The Five Hindrances

The Five Hindrances: Spirit Rock

Blog: Fear is part of the journey

Bring a Sense of Appreciation to the World

Bring a sense of appreciation to the world around you. When we experience discomfort, we often try to avoid it or fix it or make it go away. The skill of staying open dissolves that resistance. Now, why would we do that? When we're open, challenges and discomfort are not so overwhelming and we feel more confident in dealing with them. As always, see if you can practice this in your daily life. All you have to do is pause, observe, and notice what you're experiencing with openness. Good luck with your practice. 

It's just Experience | Practice | Healthy Minds 

Three Keys to Mindfulness: Awareness, Attitude, and Values

Mindfulness offers three keys that can help people unlock a life well lived: awareness, attitude, and values. 

There are a lot of pulls on our attention, and this can give us a sense of being fragmented. With all the demands on us, it’s easy to react by checking out and sleepwalking through life. Zoning out can be comfortable, but there are many good reasons to live with a sense of being fully awake.

Leading the life we want means waking up and paying attention.

Attention is one of your most important resources. What you focus on shapes what you think, your decisions, what you feel, and, ultimately, your reality. It's like the spotlight that illuminates certain conversations, people, successes, problems, and feelings while leaving others in the shadows.

Mindfulness: Awareness, Attitude, and Values

What does a life well lived look like? It begins here.

Willem Kuyken, Psychology Today August 6, 2024

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I was thinking today in church about how I am on the fringe of Christianity. I see my values and core beliefs as consistent with Methodism and mainline Christianity (leaning towards progressive). I find then Buddhism practice and understanding has enriched my life and clarified a lot of things. The article above mentions sleepwalking through life. I think that's what I did For most of my life until I slowly woke up. Somehow a consistent practice of yoga seems to have been instrumental in my awakening. I am not sure how I ended up at the Saturday morning sessions with Kevin, but a few years ago I wrote how it just seemed like a natural progression. 

The article above is an example of a quote I found in 2015: "If you look at the cover and table of contents of Psychology Today, one of the premier lay psychology journals in the United States, you will find many articles containing Buddhist principles used for psychotherapy."

I am one of those described in the following quote from the same article that adopted "a variety of Buddhist approaches to solving some of life’s more difficult challenges."

"The Buddhist wisdom of selflessness is the unique character of Buddhism. This subtle understanding of our ego (egolessness), and the nature of reality in general, attract many educated people throughout the world. This subtle philosophy of life embedded in an ethic of happiness draws more and more non-Buddhists to the Buddhist way of life. Most non-Buddhists continue to follow their own religion inherited from their families. Yet many adopt a variety of Buddhist approaches to solving some of life’s more difficult challenges."

Meditate on Death Daily

I was surprised today after meeting with Dr. M to feel feel the most sadness about my diagnosis of cancer. I decided to use my resources and luckily have this time to be alone with my thoughts. I knew there was a specific death meditation and so I found it and listened to Geoff Dawson: Sesshin Day 4: Death Meditations (April 19, 2024) It begins;

In traditional Buddhist teaching, it's referred to as Maranasati practice. Which is a very, very important part of Buddhist practice to meditate on death. In fact, to do it every day, every morning, every afternoon. Every day, every meditation, you know, is a reminder that everything is transcendent and passing away.

When I wrote about death recently, I didn't mention this Sesshin but did listen once lying on my back as I did today. I saw Dr. F first today who was serious but more upbeat. Dr. M said that third generation drugs were not that different. If I heard him right, he was saying that that is how one is treated when the cancer has metastisized. I think that was what shocked me. I probably needed that kick so I would take it more seriously and have now been prompted to follow Buddhist practice often if not daily.

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Well, not daily yet but I got another wake up when Dr. F ordered a test he previously said was unnecessary. He must have seen something in the mapping scan that was done today that made the other scan necessary before beginning the radiation.

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Bumping into Zen, while waiting for God 

May 2, 2015

I found this paragraph in "Following in the Footsteps of the Buddha" by Dr Barry Kerzin from One Dharma – Many Buddhist Traditions. 

"The Buddhist wisdom of selflessness is the unique character of Buddhism. This subtle understanding of our ego (egolessness), and the nature of reality in general, attract many educated people throughout the world. This subtle philosophy of life embedded in an ethic of happiness draws more and more non-Buddhists to the Buddhist way of life. Most non-Buddhists continue to follow their own religion inherited from their families. Yet many adopt a variety of Buddhist approaches to solving some of life’s more difficult challenges. The lay psychology literature, for example, is filed with Buddhist concepts and methods for training the mind and handling difficult emotions. If you look at the cover and table of contents of Psychology Today, one of the premier lay psychology journals in the United States, you will find many articles containing Buddhist principles used for psychotherapy."