Category Archives for "Meditation"
Benefits of Meditation
Slow Down To Experience More in 7 Ways
Do we ever consider slowing down for a fuller experience of life? Do we ever stop to take in the beauty of the moment before us? Do we make it a priority to connect – and truly connect – with someone else? Today’s post is about slowing down to experience more. Oddly enough, we will realize that in our fanatic rush to save time, we miss out on a lot of important things in life.
(Don’t just look straight ahead, notice the pretty flowers along the path)
“Slow down and enjoy life. It is not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” Eddie Cantor
How To Make Peace With Noise
One of the common complaints we surface about our poor ability to meditate is that we get distracted by our surrounding noise. Meditation is supposed to be done in silence, is it not? Since most of us live in close proximity with our neighbors or even our loved ones, whatever noises that others make can well distract us; even whilst we are trying our level best to be in touch with our breath.
Now, here is a story for you to ponder over on how you can make peace with each noisy moment….
(From My Personal Art Journal: Make Peace With Each Moment)
The Story Of Making Peace With Each Noisy Moment
Use The Pink Bubble Technique for Creative Visualization
More than just a game, engaging in the creative visualization exercise can apparently help give your dreams some lift. Imagine floating your fantasies wrapped in pink bubbles into the air and allowing the Universe to bring them in manifestation! Sounds like fun? Well, it is. The best part is that you can possibly turn your dreams into reality.
(Pink Bubble Technique – illustration from my personal art journal)
The pink bubble technique is shared by Shakti Gawain, an internationally renowned teacher of consciousness in her book, Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Imagination to Create What You Want in Life. Shakti has facilitated thousands of individuals in developing greater awareness, balance and wholeness in their lives.
Chinese Tale of the Hidden Treasure Chest
The enveloping air held a hint of ancient chinese mystique. A woman was sitting alone in a rickety wooden boat on a lake. While she would not be considered as beautiful by standards in those times, her features were pleasant enough. Fairly young, she was wearing simple grey robes. Her dressing indicated that she was a novice nun.
(The page from my art journal depicting the Chinese Woman at the Lake).
All was quiet. She had stopped rowing.
Goenka Vipassana Meditation: Your Body As An Laboratory
It was difficult to keep still. At times, the pain on my back intensified to an excruciating level. It was as if someone had stuck a dagger into a single blade on the lower right. It would have take a physical movement to help ease the pain. Yet, I was not supposed to move. I had to keep my back straight for at least one hour.
(The campsite on St John’s Island lies beyond the hill)
Any major physical movement would disrupt the practice of focus and concentration acquired through anapana. Breathing in, breathing out, I sat on the meditation cushion. I was only required to observe any physical sensation. So this was how it was like for most of my sittings for a continuous 10 days. I was in confinement for the most part, cut away from almost all forms of external communication with others. I was on a Noble Silence Goenka Vipassana Meditation Retreat from Dec 1 to 12, 2009.
From Outer to Inner Space
(photo by alicepopkorn)
We explore the frontiers of outer space, in the hope of understanding more about the Universe. Outer space, as we often visualized it to be, comprises of the planets, stars, the different galaxies, and the spaces in between. While many of us are fascinated with the discovery of possible life on other planets or stars, we forget that we hold many answers to the questions that we seek from the space inside us. And in fact, as a reader of Akashic Records, I would like to add that we hold the answers to the meaning of existence within and not on the outside. Quantum physics confirms what we already know about the intelligence of this space.
Lose Yourself To Find Yourself
Lose yourself to find yourself seems like a paradox but it’s exactly what you may discover in your self-discovery journey.
I had used the metaphor of the mask to illustrate the dangers of identifying too closely with our masks. Problems arise when you think you are the mask. In reality, your mask is not you.
Your mask is just something that you wear that covers who you really are. When you lose the mask, it feels as if you are losing yourself. You may even resist the process. The losing of yourself is an illusion. When you start on a journey for self discovery, you will find that what you are really losing is your ego or form identification.
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The Masquerade Play Of Life
Masks are often used in masquerade parties. They are costume accessories that disguise one’s true appearance. In today’s post, I am using the metaphor of the masks as facade devices. You use masks to hide your true self. You find comfort and solace in that the world does not know who you really are. There can be also a different mask that you wear for various groups of people. After all, you have important public images or persona to uphold.
Can The Artist See The Big Picture?
(Photo by photo-g-nick on Flickr)
Once upon a time, there was an artist. He loved to paint. He would spend hours painting beautiful pictures. He was happy, for he was engaged creatively.
Then, one day, he met with a motor bike accident one day. It was an accident, which was near fatal. He did survive however; but had to amputate his right arm, the arm that he used to paint with.
Experiencing The Gap: The Space Between Thoughts
In the most popular sense of the word, Gap is the label of an all American clothes brand with stores worldwide. Over in London, the term “Mind the Gap” is an announcement often heard at its Underground railway system when a train arrives at a station. Passengers are told to look out for and to avoid the significant gap between the train door and the station platform. In economics, “Gap analysis” refers to a business resource assessment tool.
Of lesser known, is the concept of Gap from a meditative perspective. Spiritual teachers and meditation masters tell us to not only recognise the Gap but Be in It. They recommended that much benefits can be derived when we do this. Admittedly, the Gap is a profound concept, which in its simplicity, not quite as easy to grasp especially if we have not been conscious about it. Yes, it is possible that you have experienced it at one time or another, as you go about your hectic life.