can the worlds of science and philosophy work together to recognize destructive emotions such as hatred, craving, and delusion? If so, can they transform those feelings for the ultimate improvement of humanity? As the Dalai Lama explains, "With the ever-growing impact of science on our lives, religion and spirituality have a greater role to play in reminding us of our humanity." This Amazon bestseller is a must-have book. If you're interested in buying this book from Amazon.com, click on the cover or title above. | |
 | Quote of the month "He who seeks only for applause from without, has all his happiness in another's keeping." Oliver Goldsmith |
The most exciting and deep-reaching consequence of meditation does not rely on any kind of external validation - such as having people like and respect you, or discovering that people are more relaxed and friendly around you, although those things are of course very welcome. It's very dangerous to place our well-being in the hands of another, and a sign of spiritual maturity to take our happiness into our own hands. Ultimately, each individual must validate his or her own life, and get his or her sense of self-worth from within. Meditation can bring more of a sense of meaning and purpose into life than anything else I know. The most satisfying thing that I know of is not the benefits that come from personal development, but the path of development itself. It's journeying itself that brings the deepest satisfaction, not the individual sights that you encounter along the way. Bodhipaksa Copyright © 2003,
Bodhipaksa. | |