Quiet your mind. Change your life.

[A Desert Rose]

How are we all doing?

I have to shut the door to keep the dog out, otherwise it's going swell for me. I do find myself thinking about my breathing at different times of the day and I think that's a good by-product of this.

Just wanted to touch base with WD and JupitersGirl and anyone else involved.

 

[A Desert Rose]

I guess I'm the only one left in the program...

Starting the third week, I'm seeing a difference in how I think, especially during my "idle" time. And I've found some helpful websites, too.

This has been a good thing.

 

[WriterDom]

Good for you. I've missed a few days here and there. I'll try 100% this week.

 

[Luvkitty33]

I'm not doing the same program that you are, but I do practice guided imagery and meditation/relaxation almost daily. I have several CD's that I use, but my favorite happens to be from a psychologist that I know very well who works at a chronic pain clinic. In fact, yesterday I picked up his second CD that's specifically designed for sleep. I haven't tried it yet, but hopefully this weekend I'll give it a shot. I've only ONCE made it through his first CD without falling asleep...........that's how good he is for ME, but due to other reasons I tend to wake up frequently. Maybe the new sleep CD will help with that issue.

Anyway, I just wanted to say good for you for sticking with the program!!! I'm so happy for you that you can notice a difference in how you breath even when not actively doing the meditation. That's a huge step, in my opinion!!! I think that we women have especially been trained to breath incorrectly because we've always been told to suck in our stomachs. I know that I had an extremely difficult time trying to learn how to breath the right way by relaxing those stomach muscles and allowing my lungs to fill completely with air. In the class I took several years ago on meditation, the instructor had us put one hand on our stomachs and one hand on our chest so that we could FEEL which was rising first. If your chest was rising first, then you weren't breathing correctly since you should feel your stomach rise first. Sometimes I still will use my hands to make sure I've not fallen back into bad habits, but for the most part, I now breath correctly. It's amazing how just that one change can affect the way you feel so deeply.

Well, congrats again on sticking with the program, and WD, I hope you meet your goal of 100% this week!!!! The health benefits are amazing!!!!!

 

[Luvkitty33]

I was just wondering how Desert Rose and Writer Dom are doing on their program? Writer Dom, did you make your 100% goal? Hope you guys are sticking with it and are enjoying it.

 

[LittleJade]

While I don't meditate every day, and I should... I've found that meditation is a HUGE influence on my life... I used to be a massively angry person... and at a very young age (somewhere around 11, I think), I discovered meditation. I know, it sounds silly, and how could an 11 year old understand it, right? The person who taught it to me simply said for me to sit, silently, for five minutes. Just sit. With my eyes closed. I didn't have to focus or anything, at the beginning... just take a time out. She'd sit with me, so it didn't feel like a punishment. As I got older, I started to understand it more...

I went from being someone who would bawl in rage multiple times per week (kids were fucking horrible to me when I was a kid), to someone who is now angry probably twice per year. I can get upset and even pissed off... but true anger, to the extent that I used to be all the time, happens only twice per year...

 

[WriterDom]

Yes, I'm doing much better. I think rose is as well, but she has really tough overnight shifts at times that makes it hard for her I'm sure.

 

[Homburg]

I prefer Karma Yoga, the yoga of selfless action. When I throw myself bodily into one of my many pursuits, I can lose myself, let the chattering monkeys wash away like tide receding from the beach. I've done samprajnata samadhi and asamprajanata samadhi, and tried to quiet the winds with zazen as well. Nothing works for me quite like action with no thought of self, of outcome, of goal.

I do best when I seek the lessons taught to Arjuna, and immerse myself in the teachings of the 3rd chapter of Bhagavad Gita.

I get on my bike and ride hard and fast, and somewhere out on that trail I lose myself in blood, sweat, and dust. I get under the bar and the I that is me is obliterated in total unrelenting effort. I take solace in deed, as I dive deep into brutal concentration.

It does not look like meditation, but it is.

# 1

Arjuna said:
If You consider that transcendental knowledge
is better than work
Then why do You want me to engage
in this horrible war, O Krishna?

#2

You seem to confuse my mind by apparently conflicting words.
Tell me, decisively, one thing by which I may attain the Supreme.

#3

Krishna said:
In this world, O Arjuna, a twofold path of Sadhana has been stated by Me in the past.
The path of Self-knowledge (Jnana-yoga) for the contemplative,
And the path of unselfish work (Karma-yoga) for the active.

#4

One does not attain freedom from the bondage of Karma
by merely abstaining from work.
No one attains perfection by merely giving up work.

#5

Because no one can remain actionless even for a moment.
Everyone is driven to action, helplessly indeed,
by the Gunas of nature.

#6

The deluded ones, who restrain their organs of action
but mentally dwell upon the sense enjoyment,
are called hypocrites.

#7

The one who controls the senses by the mind and intellect,
and engages the organs of action to Nishkaama Karma-yoga,
is superior, O Arjuna.

#8

Perform your obligatory duty,
because action is indeed better than inaction.
Even the maintenance of your body
would not be possible by inaction.

Still, nothing is more beautiful and pure than zazen. Once, one time, I was there. One shining moment I touched the Buddha Mind, felt the Buddha Nature.

"Gateless Gate", Kuon Yamada, is a particularly good read for those interested in Zen/Ch'an Buddhism. It is an amazing read, frankly.

 

[A Desert Rose]

This has been a very bad week for me, for numerous reasons. I should've meditated more and things might've been less difficult.

Lesson learned, I think.