Our Forgotten Friend
“It is slavery to live in the mind unless it has become part of the body.” -Kahlil Gibran When I was in one of the temples doing Vipassana training in Thailand, there was… Continue reading
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Becoming Mindful
“Most people, even though they don’t know it, are asleep. They’re born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without… Continue reading
Free: A Most Inspiring Book
When I went to Thailand in 2000 to do the first of many silent retreats to train in Vipassana meditation methods, I was awash with information – things I’d read, accounts of other people’s… Continue reading
Feeling Before Thinking – Always
As much as I have covered this subject in numerous posts, I keep hearing meditators complain about thinking: ‘I cant stop thinking,’ seems to be the main complaint and obstacle in meditation. And… Continue reading
Layers of the Onion
Sometimes meditation can very confusing, even infuriating. Like any skill, as it develops you experience many apparent obstacles to your progress, each bringing new challenges. Each time you think you’ve got a handle… Continue reading
Letting Go of the Void
MEDITATION QUESTION FROM AUDREY: I had only been meditating for a short while before I entered “the void”. I was meditating in my back yard one night and I guess you could say… Continue reading
A Little More
I was looking through a meditation journal from one of my retreats in Thailand the other day and I found something that made me smile – a vibrant little note scrawled in my… Continue reading
Make Friends With Yourself
So, let’s go back to basics. Meditation is not a big deal. All we’re doing is learning to sit still, and be still, mentally and physically, without it making us anxious. We’re teaching ourselves to… Continue reading
Don’t Think about Meditation – Do It.
A question came up from a previous post, and It is such a good question, I thought I’d make it into a new post. (Thank you Peter)” …I have some questions surrounding the… Continue reading
Stillness is Not Stopping
A lot of people have a mistaken view that when they meditate, in being still, everything should stop – thinking, sensations – everything. They have the impression that stillness is a state in which… Continue reading
Meditation is More than Calm
Interesting question came in during the week. “I started meditating recently. Today was my fourth time actually, about 20 minutes long. I was fine afterwards, calm, like I had been the 3 times… Continue reading
Feeling Comes Before Thinking
As much as I have covered this subject in numerous posts, I keep hearing meditators complain about thinking. ‘I cant stop thinking,’ seems to be the main complaint, and obstacle in almost everybody’s… Continue reading
On Enlightenment
I have spent enough time with enlightened men, namely Acharn Thawee, Acharn Tippakorn, Luang Pu Sangvahn and the Venerable Pemasiri, to have known them as men – variously mischievous, humorous, intelligent and caring,… Continue reading
Why Does Meditation Make Me Angry
A meditation audio course participant asks:“Hi Roger, I’m finding when I meditate I get really angry. I remember things that have happened and I get angry and I don’t know what to do. Can… Continue reading
Meditation and Neuroplasticity
There has been a lot of press about the relationship between meditation and neuroplasticity recently. What this means is, where before it was thought that after fully forming itself during childhood the basic structure… Continue reading
Surfing the Storm of Our Self
I received this question from an audio course user, and it reminded me of a very important point to be made, so here goes: “Hi Roger … been using your audio course and… Continue reading
Acceptance is Everything
An audio course participant wrote: ‘Hi, I’ve just begun meditating and I’m finding it quite a hellish experience. I can’t seem to find the calm I imagine should be happening. I end up sitting… Continue reading
Stillness Heals Everything
As I’ve said before, meditation can be summed up in one sentence: ‘Meditation is the skill of being still.’ The stillness I’m speaking of is not the comatose stillness we are in watching… Continue reading
Clearing Away The Crud
Hi Roger, Sometimes when I’m meditating and my mind is running away with itself and I find myself sitting with my mind all over the place. But I’ve noticed during these times, though… Continue reading
Letting Go of Tranquility
I’m sorry I’ve been absent for a while, but I’ve been working on my novel, “The Sweet Burn of Emptiness”. It’s taken eight years for me to get to this final draft, so… Continue reading
There’s More to Life Than Being Happy
The following article addresses one of the most confusing issues of today – the question of happiness. In a culture that constantly bombards us with messages selling happiness in the form of many… Continue reading
Reality is Created by Actions, Not Thoughts!
Question: I read something the other day about the Law of Attraction, which basically states: you attract what you think about. I’m wondering what you view is of this. …………………………………………………………………….. Interesting question, which… Continue reading
What Is The Void?
Question: What is the void? I sometimes go with a friend to a Zen meditation class and the Japanese monk who teaches there keeps talking about ‘the void’. Can you explain what this… Continue reading