Meditation

[Richard]

I was meditating this morning, focusing on shenpa.  No sooner had I finished and was feeling all righteously peaceful than I log in here and jump right back into that habit of biting the hook.  Stopped and had some lunch, checked my email and this popped up: https://www.lionsroar.com/how-we-get-hooked-shenpa-and-how-we-get-unhooked/

Funny how sometimes when you need the lesson, it appears.

I totally relate to this feeling of shenpa. Never heard the term before now. Appreciate you sharing.

See, you're not really talking only to yourself. Some of us are lurking, hoping to stumble into nuggets and gems over time. I figured I better break silence so you don't stop talking to yourself

 

[Queen]

I totally relate to this feeling of shenpa. Never heard the term before now. Appreciate you sharing.

See, you're not really talking only to yourself. Some of us are lurking, hoping to stumble into nuggets and gems over time. I figured I better break silence so you don't stop talking to yourself

I don't identify as Buddhist, but to glean a lot from the teachings.  Some really good ideas about being who we are, right now, and trying to be anything else just causes us to suffer.  Hard for a mind steeped in pre-vatican II Catholicism to grasp at times, but I try.

 

[Queen]

The closest I get to meditation is when I am weeding or taking my evening walk. No mysterious words for it though.

Guy

Same thing, just slowing down and being right where you are, even for a moment.

 

[Richard]

I don't identify as Buddhist, but to glean a lot from the teachings.  Some really good ideas about being who we are, right now, and trying to be anything else just causes us to suffer.  Hard for a mind steeped in pre-vatican II Catholicism to grasp at times, but I try.

Same here. I don't identify as anything. I've tried, but nothing really feels like a good fit over time. When I realize that, I hang onto whatever gems and nuggets I may have gleaned from most recent attempt to identify with a label and then move along. I suppose "eclectic" is a fair description of things that I embrace, or utilize, or at least hold an open curiosity to experience.

On the Christian/Buddhism divide, are you familiar with Thomas Merton? Perhaps some of his writings would suit you:

https://www.osv.com/Article/TabId/4...he-complex-spirituality-of-Thomas-Merton.aspx

https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/thomas-merton-and-dialogue-buddhism

http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/christianity-and-buddhism.html#.WTjSamnyuUk

 

[Queen]

I used to doa Metta Bhavana meditation often. That basically means a meditation on loving kindness; when I would read about it it always seemed complicated and cumbersome to me, so I simplified the language:

It's done by repeating it - for yourself, for a loved one, for someone you feel neutral about, for someone you find difficult, and for all sentient beings:

- May I be free from fear
- May I be free from suffering
- May I be happy
- May I be filled with loving kindness

It's a beautiful way to focus your thoughts on kindness and compassion.

 

[waldenbound]

I like the loving kindness meditation. Also the Tibetan tonglen, it's breathing in all of the toxic, poison, and suffering of the world, and breathing out goodness, compassion, kindness. Very powerful.

 

[Queen]

^^^ Beautiful.

 

[MrNoodly]

I tried meditation way back in the early '80s when it was becoming quite the thing. It just seemed like glorified mental and physical relaxation to me. I talked to the instructor to see if I was missing something, if I was doing it wrong. I told him I never had trouble turning off my brain, ignoring the world around me, finding inner peace. He concluded I was sort of a natural meditator, that there really wasn't much more I could gain from formalized meditation. I quipped, "Yeah, doing what you instructed and feeling like it wasn't working only made me anxious and stressful."

 

[Queen]

"We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive."
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

 

[BluebirdHazel]

Another meditator here! Several years ago I was fortunate enough to do a retreat at Blue Cliff Monastery in NYS with Thich Nhat Hanh. The peace, serenity, and compassion emanating from him was astounding. We did sitting meditation, walking meditation, and listened to his talks, which were meditations in themselves.

It IS hard to find the privacy to formally meditate in a small RV especially on bad weather days but I continue to try to at least watch my breathing several times a day. 

Books by Thay and Pema Chodron are continual inspiration.

Thank you for your thread on meditation. Peace. :heart:

 

[Queen]

Decided to try making my long Sunday swim into a moving meditation. It worked beautifully! I had the entire deep well to myself so I just started breathing in and breathing out and letting my mind blank, it was amazing how it felt, like my mind was a free as my body.