Clingless Development, Transmutation & Progression
After participating in several online meditation circles, and facilitating my first one in September resulting in beneficial feedback, I wish to continue.
We’ll each bring our meditation experiences to interacting with one another and can then apply beneficial circling takeaways to deepen and enrich our meditation practices.
When presented with “The Pāramitā Challenge” I accepted and here we are. In addition to the Pāramitās or Perfections, so far, the challenge also includes precepts and the 52 Stages of the Bodhisattva Path and Bodhisattva vows.
So far, instructions are to journal contemplations resulting from observed intentions, opportunities, and actions to be generous, moral and ethical while arousing faith in the Triple Gem then seeing where/when confident and where/when in doubt.
I’ve not taken Bodhisattva vows, and so with little instruction in Mahāyāna Buddhism, apart from maybe a smidgen of the zen stuff, there’s the benefit of beginner’s mind is a nice way to put it. I shoot from the hip with a lot in this recording and will often use a Theravada lens and a lot of inquiry as I ponder out loud. It may come off at times as criticism and sometimes it may actually be, but these are mostly solo efforts at summonings what is really meant by the material.
Why even bother with investigation or inquiry? Perhaps inquire, assess and question with intent to lead toward true knowledge, liberation and the (long-term) well-being of all. Know the truth of the way things actually are and then align with truth to bring great happiness. But how and why does aligning with truth bring happiness? Maybe it’s time to investigate for oneself?
This blog post collects various odds and ends to aid with inquiry and investigation.
For this month’s regular open-audience, open-discussion “Ask Us Anything” — continuing discussions about meditation and related topics — Denny and I hosted a open roundtable on “Practice-in-place” with fellow Insight Timer teacher Lydia Grace and Joanne Muir. The term “Practice-in-place” comes as a wise meditative response to “Shelter-in-place” induced by reactions to Co-V.
While we touch on many topics we mainly discuss ramifications in now using more technology in our practices and sessions.
This is a slightly edited extract from the notes for the now published post Studying And Practicing With “The Iddhipāda-Vibhaṅga Sutta — An Analysis Of The Bases Of Power”: Summary, Findings, Observations And Comparisons (7 of 7): Perhaps the four protective meditations on foulness, death, loving-kindness and the Buddha are helpful to address non-benevolent powerful forcesContinue reading “Wisdom Snippets: Some Of What The Four Protective Meditations Deter”
Focusing primarily on the body in order to experience the full moon in potentially nuanced ways, I guided participants through various observations, inquiries, connections, remembrances, energies, considerations and perhaps even imaginations and visualizations while in states of meditation, contemplation and reflection.
Friend and mother Kristy Geltz shares her knowledge, wisdom and experiences with pregnancy, giving birth and mothering. (While still listenable just know we recorded on Kristy’s porch with nearby construction vehicles beeping and the main recording didn’t take so using the lesser quality Wisdom App live recording.) Topics include: Or listen via Insight Timer (appContinue reading “Conscious Pregnancies With Kristy Geltz”
During the resolve to not get up from under a Bodhi tree until realizing full awakening, the Buddha recalled previous lives. How did he, and how can we tell what is really and truly an authentic past life? What’s mentioned in this blog post are a few things that could be mistaken for past lives, and some of them are pretty far out.
Very brief instruction, technique and practice period to help discern when attention is on or off the meditation object. Practice this solo, without external guidance. Experiment — if need be — by altering, adjusting, and adding just enough so it works best for you. Stick with this training wheels technique at least for a fewContinue reading “Brief Guided Meditation: Discernment of Meditation Object”
Immediately relevant to the extensive linked list of Healing Modalities and Resources on IntegratingPresence.com I sit down with Shelly and Shawn White who, amongst many things, is a cancer conqueror, massage therapist, entrepreneur and spa founder/owner based in the greater St Louis, Missouri area. Or listen via Insight Timer (app or website) We mostly discussContinue reading “Shawn White’s State Of The Massage Industry”
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