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Gesshin Greenwood, author of several books on Buddhism, spent several years living in a Japanese Zen monastery. There she learned how ordinary tasks of housekeeping and cleaning are, in fact, times of meditation. She explains: "Three of those years I spent living and working in a convent called Aichi Nisodo, sharing a room with five Japanese women. We spent all day cooking, cleaning, sewing, and performing ceremonies."
Greenwood learned that meditation and routine chores are seamless. Here are some of her insights:
1. In the monastery cleaning is an act of meditation and a religious art. " In the convent where I trained there were at least five different cleaning rags, each with its own unique function. The zokin was only to be used on the floor, whereas the jokin, combining the character for “pure” and “cloth” was reserved for cleaning sacred spaces such as the alter. A fukin (pronounced FOO-kin) was used for drying hands. Mixing up any of these cloths at any time was blasphemy."
2. Neatness and mindfulness belong together. " I remember one day hanging some tea towels (chakin, another kind of towel) in a haphazard, crooked way and having a senior nun yell at me. “This is zazen!” she screamed, pointing at the crooked towels (zazen, of course refers to Zen meditation). “You came to Japan to study zazen but you don’t realize that these towels are zazen!”
3. Inanimate objects have Buddha nature because they are teachers. "For millenia, Zen practitioners have debated whether objects have buddha nature, the ability to attain enlightenment. As the scholar Fabio Rambelli points out, the Tendai and Shingon schools of Japanese Buddhism argued that non-sentient objects such as nature, the environment, and inanimate objects 'exert a salvic influence over sentient beings.' This understanding that inanimate objects hold salvic power spread to Zen and other forms of Japanese Buddhism."
4. Objects are not mere objects. The Zen Buddhist approach is to treat all "things" with respect. Greenwood cites an example from Marie Kondo, a Japanese minimalist expert who is featured on a Netflix documentary (Tidying Up With Marie Kondo) " She approaches cleaning with the basic understanding that “objects” are more than objects. In the Netflix show, she often has families kneel on the floor and “ask” the house for “permission” or “cooperation” before they clean. She encourages people to say “thank you” to clothes as they fold. Over and over, she treats inanimate objects as living things, speaking to them and communicating with them, and encouraging us all to do the same.
Greenwood learned that meditation and routine chores are seamless. Here are some of her insights:
1. In the monastery cleaning is an act of meditation and a religious art. " In the convent where I trained there were at least five different cleaning rags, each with its own unique function. The zokin was only to be used on the floor, whereas the jokin, combining the character for “pure” and “cloth” was reserved for cleaning sacred spaces such as the alter. A fukin (pronounced FOO-kin) was used for drying hands. Mixing up any of these cloths at any time was blasphemy."
2. Neatness and mindfulness belong together. " I remember one day hanging some tea towels (chakin, another kind of towel) in a haphazard, crooked way and having a senior nun yell at me. “This is zazen!” she screamed, pointing at the crooked towels (zazen, of course refers to Zen meditation). “You came to Japan to study zazen but you don’t realize that these towels are zazen!”
3. Inanimate objects have Buddha nature because they are teachers. "For millenia, Zen practitioners have debated whether objects have buddha nature, the ability to attain enlightenment. As the scholar Fabio Rambelli points out, the Tendai and Shingon schools of Japanese Buddhism argued that non-sentient objects such as nature, the environment, and inanimate objects 'exert a salvic influence over sentient beings.' This understanding that inanimate objects hold salvic power spread to Zen and other forms of Japanese Buddhism."
4. Objects are not mere objects. The Zen Buddhist approach is to treat all "things" with respect. Greenwood cites an example from Marie Kondo, a Japanese minimalist expert who is featured on a Netflix documentary (Tidying Up With Marie Kondo) " She approaches cleaning with the basic understanding that “objects” are more than objects. In the Netflix show, she often has families kneel on the floor and “ask” the house for “permission” or “cooperation” before they clean. She encourages people to say “thank you” to clothes as they fold. Over and over, she treats inanimate objects as living things, speaking to them and communicating with them, and encouraging us all to do the same.
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"Flexibility is a sign of
youthfulness
while rigidity that of
old age."
- Yogacharya S. Nimbalkar
youthfulness
while rigidity that of
old age."
- Yogacharya S. Nimbalkar
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It is easy to find a scapegoat for our problems. ‘If my mother had really loved me or if everyone around me had been truly wise, and fully dedicated towards providing a perfect environment for me, then I would not have the emotional problems I have now.’ This is really silly! - Ajahn Sumedho
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Flexibilty is a signof youthfulness while rigidity that of old age. - Sadeshiv Nimbalkar
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The picture of this seal doing a magnificent and natural backbend was taken by my friend and amazing photographer, Vicki Vaniman, while on a recent trip to Antarctica.
Unlike humans, animal beings generally maintain a highly flexible back throughout their lives. Intuitively, they seem to know this is very, very important. Observe your cat or dog and see how many times a day they will stretch out in ways that include a back bend.
We humans tend to be negligent about our back. In so doing we develop back issues of all kinds and become highly vulnerable to back injuries. This results in medical expenses for costly drugs and surgeries, neither of which provide much value to the body.
Here are some benefits of doing backbends regularly, and by regularly, I mean on a daily basis. If you can't discipline yourself to do them at home, then get to a yoga class on a daily basis.
- relieves spinal stiffness
- releases back muscles
- rejuvenates the spine
- brings alertness to body and mind
- reduces risk for back injury
- creates tremendous flexibility of the spine
- makes the entire body agile
- creates spinal length making you taller (not shorter as you age)
- enhances the reflexes
- boosts mental and emotional confidence
- downsizes anxiety and stress
- increases stamina and endurance
- removes chest congestion
- overcomes respiratory issues
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No matter what age we are, we can always let go
of baggage and break through a new barrier.
- Louise Hay
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Harriet Brown is a professor of magazine journalism at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and the author of “Shadow Daughter: A Memoir of Estrangement.”
She's researched, written and "practiced" family estrangement. Ten years ago she cut off all contact with her mother and Brown's life improved significantly.
Writing in the Washington Post, Brown explains that "after decades of bitter fights and lukewarm reconciliations, I finally got the courage to cut off my mother completely. Our relationship brought me nothing but nuclear-level angst. After even the smallest interaction — an email or text message — I’d have panic attacks that lasted weeks. I’d stop sleeping, eat too much, fall through a wormhole into utter self-loathing."
Of course, other friends and family members put pressure on Brown to reconcile saying things like: " “You only get one mother,” they said. “What if she dies and you’re still estranged? How will you feel?” Brown writes out her response: "My mother died three years after our official estrangement, and my only regret is that I didn’t do it earlier. Much, much earlier."
As a result of disconnecting from her toxic mother, Brown says that holidays moved from being tolerable to pleasant. "no one stalked from the table in a huff or went home crying. My husband and I, my 86-year-old father, our younger daughter, home from grad school, and another couple shared a lovely and low-key dinner. And we have family estrangement to thank for that."
Read her story at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/i-cut-off-all-contact-with-my-mother-it-made-my-life-much-better/2019/01/18/cc454e9e-1529-11e9-90a8-136fa44b80ba_story.html?utm_term=.e7287d99c434
She's researched, written and "practiced" family estrangement. Ten years ago she cut off all contact with her mother and Brown's life improved significantly.
Writing in the Washington Post, Brown explains that "after decades of bitter fights and lukewarm reconciliations, I finally got the courage to cut off my mother completely. Our relationship brought me nothing but nuclear-level angst. After even the smallest interaction — an email or text message — I’d have panic attacks that lasted weeks. I’d stop sleeping, eat too much, fall through a wormhole into utter self-loathing."
Of course, other friends and family members put pressure on Brown to reconcile saying things like: " “You only get one mother,” they said. “What if she dies and you’re still estranged? How will you feel?” Brown writes out her response: "My mother died three years after our official estrangement, and my only regret is that I didn’t do it earlier. Much, much earlier."
As a result of disconnecting from her toxic mother, Brown says that holidays moved from being tolerable to pleasant. "no one stalked from the table in a huff or went home crying. My husband and I, my 86-year-old father, our younger daughter, home from grad school, and another couple shared a lovely and low-key dinner. And we have family estrangement to thank for that."
Read her story at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/i-cut-off-all-contact-with-my-mother-it-made-my-life-much-better/2019/01/18/cc454e9e-1529-11e9-90a8-136fa44b80ba_story.html?utm_term=.e7287d99c434
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Yoga is a spiritual tradition which seeks to bestow happiness and inner freedom rather than merely physical fitness and health. - Georg Feuerstein
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Effective relationships are coordinated at the heart level.
In all situations learn to adapt and adjust to bring out
the good in you as well as in others. Be graceful, positive, inspiring in your dealings and exercise patience and
endurance. - Swami Jyotirmayananda
In all situations learn to adapt and adjust to bring out
the good in you as well as in others. Be graceful, positive, inspiring in your dealings and exercise patience and
endurance. - Swami Jyotirmayananda
- Published on
Recently I've read a few news stories indicating that people who attended meditation retreats experienced severe emotional problems. In one case, a woman ended her life by suicide and in another, the man had to be removed from the retreat by police and placed in a psychiatric institution.
Most of these kinds of cases come out of the ten day Vipasanna meditation style where people sign up for ten day silent retreats which are intense beginning at 4 or 5 am and continuing until ights out at 10 pm.
So, the question is raised: "Can meditation be dangerous?" Here's a good answer to that question from Thubten Chodron in his book Buddhism For Beginners:
"If we learn to meditate from an experienced teacher who instructs us in a reliable method, and if we follow these instructions correctly, there is no danger at all. Meditation is simply building up good habits of the mind. We do this in a gradual fashion. Thus, doing advanced practices without proper instruction is unwise. If we build up our capabilities gradually, we will be able to progress to more advanced practices without difficulty, and one day will become a Buddha."
Most of these kinds of cases come out of the ten day Vipasanna meditation style where people sign up for ten day silent retreats which are intense beginning at 4 or 5 am and continuing until ights out at 10 pm.
So, the question is raised: "Can meditation be dangerous?" Here's a good answer to that question from Thubten Chodron in his book Buddhism For Beginners:
"If we learn to meditate from an experienced teacher who instructs us in a reliable method, and if we follow these instructions correctly, there is no danger at all. Meditation is simply building up good habits of the mind. We do this in a gradual fashion. Thus, doing advanced practices without proper instruction is unwise. If we build up our capabilities gradually, we will be able to progress to more advanced practices without difficulty, and one day will become a Buddha."