Going On Silent Retreat
If you’re as fascinated with meditation as I am, at some point you’re going to want to do it more intensively – to go into silent retreat and meditate for some days or… Continue reading
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The Skill of Being Still
As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve not been posting over the last year, largely because I’ve been preoccupied with other things – but also because the answers to most of the questions I’m getting… Continue reading
The Practical Illusion of Self
Hi … I haven’t posted for a long time, largely because, this being question-based blog, most of the questions I’ve been sent of late have already been responded to in other posts, which… Continue reading
The Physicality of Mentality
As you might have noticed I’ve been absent for a while, travelling, finishing a book and dealing with life things. Added to which, I felt as if most of the questions I’ve received… Continue reading
Just Sitting
“Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect any praise or reward. If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot,… Continue reading
Kindness, the Giver of Life
‘Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom. – Theodore Isaac Rubin I was told the other day that about half of what we do… Continue reading
Windmill Stumblebum … and Other Creatures
Sorry I’ve been absent for so long, but I’ve been writing a book, and considering most of the 100 or so posts on this blog answer most questions I receive, I took a… Continue reading
Dealing with Dukkha
This post came in response to a question I responded to in one of my other posts, ‘Why Does Meditation Make Me Angry’– which, without fail, along with another similar post, ‘Why Does… Continue reading
It’s Not Wrong to Feel.
To all my regular readers, I’ve been away for a couple of months because my eyes were developing cataracts and I had to have an operation. It’s an amazing thing, for the world… Continue reading
Siddhârtha’s Gift – The Middle Way
Essentially, the path through meditation requires balance. Take the act of meditating for example – for sure, we need to apply effort – but if we use too much effort we create tension… Continue reading
Struggle Creates Success
One time in Sri Lanka, while on a long silent retreat, I complained to the teacher that I was having a particularly difficult time with a block that had arisen in meditation. I… Continue reading
Meditation Needs Love
When I first began meditating I had terrible difficulty with it, and almost gave up at one point, because I felt as if I just didn’t have what it took. It wasn’t… Continue reading
Yoga and Meditation Can Change Your Genes, Study Says
In a new paper, published in Frontiers in Immunology, British researchers analyzed the findings from 18 previously published studies—involving a total of 846 people—on the biological effects of meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, Qi… Continue reading
Attention and Awareness
The Monkey in Our Mind The aspect of mind we’re working with in meditation is our meddlesome, hyperactive and mischievous attention – the part of the mind we were nagged about all through childhood, all… Continue reading
Sensations and Suffering
A wonderful, and quite forensic breakdown of the how sensations become suffering., and the role our conditioned reactions play in that transition. Essential viewing if you’re as fascinated by the processes within Vipassana… Continue reading
Learn to Be Still – and Heal
I met Peter at a seminar of meditation teachers. He was a good-looking man of about forty-five, an architect by profession. He told me in conversation that he had cancer once and conquered… Continue reading
Get Some Sleep!
“It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” … Continue reading
Rhythm of Breathing Affects Memory and Fear
NEUROSCIENCE NEWS DECEMBER 7, 2016Summary: A new study reports the rhythm of your breathing can influence neural activity that enhances memory recall and emotional judgement. Source: Northwestern University. Breathing is not just for oxygen;… Continue reading
Meditating From the Source
A while ago I was doing an online session with a meditator, and we were talking generally about what it is to practice meditation, and how difficult it can be to maintain a… Continue reading
Don’t Fight to Meditate.
Hi Roger .. I’ve been learning to meditate and I’ve been to a number of teachers who keep instructing me to concentrate on the breath. It is supposed to relax me and make… Continue reading
Depression: Is it The Immune System?
From The Age News – originally from The London Telegraph One in 10 of us will experience depression at some point. Just what causes this highly debilitating disease, and the best way to treat… Continue reading
Meditation the Journey
” The things that trouble our spirits are within us already. In meditation, we must face them, accept them, and set them aside one by one. Cristopher Bennett I was thumbing through a popular tabloid news… Continue reading
Cleaning Up The World from the Inside
“….Pollution! Look at this rubbish!” he said vehemently, “Bloody vandals! Chucking their garbage about!…” I had been wandering along a path, savoring the clear afternoon stillness of a popular national park near Melbourne,… Continue reading