"Practice as play" - August 2009

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On Practice

Playing our way through life
by Sunada

Many people think of play as a fringe benefit of life. Work comes first. Play is an "extra" that we reward ourselves with only after finishing our work. But Sunada sees it differently. On the one hand, play has a generative quality that can help us navigate successfully through life. But even more so, she sees it as an essential way of expressing life itself.

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The play of causes and conditions
by Bodhipaksa

Parenting can be a hindrance to spiritual practice or the main driving force of a spiritual practice. Bodhipaksa shares what he's learned from his daughter.

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Happiness, craving, and the treadmill of expectations
by Bodhipaksa

Eric Weiner writes in the New York Times about a recent report saying that the Danes are the happiest nation, and puts it down to their attitude of not having unrealistic expectations — something that he (rightly, I think) equates with Buddhism. It's a post that's worth reading in full, especially for his analysis of the "hedonic treadmill."

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Book review

"Hidden Dimensions" by B. Alan Wallace
by William Harryman

A new book by Buddhist practitioner and writer B. Alan Wallace aims to bridge the gap between the worlds of science and of spirituality, but positing an adventurous new "Special Theory of Ontological Relativity." Reviewer William Harryman expresses ambivalence about Wallace's bold endeavor.

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Quote of the Month

"The true object of all human life is play." - G.K. Chesterton

The bodhisattva moves through life elegantly, "in the zone" and in a state of playful "flow," and he can do this because he has abandoned any clinging to the idea of self. "Let go of your sense of self; you have nothing to lose but your suffering," Bodhipaksa tells us.

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Meditation in the News: Top Five Stories of the Past Month

Each month we bring you the media buzz on meditation.

• Meditation eases cancer pain
• Sitting quietly, doing something
• The U.S. military's new medical frontline
• What inspired a scientist to open a meditation center at UCLA?
• Saffron robes or jeans and T-shirt?