Being self vs. Doing self by Martin I'd like to begin with a quote from Alan Watts, who asserts, “The meaning of life is to be alive... it's so simple. Everybody rushes around in great panic as if it is necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.” In a world saturated with materialism and incessant striving, […]
Reflections to strengthen your motivation to meditate. Meditating every day alone and weekly in a group is not easy. It can be even impossible when our mind is restless for whatever reason. Every time you have difficulty meditating, turn your mind toward a gratitude reflection that will benefit you. By doing so, you will […]
This breathing technique is used by the US Navy Seals **as an anti-stress relaxing technique during drills or even in covered missions. By stimulating our parasympathetic nervous system, this technique is a great anti-stress tool by slowing down the heart rate and consecutively blood pressure. It is a derivative of the so-called "Vasalva manoeuver", a […]
The Sunlight of Awareness Imagine awareness being a powerful headlight shining on your body such as breathing, physical pain, what you are doing, what you are thinking including feeling, and your immediate surroundings. For a few seconds, and under this silent shining bright light, observe, mindfully, them as they are no analysis, judgment, or decision. […]
The First Noble Truth Life is challenging…While navigating its ups and downs, we try hard to hold on to whatever pleases us and push away that which causes discomfort. As a result, life becomes a constant struggle. Even when things are going reasonably well, we are inherently aware of the impermanence of everything and our […]
The essence of meditation The essence of meditation can be summarized in 1 word: awareness. Incorporating active awareness in one sentence: Meditation is the practice of mindfulness-based active awareness to experience the surrounding realities of the present moment. In other words: active awareness is moving away from your permanent daydreaming state. Let me go through […]
Why is it so hard to meditate every day? Our Western culture is imposing on us to be busy. Our ego also loves to be busy because it implies “ I am indispensable, important, I am not lazy, and I don’t want to be bored”. To the question “ How are you doing? most of […]
Letting Go This is Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching about the practice of nurturing serenity using letting go. Taken and largely edited by myself from his book: “No Mud, No Lotus.” One method of creating /maintaining serenity is to leave behind, to accept. There is a kind of joy, and liberation that comes […]
Sounds familiar? Emotional suffering begins when you mentally label a person, a situation, or an event as negative such as: 1- Either coming from Desire: ..............meaning not getting what you want. 2- Or coming from Hatred: ..................meaning getting what you don’t want 3- Or coming from Illusion/delusion: Not being able to differentiate realities of life […]
Creating gaps in the stream of your thinking Discover inner peace by creating gaps in the stream of your thinking. Without those freedom gaps, our thoughts are repetitive, uninspired, and devoid of creative spark, and decisions. They are just daydreaming stuff made of desire, hatred, illusions, delusions, positive & negative feelings, or just navigating in […]
