Join meditation 6:00-6:45pm tonight, Wednesday, August 25th at Fat Cat Longevity [https://facebook.com/freyflow] downstairs next to Peace Love Coffee at Mary’s House of Healing, on Main St in St Charles, MO. Similar to past meditations, we plan to start with brief instructions along with a discussion before and after. Our semi-formal meditation possibilities include — but are not limited to —Continue reading “An Integrating Presence Meditation at Fat Cat Longevity Wednesday August 25, 2021”
Author Archives: josh dippold
Irregular Inquires — Questions For Investigating Energy
Currently, over 15 (groups of) questions for investigating energy, including:
What is energy? How do you know?
Where and how do you experience energy?
What kinds, or types of energy are there?
Why is energy important?
Where does energy come from? Where does it go?
Inclusive Compassion Practice (as not to neglect the other Bhramaviharas, or Sublime Abidings)
This blog post provides a more experimental approach involving mostly perception, reflection and contemplation. If not calling to you, or remain unmoved, please pass on it for the time being. Furthermore, any and all constructive critical responses are welcome — especially why this ought to be abandoned and/or any improvement suggestions.
The intent: how to continually practice karuṇā — compassion — at least in the background, even if/when life calls more for the other Bhramaviharas.
Insights And Takeaways From “Love As The Breath Of Life” — Online Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto and Willa Thaniya Reid
September 22, 2023 UPDATE: Retreat video now on YouTube: The recent online Ajahn Sucitto and Willa Thaniya Reid retreat “Love as the Breath of Life” brought forth such a plethora of insight amidst (minor) domestic challenges such as establishing and maintaining one’s retreat space amidst everyday home life. I liken much of the notes belowContinue reading “Insights And Takeaways From “Love As The Breath Of Life” — Online Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto and Willa Thaniya Reid”
An Integrating Presence Meditation: Deeply Sensing Body Areas — July 28, 2021 At Fat Cat Longevity
This meditation (recorded live) aims to strengthen and deepen the 32 Parts of the Body portion of Body Contemplation in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness — not meant as regular practice or substitute. Partial inspiration comes from this Four Foundations of Mindfulness visual:
“Just as if there were a double-mouthed provision bag full of various kinds of grain such as hill paddy, paddy, green gram, cow-peas, sesamum, and husked rice, and a man with sound eyes, having opened that bag, were to take stock of the contents thus: “This is hill paddy, this is paddy, this is green gram, this is cow-pea, this is sesamum, this is husked rice.” Just so, monks, a monk reflects on this very body enveloped by the skin and full of manifold impurity, from the soles up, and from the top of the head-hairs down, thinking thus: “There are in this body hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidney, heart, liver, midriff, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, gorge, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, nasal mucus, synovial fluid, urine.” ~The Foundations of Mindfulness — Satipatthana Sutta
Materiality And Mentality | (7/27/2021 — “Ask Us Anything – LIVE” With Denny K Miu And Guest Beth Upton)
For this month’s regular open-audience, open-discussion “Ask Us Anything LIVE” — continuing discussions about meditation and related topics — Denny and I chat with meditation teacher Beth Upton most significantly about the Dependent Origination link Nāmarūpa, or Materiality and Mentality, which, according to Wikipedia, is “used in Buddhism to refer to the constituents of aContinue reading “Materiality And Mentality | (7/27/2021 — “Ask Us Anything – LIVE” With Denny K Miu And Guest Beth Upton)”
Images For The Minds Of The Three Kinds Of People In The World
The three types of people in the world are likened to a person with a mind like an open sore, a person with a mind like lightning, and a person with a mind like diamond.
“And who has a mind like an open sore? It’s someone who is irritable and bad-tempered. Even when lightly criticized they lose their temper, becoming annoyed, hostile, and hard-hearted, and they display annoyance, hate, and bitterness. They’re like a festering sore, which, when you hit it with a stick or a stone, discharges even more. In the same way, someone is irritable and bad-tempered. Even when lightly criticized they lose their temper, becoming annoyed, hostile, and hard-hearted, and they display annoyance, hate, and bitterness. This is called a person with a mind like an open sore.”
Illustrated: The Buddha’s Five Themes For Addressing Unskillful Thoughts
In the Vitakkasaṇṭhāna Sutta — The Relaxation of Thoughts (MN 20) the Buddha provides five themes to attend to at the appropriate times for those intent on heightening the mind. (The full post includes images and passages with explanations)
1) Small Peg Knocking Out Larger One (to attend to another theme)
2) Disgusted By Wearing Carcass (to know certain thoughts are unskillful, blameworthy, and resulting in stress)
3) Looking Away (to pay no mind to unskillful thoughts)
4) From Running To Walking To Standing To Sitting To Lying Down (to relax thought fabrications)
5) Clenching Teeth (to crush unskillful/evil mind with awareness)
Kind Boundaries
“To be kind to those who are unkind in return only seems one-sided to the one ‘keeping score’. When reciprocity doesn’t come from people around you, but from the will of the Universe moving through a depiction of characters, you will come to realize how people’s behavior is more reflective of where they are in their journey and never a reflection of your intention or self-worth. While you certainly don’t have to be best friends or lovers with those who ‘take’ with nothing else to ‘give’, because you are serving the will of the Universe, you are always being celebrated by the loving intelligence of divinity for all that you do — even when received by people solely designed to reflect your progress out of the plight of unfairness and into the light of eternal faith.” — from the 7/4/2021 Matt Kahn newsletter
This blog post responds to following question put to me that references the above quote:
“A question for you, as stated today in Matt Kahn’s newsletter that you don’t have to be friends with those who are unkind to you, do you think it’s more of a reacting in the moment with kindness and then you are ok to choose not to hang out with them anymore? And then how do you handle this with family or people you are more obligated or even forced to see for some time until you can completely break the relationship? I understand fully those societal obligations can be broken but just curious on your take on repeat interactions with those who are unkind.”
An Integrating Presence Meditation: Breathing Nine Beneficial Energies Into Embodiment — June 29, 2021 At Fat Cat Longevity
In this (now recorded) mediation we worked with breath to embody the beneficial energies of:
• Smiling
• Our most relaxed experience
• Gratitude [and/or appreciation and thankfulness]
• Forgiveness
• Service
• Loving-kindness
• Compassion
• (Vicarious) joy [and/or gladness]
• Equanimity
• [Additional beneficial energies not mentioned:]
◦ various ideal blessings
◦ energies from (being around) your spiritual entourage
◦ goodness
◦ generosity
Integrating Presence 