Thinking Out Loud

How has mindfulness practice increased your self-compassion? This was a question posed by Tara Brach today in our dharma talk. Mindfulness has given me objective vision and observational wisdom. I no longer judge people, situations, emotions as good or bad, I just observe. By observing, I realize that anger, sadness, frustration, laziness, happiness, joy, pleasure, pain, and all other emotions and experiences are universal. They are part of the human experience. There is no need to ascribe a label such as "good" or "bad" to our experiences or people. Just observe, investigate, nurture, accept, allow, and perhaps even embrace. It is what it is. How do we stay mindful? Practice. Just as a muscle becomes stronger through lifting weights, or cloth becomes saturated with color in proportion to the number of times it is dipped in dye, so too it is with our ability to stay mindful. We must train for it is natural to be loving, compassionate, kind, non-judgmental, etc. w...

I have been reading a great book this week by Tim Ferriss called “ Tools of Titans .” I am enjoying the succinct summaries of his favorite podcast profiles. Glimpses into great minds=priceless!   One individual, I don’t remember which, talked about the power of the “Gone” meditation. The "Gone" meditation is simple, and I used it several times on my hike down into, along, and out of the Grand Canyon yesterday. The "gone" technique is useful for times when you are trying to meditate and your thoughts simply run wild (monkey brain). Rather than freak out about your inability to still your thoughts, just become the silent observer of your thoughts and quietly say “gone” as soon as you notice each thought that arises, leaving. If you practice watching your thoughts arise, and then depart, you will begin to notice how fleeting your thoughts are, and when you are tempted to obsess over a thought or get caught up in cyclical thinking, or addictive behaviors, you can ...