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
Tag Archive: brain
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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
Yoga and Meditation Can Change Your Genes, Study Says
By Amanda Macmillan, time.com View Original June 16th, 2017 Yoga and meditation may do more than just help you feel relaxed in the moment. A new scientific review suggests that these and other… Continue reading
Fail Gladly to Succeed
Just found this wonderful interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates on the writing process, in which he says: “I always consider the entire process about failure …” Like with any skill, I also believe this to… 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
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 can find ourselves… Continue reading
Reality is Created by Actions, Not Thoughts!
Question: Hi Roger, I read something the other day about the Law of Attraction, which basically states: you attract what you think about. What’s your view of this? …………………………………………………………………….. Interesting question, which gives… 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
The Prison of Thinking
We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. … Continue reading
The Sound of Silence
Following is an interesting article from the Age Newspaper about taking a short 3 day Vipassana meditation retreat, and what happened. I strongly recommend, if you’re at all serious about Vipassana meditation, that… Continue reading
The Illusion of Habits
Hi Roger, In the audio course you keep asking us to let go of expectations in meditation. But I’m not sure it is possible to stop my mind looking for some kind… Continue reading
Forget Reality … It’s All Fiction
A fascinating conversation with Michael Talbot, the author of ‘The Holographic Universe’, pertaining to the way reality is constructed by us, and the profound interconnectedness of everything. The reason I’m posting this is… Continue reading
The Mind … and the Mind …
Following is a particularly curly question about something which always seems to become an issue in meditation, however briefly. Hi, Sometimes while I’m meditating it feels like I’m using my mind to try… Continue reading
Pain is Only a Problem if it’s a Problem.
In my last post, ‘Hurt’s So Good’, Leena asked a good question which I thought was worth another post: She asked: “Life is Pain, Highness. Anyone who tells you differently is selling you… Continue reading
Hurts So Good!!
AUDIO COURSE PARTICIPANT’S QUESTION: Though the Practical Meditation Audio Course has an MP3 dealing specifically with pain, I’ve received a couple of questions to do with chronic pain, in which, generally speaking people… Continue reading
Walking the Walk
A lot of people think meditation is all about sitting still in a quiet darkened room for long periods of time – and for sure, a lot of methods do indeed concentrate on… Continue reading
Forget Enlightenment … It’s Already Here.
Every so often I get asked about enlightenment – or nibbana, or nirvana – all of which Wikipedia describes as: ” … a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, communication with… Continue reading
Tightness in the Breath
AUDIO COURSE PARTICIPANTS QUESTION: “Hi Roger … I’ve been having problems with meditation, in particular, watching the breath, for many many years and am at a loss to figure out what is wrong,… Continue reading
Thought Storms
AUDIO COURSE QUESTION: “Hey Roger, just on the thought storms you mentioned last week, do I have to be meditating for them to arise? Because over the last couple of weeks while I… Continue reading
Love & Imagination – free ebook on Meditation
It’s been suggested that I make ‘Love & Imagination’, the work manual of The Practical Meditation Audio Course, available for download on this blog. So here it is. I hope you enjoy it.… Continue reading
The Problem of Other People
Sartre once said in a play he wrote, “Hell is other people.” and indeed, when it comes to meditation, hell can sometimes be other people, particularly when they don’t understand what you’re doing,… Continue reading
The Wavelike Nature of Progress in Meditation
There seems to be a pattern to some people’s relationship with meditation, and it goes a bit like this: 1. Enthused by the novelty of it all, they go at it like a… Continue reading