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The real "test" whether or not our meditation is "successful" or not reveals itself in the way we live and interact with life when we get off our meditation cushion. During the 20th century and continuing into the present, many Buddhist leaders have been promoting what they call "engaged Buddhism", meaning, sit on the mat but then get off and into the world affecting everyone and everything around you with the positive, the beneficial, the noble.
Robertson Work, a Buddhist and author of several books states this position clearly: "If Buddhists focus on cultivating compassion just within themselves, they are not being Bodhisattvas. A compassionate being who understands the truth of interbeing and impermanence is motivated to liberate other beings from delusion and suffering. Bodhisattvas, as engaged Buddhists, must take part in political, social, economic, cultural, and environmental actions that relieve suffering. This includes engagement at various levels—family, community, city, state, nation, international, and planetary. Of course, this is an impossible mission but we have always known that the vows to relieve all suffering are such. However, we continue to make this vow and take every action that we can within our spheres of influence."
Robertson Work, a Buddhist and author of several books states this position clearly: "If Buddhists focus on cultivating compassion just within themselves, they are not being Bodhisattvas. A compassionate being who understands the truth of interbeing and impermanence is motivated to liberate other beings from delusion and suffering. Bodhisattvas, as engaged Buddhists, must take part in political, social, economic, cultural, and environmental actions that relieve suffering. This includes engagement at various levels—family, community, city, state, nation, international, and planetary. Of course, this is an impossible mission but we have always known that the vows to relieve all suffering are such. However, we continue to make this vow and take every action that we can within our spheres of influence."
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I would like to bring into play the importance of taking a break whenever possible, in order to recalibrate. Time spent in nature, in silence, in meditation, chanting, or ritual, offer us the chance to find balance and reconnect with our true selves. - Kris Ladusau
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In the West we live in large houses and apartments. Thich Nhat Hanh notes that most Westerners have a room for everything - eating, sleeping, watching television - but too often there isn't a space for mindfulness and meditation. "I recommend that we set up a small room in our homes and call it a 'breathing room', where we can be alone and practice just breathing and smiling, at least in difficult moments" he writes in Peace Is Every Step. "This little room should be regarded as an Embassy of the Kingdom of Peace."
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A new study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion claims that adding 10 minutes of meditation before or after a brief walk significantly reduces anxiety in university students. The study which involved 110 students in their early 20s, also showed that a 10-minute walk by itself did not result in significant changes in their anxiety, which suggests that meditation before of after aerobic exercise can help reduce anxiety levels more than just physical exercise alone.
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We live in a culture where more is the sign of success. More income, more money, more clients, "more" car, house, clothing etc. This "more" type of success flows over into meditation as well and I, for one, am often skeptical about meditation retreats which require lengthy periods of a person's time such as ten day intensive meditation retreats, a full month, a full year and even three year solitary retreats.
I'm not alone in this way of thinking. Several leading, experienced meditation teachers who have themselves engage in lengthy sitting don't recommend them. One example is modern Chinese Buddhist master, Hsing Yun. He describes long meditation sessions as "dead wood", "still ashes" and "wearisome." He explains that his meditation training took place at various major Buddhist temples in mainland China. "In seven-day Zen retreats, despite my own experience of the extreme joy of meditation, I do not advocate sitting in deep concentration like dead wood and still ashes. For the true essence of Zen originates in the mind, not in solitary and wearisome sitting."
Another experienced meditator who says "less is more" is Ernest Wood, an early British Yogi who went to India in 1908 and remained there for more than four decades studying and engaging in intensive meditation. He feels quality is far more important than quantity of time spend in meditation.
"Constant, quiet, calm practice means regular periodical practice continued for sufficient time to be effective. The results of this practice are cumulative. Little appears at the beginning, but much later on. The time given at any one sitting need not be great, for the quality of the work is more important than the quantity. Little and frequently is better than much and rarely. The sittings may be once or twice a day, or even three times if they are short. Once, done well, will bring about rapid progress; three times, done indifferently, will not. Sometimes the people who have the most time to spare succeed the least, because they feel that they have plenty of time and therefore they are not compelled to do their very best immediately; but the man who has only a short; time available for his practice feels the need of doing it to perfection."
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It is generous to compliment another. It shows we are not verbally stingy. By handing over power through praise we demonstrate magnanimity, recognizing and confirming another person’s good qualities. - Sakyong Mipham
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Many corporations today are large, in fact larger than many small countries. Their management is like the deceptive, dishonest, deceitful, arrogant, domineering autocrat, king, or like the benevolent religious monarch, all depending on whether there are people of lower consciousness or higher consciousness in charge.
- Sivaya Subramuniya
- Sivaya Subramuniya
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Parents must teach children to appreciate those who are different, those who believe differently; teach them the openness that they need to live in a pluralistic world where others have their unique ways, their life and culture; teach them the value of human diversity and the narrow-mindedness of a provincial outlook; give them the tools to live in a world of differences without feeling threatened, without forcing their ways or their will on others;teach them that it never helps to hurt another of our brothers or sisters. - Sivaya Subramuniya Swami
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We’ve got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen. - D. H. Lawrence.
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Writing on the web site, thegoodmenproject.com, Tony Endelman, writes honestly about his struggle with depression. It's a courageous and bold article because men are not given "permission" to be sad or depressed in our culture. Men are conditioned from the time they're little boys to be strong, to be positive, to be overcomers, etc. Endelman outlines his battle with depression citing ways that didn't work at all and some that did (Meditation was one of them). Especially helpful for him was getting off social media something he now advises anyone who feels sad, tired, depressed, unhappy.
"I can’t think of anything worse for a fragile human psyche than social media. It’s no secret that using social media can lead to depression, anxiety, envy, feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, and all kinds of other problems. It’s also a colossal waste of time. Imagine what you could accomplish in your own life during the hours you spend scrolling through the highlight reels from the lives of others.
If you think you’ll be missing out on something by staying off social media, I assure you that you won’t be. In fact, you’re already missing out by staying on social media. You’re missing out on real life. You’re missing out on genuine, face-to-face interaction. You’re missing out on the beauty that might be unfolding just outside your window. For your own good, stay off social media."
"I can’t think of anything worse for a fragile human psyche than social media. It’s no secret that using social media can lead to depression, anxiety, envy, feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, and all kinds of other problems. It’s also a colossal waste of time. Imagine what you could accomplish in your own life during the hours you spend scrolling through the highlight reels from the lives of others.
If you think you’ll be missing out on something by staying off social media, I assure you that you won’t be. In fact, you’re already missing out by staying on social media. You’re missing out on real life. You’re missing out on genuine, face-to-face interaction. You’re missing out on the beauty that might be unfolding just outside your window. For your own good, stay off social media."