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Slovakia inaugurated Zuzana Caputova on June 15, the nation’s first female president—and a Zen meditator. The New York Times reports that the 45-year-old lawyer and political newcomer encountered books on Zen meditation as a teenager, and has been sitting regularly for the past 13 years.
“I try to meditate every day,” she told the Times. “I’m not sure how we’re going to manage that now. But the regular practice is important for me.” Caputova ran on a progressive platform that supported gay and minority rights, issues that remain controversial in socially conservative Slovakia. Yet she was able to communicate her support for liberal policies in a way that did not alienate her right-leaning constituents.
“When I talked about these things, for me, this attitude is based on a value that I believe to be very conservative and Christian—empathy and respect for other people,” she said. Caputova has never held state office, and her victory is seen as a rebuke of the nationalism sweeping across Europe.
“I try to meditate every day,” she told the Times. “I’m not sure how we’re going to manage that now. But the regular practice is important for me.” Caputova ran on a progressive platform that supported gay and minority rights, issues that remain controversial in socially conservative Slovakia. Yet she was able to communicate her support for liberal policies in a way that did not alienate her right-leaning constituents.
“When I talked about these things, for me, this attitude is based on a value that I believe to be very conservative and Christian—empathy and respect for other people,” she said. Caputova has never held state office, and her victory is seen as a rebuke of the nationalism sweeping across Europe.
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All that we are looking for in life —all the happiness, contentment, and peace of mind— is right here in the present moment. Our very own awareness is fundamentally pure and good.
The only problem is that we get so caught up in the ups and downs of life that we don’t take the time to pause and notice what we already have.
—Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
The only problem is that we get so caught up in the ups and downs of life that we don’t take the time to pause and notice what we already have.
—Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
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Five years ago the United Nations established June 21st as International Day of Yoga. People worldwide celebrate and honor yoga by practicing and sitting in meditation. Here in Tulsa, Oklahoma we've offered a Friday evening and all day Saturday yoga meditation retreat for this celebration. Below are some photos from last night.
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Over time, it is possible for a person to reach a stage where negative thoughts and emotions no longer emerge, or do so very seldom. It takes years of practice, of course, but the rewards are plentiful. - Dalai Lama 14th
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Gathas are Buddhist wisdom statements generally made up of four lines. The word gatha is related to the Sanskrit word for song, verse or poem. They are used not only in Buddhism but also in the Jain and Zoroastrian traditions. Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, has revitalized and popularized gathas in modern form.
Gathas can be read for their insight as well as recited silently as a meditaton practice. Here is one example from Ven. Nhat Hanh titled "Looking At Your Empty Bowl" -
My bowl, empty now,
will soon be filled with precious food.
Beings all over the Earth are struggling to live.
How fortunate we are to have enough to eat.
Another example of a modern Buddhist gatha comes from Zen Master Robert Aitken:
When I hear a mockingbird’s song by my window
I promise to him and to me
to put aside worries of future
and sing for joy to the day.
Gathas are intended to focus the mind and bring attention to the beauty and wonder of ordinary, day-to-day experiences and activities.
Gathas can be read for their insight as well as recited silently as a meditaton practice. Here is one example from Ven. Nhat Hanh titled "Looking At Your Empty Bowl" -
My bowl, empty now,
will soon be filled with precious food.
Beings all over the Earth are struggling to live.
How fortunate we are to have enough to eat.
Another example of a modern Buddhist gatha comes from Zen Master Robert Aitken:
When I hear a mockingbird’s song by my window
I promise to him and to me
to put aside worries of future
and sing for joy to the day.
Gathas are intended to focus the mind and bring attention to the beauty and wonder of ordinary, day-to-day experiences and activities.
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There have been people put on this earth to push your
buttons, tick you off, and suck the life out of you.
You know who they are.
- Marsha Petrie Sue
buttons, tick you off, and suck the life out of you.
You know who they are.
- Marsha Petrie Sue
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Elevate your experience and remain wide open like the sky.
Expand your mindfulness and remain pervasive like the earth.
Steady your attention and remain unshakable like a mountain.
Brighten your awareness and remain shining like a flame.
Clear your thought-free wakefulness and remain lucid like a crystal.
—Dakpo Tashi Namgyal
Expand your mindfulness and remain pervasive like the earth.
Steady your attention and remain unshakable like a mountain.
Brighten your awareness and remain shining like a flame.
Clear your thought-free wakefulness and remain lucid like a crystal.
—Dakpo Tashi Namgyal
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The word 'vibration' is used in yoga to describe energy, specifically energies which emanate from a person. High vibration is felt when a person exhibits positive qualities, actions, expressions and feelings such as love, kindness, tolerance, acceptance, compassion. On the other hand, love vibrations are experienced as negative and darker qualities such as anger, resentment, greed, attachment, arrogance, aggression, etc.
Beings either vibrate higher and faster or lower and slower. There is no in between. For that reason it is vital to support and maintain a higher vibration. Furthermore, it is crucial to avoid engaging in even one negative quality because that increases the risk that more will follow. Buddhist teaching offers a story of the "hopeless" monks which supports this viewpoint.
One morning while on his routine begging rounds, a beautiful woman who was the wife of a wealthy man known to be a generous donor to Buddhist causes, invited him into her home. He entered expecting she would place food into his begging bowl. Instead, she engaged him in conversation. When the monk realized he'd spent too much time alone with a woman, he excused himself and went to the door only to find it was locked.
"Please," he asked the woman, "would you open the door."
The woman shocked him when she said: "Not just yet. I will only let you out of the room if you do one of the following: kill the goat tied up in the back yard or drink this jug of wine or have sex with me." Obviously she was testing the monk's commitment to his vows which included not killing, not eating meat, not consuming alcohol and not engaging in sexual misconduct.
Thinking quickly how he could extract himself out of this dreadful situation, he concluded that the least offensive action he could take would be to drink the wine. That would harm no one but himself. So he did. Unaccustomed to liquor he became quite drunk. Inebriated, his will was weakened and he became hungry so he killed the goat. While he was waiting for it to be cooked, he then had sex with the woman.
His downward spiral began with one negative action which led to many more.
Beings either vibrate higher and faster or lower and slower. There is no in between. For that reason it is vital to support and maintain a higher vibration. Furthermore, it is crucial to avoid engaging in even one negative quality because that increases the risk that more will follow. Buddhist teaching offers a story of the "hopeless" monks which supports this viewpoint.
One morning while on his routine begging rounds, a beautiful woman who was the wife of a wealthy man known to be a generous donor to Buddhist causes, invited him into her home. He entered expecting she would place food into his begging bowl. Instead, she engaged him in conversation. When the monk realized he'd spent too much time alone with a woman, he excused himself and went to the door only to find it was locked.
"Please," he asked the woman, "would you open the door."
The woman shocked him when she said: "Not just yet. I will only let you out of the room if you do one of the following: kill the goat tied up in the back yard or drink this jug of wine or have sex with me." Obviously she was testing the monk's commitment to his vows which included not killing, not eating meat, not consuming alcohol and not engaging in sexual misconduct.
Thinking quickly how he could extract himself out of this dreadful situation, he concluded that the least offensive action he could take would be to drink the wine. That would harm no one but himself. So he did. Unaccustomed to liquor he became quite drunk. Inebriated, his will was weakened and he became hungry so he killed the goat. While he was waiting for it to be cooked, he then had sex with the woman.
His downward spiral began with one negative action which led to many more.
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In every personality, in every living being, there God abides. This applies not only to human beings, but to animals as well. Therefore, if you hear the screams of an animal that has fallen into trouble, help the animal if you can and do it with an open heart.
- Swami Jyotirmayananda
- Swami Jyotirmayananda
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This is the sequence and progress of meditation: scattered mind, stable mind, single mind, no mind. - Victor M. Parachin