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If you’re meditating with some regularity but not finding it as motivating as it once was, consider re-inventing your meditation practice rather than allow it to dwindle away and disappear.
Some signs that a meditation practice needs help include:
Buddhism teaches impermanence, meaning that nothing is unchanging and that includes your meditation practice. In fact, your very practice may be trying to move you into another direction in order to be a more meaningful practice. Just as you have changed over the months and years, perhaps your practice needs refining. Personal tastes change all the time – tastes in clothing, food, friends, reading, television programs, etc. The same may be true for meditation. So, don’t hesitate to adapt and modify. This can be a subtle shift or one which is more profound
Some signs that a meditation practice needs help include:
- boredom
- laziness
- less desire to practice
- finding excuses not to do it
- craving - feeling there are no results
- doubt – believing meditation isn’t really useful
Buddhism teaches impermanence, meaning that nothing is unchanging and that includes your meditation practice. In fact, your very practice may be trying to move you into another direction in order to be a more meaningful practice. Just as you have changed over the months and years, perhaps your practice needs refining. Personal tastes change all the time – tastes in clothing, food, friends, reading, television programs, etc. The same may be true for meditation. So, don’t hesitate to adapt and modify. This can be a subtle shift or one which is more profound
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You are a divine being in an eternal Universe of which you are an inseparable part, and that Universe is an inexhaustible wellspring of cosmic information from which you may freely draw. - Wu Wei
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Sometimes people complain that Buddhism is negative because it teaches that pain is inevitable. What I have seen is that knowing pain is part of being alive can be a big relief. It means that being in pain is not a sign that we have done something wrong. Many of us are quite well-practiced at self-judgment. Blaming ourselves for being ill or experiencing pain is fertile ground for more unnecessary suffering.- Karen Kissel Wegela
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Hsing Yun is a Chinese Buddhist master who is in his late 90s. He is very progressive in his thinking and teaching. Writing about women and abortion, he does understand that "the Buddhist position on abortion is that the unborn child is also a sentient life and therefore, having an abortion is a form of killing."
However, he also understands the complexities which evade simple moral teachings. As an example he notes "if a woman is pregnant with a fetus that will surely be severely handicapped, can a third party tell her that she must not have an abortion? After she bears the child, she will spend decades raising it, and will any of those people be around to help or even care about her then?"
Master Yun also cites the case of a woman who pregnant from the result of rape. Can any third party demand she give birth under such circumstances? "Some questions cannot be easily answered from the standpoint of laws or morality alone" he says realizing there can be many complex factors present in nearly every case.
His conclusion is that having an abortion should be the woman's choice: "It is best to allow the person who is most affected by the abortion to have the right to decide what she wants to do, which means the pregnant woman should have the right to make the decision for herself.
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Rabbi Rami Shapiro is an author, contributor to Spiritualiy and Health Magazine and humorist. He was asked for advice from a vegetarian who wrote him:
“I have a problem. I believe eating animals is immoral. When invited to dine with friends who eat meat, even though I’m not obligated to do so, should I accept their choice, or am I morally bound to chastise them.”
Rabbi Rami responded:
“I suggest you chastise them, and do so loudly, self-righteously, and unceasingly. Make your friends so uncomfortable that they will never invite you to dine with them again, which, thankfully will solve your problem. And theirs.”
“I have a problem. I believe eating animals is immoral. When invited to dine with friends who eat meat, even though I’m not obligated to do so, should I accept their choice, or am I morally bound to chastise them.”
Rabbi Rami responded:
“I suggest you chastise them, and do so loudly, self-righteously, and unceasingly. Make your friends so uncomfortable that they will never invite you to dine with them again, which, thankfully will solve your problem. And theirs.”
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On your path to enlightenment, it is advisable to look to others you admire for guidance. Although the path they have followed is their path, not yours, they may have useful information you can use for your own benefit. - Wu Wei
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No one else can walk your path for you. No one else can achieve enlightenment for you. All anyone can do is to point you I the right direction and allow you to do the rest. - Wu Wei
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We should pursue enlightenment, not education. - Shmuley Boteach
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More than 250,000 Americans fall every year and suffer a hip fracture. Within a year 1 in 5 dies from the fall. Among those who survive, nearly half never fully recover and require long term nursing care. This statistic can easily be changed. How? By improving your balance via yoga.
Many yoga poses commonly done in a regular class involve balance: tree pose, balancing half moon, hand to foot, dancer, and more.
Our sense of balance is much like a muscle - use it or lose it. As we age, balance doesn't have to become a victim. Simply practicing balance poses will allow you to retain or regain a strong sense of balance.
Here's a simple exercise to try in the comfort and privacy of your home. Stand on one leg and move the other, bent at the knee. Do this several times a day and several times a week. Once your balance is better, then do the same practice but with your eyes closed.
Many yoga poses commonly done in a regular class involve balance: tree pose, balancing half moon, hand to foot, dancer, and more.
Our sense of balance is much like a muscle - use it or lose it. As we age, balance doesn't have to become a victim. Simply practicing balance poses will allow you to retain or regain a strong sense of balance.
Here's a simple exercise to try in the comfort and privacy of your home. Stand on one leg and move the other, bent at the knee. Do this several times a day and several times a week. Once your balance is better, then do the same practice but with your eyes closed.
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When I teach yoga I often observe people yawing during the class. Some yoga teachers, upon seeing a yawn, panic internally mistakenly believing their class is dull or that the yogi is bored.
However, it's just the opposite. The No. #1 sign that yoga is really helping a yogi/yogini is reflected in a yawn. That's because a yawn is the sign that the person is relaxing, releasing and resetting. If you have a cat or a dog, you may have noticed that they yawn when they are very, very relaxed. The same is true for humans.
Yawning also results in the body breathing more deeply, more slowly and exhaling more fully. This counteracts the fast shallow breathing experienced as a symptom of stress and anxiety. Furthermore, a yawn stretches the face, neck and even shoulder muscles creating the opposite effect of short, tense muscles.
A Y A W N I S A G O O D S I G N I N YO G A
However, it's just the opposite. The No. #1 sign that yoga is really helping a yogi/yogini is reflected in a yawn. That's because a yawn is the sign that the person is relaxing, releasing and resetting. If you have a cat or a dog, you may have noticed that they yawn when they are very, very relaxed. The same is true for humans.
Yawning also results in the body breathing more deeply, more slowly and exhaling more fully. This counteracts the fast shallow breathing experienced as a symptom of stress and anxiety. Furthermore, a yawn stretches the face, neck and even shoulder muscles creating the opposite effect of short, tense muscles.
A Y A W N I S A G O O D S I G N I N YO G A