Wednesday 18 August 2010

Meditation myths

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens. - Carl Jung.

The following article appeared in the Buddhist Blog and was so interesting it required passing on!

Written by Ronald Alexander, Ph.D. Author, Wise Mind, Open Mind

The majority of my clients resist mindfulness meditation at first, although the time commitment is small and the payoff is enormous. One insisted that it wasn't necessary and that she didn't have enough time in her day to devote to a regular practice. Then she went through the loss of a parent, and had such trouble coping that she couldn't even drag herself out of bed. After missing work 10 days straight, she called me for my advice. I told her to mindfully meditate while in bed. Terrified and bewildered, my client did and, in a few days, found that she could face going to work again. After that, whenever she was in an overwhelming state of grief or so distracted that she couldn't focus, she would close her door, tell her assistant to hold all her calls and do a five minute meditation. Slowly, her grief lessened.

Typically, those who resist meditation are buying in to one of the following four common myths from my book, "Wise Mind, Open Mind" that create resistance to regular mindfulness meditation practice.

Myth 1: "I'm too restless and busy to learn to be quiet and practice any form of meditation." Just 20 minutes on a meditation cushion twice each day will cause you to be more productive and less distracted, and make the most of your time during the day. When you first begin to meditate, you're likely to experience many mental distractions. Rather than judge yourself, simply observe any disruptive thoughts, feelings or sensations and set them aside. You'll never have complete freedom from distractions, but with practice, it'll be easier to quickly turn down the volume on them. As your concentration abilities increase, so will your mindstrength. Quickly, you'll discover that you can simply rest and relax into the moment, enjoying the sense of spaciousness and abundance.

Myth 2: "If I practice mindfulness, it will put out the fire of my ambition and creativity." Mindfulness practice seems to ground restless people, transforming their energy from a chaotic, even manic, discharge to a more focused and heightened exuberance that then can be channeled into productivity. If you're uncomfortable with the thought of slowing down your mental output because you think you'll lose something valuable, keep in mind that this is not the goal of mindfulness practice. Instead, this approach will allow you to access some of the vitality and passion you associate with mania.

Myth 3: "If I practice mindfulness, what I'll discover will be so upsetting that I'll become paralyzed with fear." The fear of what will arise from the subconscious isn't entirely irrational, but the chances of experiencing intense discomfort while mindfully meditating are slim. Emotions that remain buried have no chance of dissipating, and will remain as an underlying toxin that affects the functioning of the mind and body. If you've been avoiding painful feelings and thoughts for a long time, you may not be able to handle more than a five-minute-long session of mindfulness meditation initially, and you may need someone with you to support you in your process of uncovering this pain. A skilled psychologist or mindfulness meditation teacher can be enormously helpful in guiding you through these emotions and modulating their intensity.

Myth 4: "Practicing mindfulness meditation will conflict with my religious beliefs." The practice of mindfulness meditation is free of religious and spiritual dogma. In fact, if you believe in turning to God for guidance, you can use mindfulness meditation to set aside distractions and listen to the divine wisdom that can be found only when you tune out the endless chain of thoughts your own mind creates. This form of meditation turns down the volume of the chatter in your mind and allows you to tune in to deeper wisdom and insight. Mindfulness practice is a pathway to discovery that any of us can use, regardless of our religious or spiritual beliefs.

By cultivating mindfulness, you allow yourself to hear even the subtlest messages from the unconscious. You can be awakened with a gentle nudge instead of a splash of icy water. Embracing your circumstances despite the pain, you can craft a fulfilling life that's infused with passion and originality, driven by a sense of purpose, and in sync with your values and priorities.

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Tuesday 3rd August

Hello,

This weeks meditation and discussion led by Rob was particularly special as we were visited by Padmajata who we met at Cambridge Buddhist Centre on Dharma Day. In fact Padmajata has said that she would be able to attend for the next six weeks in support of the Hertford Sangha, which is wonderful.

A mindfulness of breathing practice was followed by a continuation of the theme of the Dharma, which led to some lovely insightful discussion of some of the stories of the Dharma, we closed with a Metta Bhavana practice.

Meanings of the Dharma

Sangharakshita has said that there are five meanings of the term The Dharma as that there is no one English word to translate it. These are:

1. 'Things' or any phenomemon.
2. A mental object; anything that arises in the mind, one of the six senses.
3. A state or condition of existence; the Eight Worldly Winds (Lokadharmas).
4. Law, principle or truth. Dhammapada says hatred only ceases by love.
5. Doctrine or teaching. 'Dharma' (Sanskrit) or 'Dhamma' (Pali) is the teachings of the Buddha; the buddha Dharma, the Dharma Vinaya.


The Source of the Dharma


The source of the Buddha Dharma is the Buddha's enlightenment experience and the cardinal doctrine is Buddha’s teaching of Conditioned Co-production (pratitya samutpada). Common to all schools of Buddhism, it states that phenomena arise together in a mutually interdependent web of cause and effect.

From the Dharma, this teaching of Conditioned Co-production is described in the story of a young monk who when asked, as was common in those times, 'what is your Dharma and who is your teacher?' he replied:

This being, that becomes.
From the arising of this, that arises.
This not becoming, that does not become.
From the ceasing of this, that ceases.


There are two types of conditionality;
Cyclical conditionality - reacting between pairs of opposites and illustrated by the Wheel of Life.



Spiral conditionality - the path leading to Nirvana - the Four Noble truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.