How do we begin to untangle the tangle of the worldly world as it becomes ever-more entwined within our own society and within our own minds? - David Dale Holmes
Whenever you act unskillfully and experience shame, don’t minimize it. Avoid covering up shame with excuses or rationalizations. Experience it fully. Allow this admirable human virtue to do it’s work producing humility and wisdom. - Victor M. Parachin
Blessed are those who wander in the wild valleys, for they shall see nature, and through her, God. - Vedic Wisdom
No matter to what culture we belong, the advice to avoid bad friends and keep the company of good ones is universal...for the good reason that the company we keep has a profound effect on us. The influence of good friends will help us get rid of physical, verbal and mental faults and overcome hindrances. - Khenpo Sonam Rinpoche
Everyone needs friends, and it’s quite simple: compassion and concern for others are what attract friends. - Dalai Lama 14th
That’s the way it is, Ananda. When young, one is subject to aging; when healthy, subject to illness; when alive, subject to death. The complexion is no longer so clear & bright; the limbs are flabby & wrinkled; the back, bent forward; there’s a discernible change in the faculties — the faculty of the eye, the faculty of the ear, the faculty of the nose, the faculty of the tongue, the faculty of the body.
- The Buddha teaching his companion, Ananda. A recent study out of Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) provides evidence that yoga and breathing exercises can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety in both the short term -- with each session as well as cumulatively in the longer term, over three months. Published online in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice, researchers worked with a group of 30 clinically depressed patients. They were randomly divided into two groups doing yoga and coherent breathing with the only difference being the number of instructional and home sessions in which each group participated. Over three months, the high-dose group (HDG) spent 123 hours in sessions while the low-dose group (LDG) spent 87 hours. Results showed that within a month, both groups' sleep quality significantly improved. Additionally, tranquility, positivity, physical exhaustion and symptoms of anxiety and depression significantly improved in both groups. The approach of giving different time sessions was explained by researcher Chris Streeter, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at BUSM: "Think of it this way, we give medications in different doses in order to enact their effects on the body to varying degrees. Here, we explored the same concept, but used yoga. We call that a dosing study.” In this case, those who did less yoga still received comparable benefits to those who did more suggesting that even a modest number of yoga sessions per week are effective for displacing depression. Meditation is effective for pain relief. This has been verified by a variety of scientific studies including one done by researchers at the University of California at San Diego. The study was led by Fadel Zeidan, PhD., an associate professor in the department of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego.
He and his team worked with 40 participants who had their brains scanned while painful heat was applied to their legs, and had to rate their average pain levels during the experiment. Afterwards, they were split into two groups: some had to complete four separate 20 minute meditation sessions, while the rest spent their four sessions relaxing and listening to an audio book. The meditation practice was done by focusing attention on the breath. On the final day of the experiment, all participants had their brain activity measured again, but participants in the mindfulness group were instructed to meditate while the painful stimulus was applied to their leg. Participants who actively meditated reported a 32 percent reduction in pain intensity and 33 percent decrease in pain unpleasantness. “We were really excited to confirm that you don’t have to be an expert meditator to experience these analgesic effects,” said Professor Zeidan. “This is a really important finding for the millions of people looking for a fast-acting and non-pharmacological treatment for pain.” This study was published in the journal Pain. Here’s a simple breath meditation to work with for decreasing pain. It’s done in four parts: Part one – As you inhale slowly, silent count “one” and than as you exhale slowly, silent count “one”. On the next inhale count “two” and on the exhale count “two”. Maintain this counting pattern on the inhales and exhales to ten. Pause for a few breaths before continuing with the next breath pattern. Part two – As you inhale slowly, silently count “one” and then exhale slowly. The next time you inhale, silently count “two” and exhale slowly. Do this to a count of ten. Pause for a few breaths before moving on to this next breath pattern. Part three - Inhale slowly and then on the exhale, silently count “one”. Keep inhaling but only do the count on the exhale. Do this to a count of ten. Part four – Simply inhale and exhale slowly. Don’t count. If, however, your mind become active, return to any of the previous counting patterns to silence the mind. Whether people are beautiful or plain, friendly or cruel, ultimately they are human beings, just like oneself. Like oneself, they want happiness and do not want suffering. Furthermore, their right to overcome suffering and to be happy is equal to one’s own. - Dalai Lama 14th
Let’s say that you have a very old car, and you love your car and cannot bear to part with it. It’s not running so you decide to spend millions to ‘freeze’ it. A few decades or centuries later you take out the same old car, would you still want the same car? Probably not. So why are we trying to save something beyond its use-by date? Buddhism believes in reincarnation—there is no need to save the old body, when you can always get a new body. - Ajahn Brahm
|
Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
April 2024
Categories |