The Shark Whisperer

When unpleasant sensation arises, our instinct is either to nuke it, numb ourselves, distract ourselves, run away, get overwhelmed with anxiety or crippled by doubt and fear. It's inspiring to see someone not only willing, but adept at hanging out with creatures so primordially frightening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK2LpUoqX6A&vq

 

(Thanks, Dan.)

The Power of Sangha

I'm just back from a three day intensive at Kripalu Center and once again, the power of group practice inspires me.  As it has been said, "Company is stronger than will power." Below, some powerful group energy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bQLCZOG202k

 

(Thanks, Neile.)

Floating

The body only lives in the here and now.  Anytime we return to the embodied moment, we start to turn the awareness inside and our relationship to time changes. It's so hard to describe this.  Christine does a beautiful job.  She describes an experience from my "Energy Awareness Meditations" CD that explores a 'prana flow' meditation.

In this form of meditation you use the sensation of the hands flowing through space as the anchor of  your attention.

Wonderful things open up when we achieve that paradoxical experience of deep relaxation and deep concentration.

Read the post here.

Thank you, Christine.  Blessings in your practice.

"Shake and Bake" Meditation

When I first moved into the ashram I lived in a tent for the summer. The fellow living in the tent next to me asked me if I'd like to do Dynamic Meditation.  I thought, "Gee, I like meditation so if it's dynamic, all the better!"

Ten minutes later we were off in a corner of the campground next to the woods with a boombox blasting drum and synthesizer, shaking and jumping and hooting.  I didn't get the connection until the movement ended and I dropped into a profound stillness.

Since then I've led countless practitioners into the experience.  Rather than go into the details of it, here's a rather silly video I made explaining some of the details.

I'll be leading a daylong retreat this Saturday.  More information here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3MulH5jl4U

What We Don't See

Riding a motorcycle or bicycle as I did for years, I spent a lot of time and energy noticing how people see or don't see what is around them.  This is an interesting optical trick and suggests that our 'blind spots' are always with us.  But where? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7jpJ12lBjg&feature=relmfu

A New View on Time

Some poet spoke about how important it is to take a 3,000 year old view.  Hans Rosling has done a great job through Ted talks sharing a unique perspective on how our globe has changed in 200 years. This is his latest.  Incredibly cutting edge!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo

(Thanks, Flip.)

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Meditating in the Middle of War

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Rats!  I still can't upload images! I first met Steve at an Intensive I co-lead at Kripalu Center.  He wanted a deep retreat before redeploying to Afghanistan.  I was touched by his dedication and sincerity and wondered how he was going to manage keeping a practice alive in a war zone, especially given the responsibilities he had.

We've stayed in loose touch over the years.  I ran across this blog post the other day which filled in some details of what is like to be in a war zone as an American soldier practicing meditation.

This is entitled An American Buddhist Practicing in Afghanistan.

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Soothing Pain

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This week I offered a talk on "Working with Fear" and next week a talk on "Working with Pain." Fear and Pain obviously are linked and the basic approach to working with them is to cultivate loving presence.  We locate the unpleasant and explore what it is like to hold our experience in nonjudgemental awareness.

I wrote a 'dharma rap' song a number of years ago that kind of sums it up:

When we live in fear

We live in reaction

We don't live full

We live just a fraction

Of what is potential

Of what could be.

When you release your fear

Then the energy's free.

A little corny, but there you go.

When we're in fear, the amygdala lights up.  This little strip in the brain gets activated and we move into the classic response of fight, flight or freeze.

What calms the amygdala?

Awareness.

Just turning your attention to the fear begins to calms the whole system.  This, of course, is counter-intuitive.  The last thing we want to do is to pause, feel and investigate discomfort.

This is what the Buddha talked about when he said engaging into these practices is like 'swimming upstream.'  When we turn in to the discomfort we can start to calm the system and begin to cultivate a state conducive to insight and new possibilities.

I'll have the talk online soon.

In the meantime, in something barely related, here's a cool video called "I Can Soothe Your Pain."  While the suggestion is the singer can do this for his love interest, ultimately we can do it for ourselves.

I think the video could qualify as a "Happy for No Reason" video because he obviously loses himself in a creative flow.  Being that absorbed, it's hard to imagine him not feeling happy while he's cranking out this amazing tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F6EoMdn95E