Tag Archives: meditation

An Integrating Presence (Three Minute) Meditation And Reality (Characteristics) Contemplation

Meditation:
Meditate continuously for three minutes on an object

Contemplation:
Able to keep attention on the object the entire time?

If not, why is that?

If yes, did the quality and degree of attention change?

Why can’t we lock a consistent, unchanging attention to something without it wavering, or changing, or without distraction?

Perhaps then consider that in life, and especially noticeable in meditation, we sometimes think we should able to keep a consistent, unchanging attention to something. Maybe we can now better see how this erroneous view of deceptively defaulting to expecting constancies in life can result in stress and unsatisfactoriness

Dharmic Strategies For Empaths

This niche topic for empaths, or energetically sensitive beings, encapsulates years of note taking from experience, study and practice, provides nine categories of approach:

1) Gratitude for opportunities
2) Mindfulness (– especially of contact and vēdanā)
3) Hedonic Tone and the Three Characteristics of Existence
4) Self and identification
5) Equanimity and compassion
6) The Four Right Efforts and Five Hinderances
7) Energy
8) Non-attachment
9) Miscellaneous strategies

An Integrating Presence Meditation Circle at Fat Cat Longevity Wednesday September 22, 2021

After joining several meditation circles I now wish to facilitate one. 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.

Join in at Fat Cat Longevity in St Charles on Wednesday, September 22th 2021 from 6:00pm – 6:45pm. (Details in the full blog post)

Qi And Astrology | (8/31/2021 — “Ask Us Anything – LIVE” With Denny K Miu)

For this month’s regular open-audience, open-discussion “Ask Us Anything” — continuing discussions about meditation and related topics — Denny presents the long standing Five Element system mostly in terms of astrology, Qi and the body — an expansion on his article Qi and the “Real” Organs — with me commenting along the way until theContinue reading “Qi And Astrology | (8/31/2021 — “Ask Us Anything – LIVE” With Denny K Miu)”

An Integrating Presence Meditation at Fat Cat Longevity Wednesday August 25, 2021

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”

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)”

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)