Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Michael Gelb - How To Link Meditation, Routine, and Creativity

“Surrounded by noises from televisions, airplanes, subways and automobiles, most of us ‘tune out’ for self-protection.”
creativity; psychology today; michael gelb;
Creativity - Michael Gelb

Living in a faraway country, one that is overpopulated and overorderly (Japan), I feel the need to occasionally go into protective mode myself. Knowing the language somewhat proficiently has allowed me to come out of that protective shell. You should have seen me fresh off the boat, so to speak. I was a cultural klutz, a walking ignoramus. But there was something fresh about that time, something innocent. And if I hadn't spent so much of my waking life chasing booze and girls, I probably would have 

Discipline is the cure-all for that. We know that to be creative, to exercise the mind, body, and spirit, is what we are put here to do. Something beyond language and logic calls to us and shouts that message into our souls from the universal megaphone of life.

Spiritual practice has helped me stay more creative, as well. 

Gelb writes, "For those of us who live so much in our heads, that kind of connection with body sensations can be particularly challenging. Maybe personal growth practices like meditation can help."

On a related note, I once heard someone say that if you are having trouble with discipline, then create your own personal experiment. Pick something completely mundane or ridiculous, but make sure that you do it every single day. He gave the example of pouring a glass of water into the toilet at the exact same time each day. 

Magical things will start happening in your life if you add a bit of discipline, a pinch of consistency to your existence, and this added ingredient can be the practice of meditation itself. Routine aids focus and ushers in purposefulness. Treat your routines like pets, plants, or children (all great tools to practice the skill of implementing routine, by the way) and nurture them tenderly, but rein them in when they get out of your hands. Your brain, plastistic by nature, will morph into something slightly different, something more utilitarian and well-rounded. It will work with your emotions better, and your emotions better with it. They will negotiate their terms like lifelong politicians instead of infants in the sandbox.


Getting back to Gelb, there are two important reminders here: silence and routine. Good luck finding both, each and every day. Start with meditation because we can train our brains to be quiet, even in the din of the shopping mall or the ruckus of the morning rush.

Source: 

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/creative-mind/2015/03/michael-gelb-on-how-to-be-more-creative/#more-2943

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Chris Ryan & Frans de Waal - Man Is Not Violent By Nature

Do you agree with Dr. de Waal in the notion that man is not inherently violent? Our two closest ancestors, chimps and bonobos, who are identically distant to us evolutionarily, are very different creatures in their behaviors. Chimps, though not always aggressive, have been known to do some pretty gruesome things both in domestic and wild life. Bonobos, on the other hand, are banned from some zoos because of their open and frequent sexual displays, often used as a tool to avoid conflict. So, I'll ask again: which ape are we more similar to? 


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Monday, March 30, 2015

Chris Ryan - You Don't Need Money To Be Happy

Much of what society tells us is fiction: money rules us, health care rules us, saving for retirement rules us. These abstract concepts only rule us if we let them. We always have the power to rule the present moment, to control our days one at a time. And we can use minimalism and having little money to make us even more free. Grow healthful food, buy a micro house or a log cabin, exercise, stretch, meditate, and pursue creativity every single day. Please have a listen to Chris Ryan and share this message with others.


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Sunday, March 29, 2015

Christopher Hansard - Fear and Individuality

I'm still working my way through The Tibetan Art of Serenity by Christopher Hansard and found myself with a rare hour of quiet (my pregnant wife was asleep with my son). So I went downstairs and recorded my first podcast in a long time. Please have a listen and let me know what you think in the comment section below. Also consider subscribing to the podcast on the right sidebar. Thank you.

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Joe Rogan & Duncan Trussell - God Is In Everything

"Look how much crazy shit is going on [now]. And religious violence is still going on? But we're seeing more and more people connected, more and more people kind and aware.

"There are fascists wearing hippy clothes, wearing hippy outfits."

There will always be these people on the fringes "throwing firecrackers into the delivery room of the Future." We just have to deal with them and use ancient technologies like loving awareness to temper their angry spirits.

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joe rogan; duncan trussell; god; technology
God & Technology

Joe Rogan & Duncan Trussell - The Entire Universe Will Be Animated

This clip sets off an interesting discussion about identity and how technological advancements will make personal choice about identity much more wide-ranged, advancing freedoms to a new level. "It'll be a great voice [to have]," says Duncan. "We have so many restrictions on us based on our biology." And we have to accept them. "The idea that these can be enhanced [is about to] level up our species."

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joe rogan; duncan trussell; hologram; universe
Hologram Projector

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Christopher Hansard - We Need To Be Foolish

Wisdom, I think we all have a hint at how to attain, but often we assume that, like shooting a basketball or singing an opera solo, it takes a high level of work and talent. Christopher Hansard disagrees. He says that we are all born with the perfect balance of wisdom and foolishness.

christopher hansard; tibetan buddhism; wise; foolish
The Wise Self & The Foolish Self
The perfect amount of foolishness? I was scratching my head here too, for modern society has taken the permissiveness out of being foolish. When we're on the clock foolishness is considered out of bounds in many cases. Love, passion, individual spirit, and dreaming big all fall under the protective umbrella of the Foolish


christopher hansard; foolish self; tibetan buddhism
The Foolish Self (Cont.

Foolishness is daring to predict the future and daring still to take the calculated steps necessary to realize that dream. But, of course, there are too many unknown variables to get it right from the first prediction. The Wise are able to see the unseen and bring continuity, serenity, and simplicity to the whole process, but all Wise action needs a Fool to get the ball rolling. And as long as you're interacting with other people each day, there is the chance to be both Foolish and Wise in the best sense of both words.
christopher hansard; balancing the wise and foolish selves; tibetan buddhism
Losing the Balance

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Jack Kornfield & Duncan Trussell - The Potential For Conflict Is In Us All

Listen to this excellent short talk about the potential for conflict and how it resides in us all. Even spiritual masters like Jack Kornfield feel the "dragon" come knocking on the door with its fiery breath and tempting logic. Jack gives good advice about mindfulness and how to fend the ornery beast off.


Jack Kornfield; Duncan Trussell; DTFH podcast; spirituality; conflict
Conflicted Self

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Thursday, March 26, 2015

Christopher Hansard - Fear

meditation, tibet, dalai lama, western, eastern
From The Tibetan Art Of Serenity
Fear is something that we all share, yet we all hide from each other like little dirty secrets under heavy layers of pride and shame. But why? This is another example of how faith and trust are requisite human characteristics, not religious ones. If we can have faith in our humanity, in the fact that every human has similar feelings of fear, then we can better work together to live comfortably with those fears, or even use them as a positive force in the world and in our individual and collective growth.
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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Duncan Trussell & Jack Kornfield - Clump Of Self




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Read more of Jack here.

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spirituality; buddhism; self
Jack Kornfield and Duncan Trussell

Duncan Trussell & Jack Kornfield - Not Converting To Buddhism, Just Thinking More Like The Buddha


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Read Jack's books here.

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spirituality; buddhism; converting
Buddha Thinking - Jack Kornfield and Duncan Trussell

Duncan Trussell & Jack Kornfield - Christ, The Buddha, and Pat Robertson


Christ, the Buddha, and Pat Robertson walk into a bar. Sounds like a hilarious joke that I'm sure has already been written. Duncan and Jack make a great analysis of the infamous Christian TV show host's latest headliner. What stuck out for me was that Christianity, when practiced correctly, is simply about love, loving everyone and everything on God's green earth no matter how defamed, defiled, or defunct. Pat Robertson seems to be taking a different path here as he akins his version of the religion to pathology. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't use the war metaphor on this time. 

Man from Earth; hate; narrow thinking
Buddha and Jesus
Download the audio here. Recommended watch: The Man From Earth

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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Krishnamurti - You Do Not Add Beauty To Meditation

Thinking that you are enhancing meditation by bringing yourself to it is a mistake.
Krishnamurti - Meditation Is Neverending

This quote says a lot about humility and serves as a reminder that meditation isn't just for when we have the time, and is definitely not to be used as a therapist escape from mostly non-attentive daily living (which I am just as guilty of falling back into as many of you). Check out the Krishnamurti Reader for more no-nonsense, sage advice from one of the greatest contemplative thinkers.

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Monday, March 23, 2015

Bear Raises Iranian Child - A Story Told By Jack Kornfield

Jack Kornfield told this story and I called bogus despite his challenge to research this story for myself, for it was just too unbelievable. But I took him up on his challenge and found the report.

"Warm lives are drawn to each other in cold places," said Kornfield. Do you believe this to be true?



From my experience, I don't always believe this to be accurate. I have worked in inner city schools void of much hope, places with little light shining for good. I have seen the bright faces scorned for shining. I have seen the warm hearts cooled by fiery tempers and harsh power born out of survival.

But then I came to Japan. I have experienced kindness with no expectation for repayment, reward, or recognition. There is something to my adopted culture here that connects with this bear story. At times, being a foreigner can be exciting, new, and interesting -- utterly vibrant. At other times it can be isolating and lonely, and it never fails that a warm heart will cross my path when I dip into one of those troughs of sorrow. Humanity comes through.

According to Reuters, "A mother bear appears to have cared for a missing 16-month-old Iranian toddler who was found safe and sound three days later in the animal's den...10 km away... and was probably breast fed by the bear."

A little background about Lorestan nomads:

A number of nomadic Lur tribes continue to exist in the province. Among the settled urban populace the authority of tribal elders still remains a strong influence, though not as dominant as it is among the nomads. As in Bakhtiari Lurs and Kurdish societies, northern Lur women have had much greater freedoms than women in other Iranian groups.

For information about feral children, read this article. To read an excerpt from Ms. Kingsolver's book, click here. Order the book here. Download the audio here.


Jack Kornfield tells a wonderful story of where this worldly miracle took place.
Lorestan Province

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Sunday, March 22, 2015

The Song of Mahamudra by Tilopa (Excerpted by Ram Dass)

Excerpt from Journey of Awakening: A Meditator's Guidebook by Ram Dass:

Ram Dass chooses a very poignant and wise excerpt that reflects the pathless path.
Source: RamDass.org
Most meditative practices give very specific instructions as to what to focus on, what to think, or what to do. But in the last analysis, the meditative state goes beyond practices. Such methods are but stepping off points to this state, but they aren't always needed. There are ways to perceive yourself and the world, fright from the outset, that catapult you into the meditative state without the necessity of practices. These ways of perceiving allow you to be keenly alert, to be choiceless awareness, to have clarity. These methodless methods are found in the writings of all traditions. One of the most beautiful statements of this non-technique is found in the Song of Mahamudra by Tilopa:

Mahamudra is beyond all words
And symbols, but for you, Naropa,
Earnest and loyal, must this be said.

The Void needs no reliance,
Mahamudra rests on nought.
Without making an effort,
But remaining loose and natural,
One can break the yoke
Thus gaining Liberation.

If one sees nought when staring into space,
If with the mind one when observed the mind,
One destroys distinctions
And reaches Buddhahood.

The clouds that wander through the sky
Have to roots, no home; nor do the distinctive
Thoughts floating through the mind.
Once the Self-mind is seen,
Discrimination stops.

Do nought with the body but relax,
Shut from the mouth and silent remain,
Empty your mind and think of nought.
Like a hollow bamboo

Rest at ease your body.
Giving not nor taking,
Put your mind at rest.
Mahamudra is like a mind that clings to nought.
Thus practicing, in time you will reach
Buddhahood.

Cease all activity, abandon
All desire, let thoughts rise and fall
As they will like the ocean waves.

He who abandons craving
And clings not to this or that,
Perceives the real meaning
Given in the Scriptures.

Transient is this world;
Like phantoms and dreams,
Substance it has none.
Renounce it and forsake your kin,
Cut the strings of lust and hatred,
Meditate in woods and mountains.
If without effort you remain
Loosely in the "natural state,"
Soon Mahamudra you will win
And attain the Non-attainment.

Cut the root of a tree
And the leaves will wither;
Cut the root of your mind
And Samsara falls.

Whoever clings to mind sees not
The truth of what's Beyond the mind.
Whoever strives to practice Dharma
Finds not the truth of Beyond-practice.
To know what is Beyond both mind and practice,
One should cut cleanly through the root of mind
And stare naked. One should thus break away
From all distinctions and remain at ease.

One should not give or take
But remain natural,
For Mahamudra is beyond
All acceptance and rejection.

The supreme Understanding transcends
All this and that. The supreme Action
Embraces great resourcefulness
Without attachment. The supreme
Accomplishment is to realize
Immanence without hope.

At first a yogi feels his mind
Is tumbling like a waterfall;
In mid-course, like the Ganges
It flows on slow and gentle;
In the end, it is a great
Vast ocean, where the Lights
Of Son and Mother merge in one.

Teachings of Tibetan Yoga


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Jack Kornfield - The Golden Gift We Are Born With


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Motivationblog.org; Jack Kornfield; Mind Pod Network; Podcast
Buddha Quote from Motivationblog.org

Friday, March 20, 2015

Whatever Happened To The Occupy Movement?


Well-said answer by @sonicyouth to the title's question (from the DTFH Forum):
Occupy Wall St. protesters have too much to lose.
Source: Inspirationfeed.com
Boring self-absorbed citizens able to still easily lap hedonism from the bowl of capitalism aren't really prone to genuine protest. They/I/we have too much to lose by the value we place: on the things that we have, the life that we've built, friendships we have grown and the persona we have cultivated. Real dissent can put all aspects of your life at risk and when push comes to shove most people are too cowardly or apathetic to commit to action.

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