Meditation Mind

The science of meditation neuroplasticity

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Wed, 03 May 2017 02:32:00 +0000

The science of meditation neuroplasticity, the brain evolves based on the activities we perform. Regular practice of loving kindfulness meditation leads to increased compassion and thereby teaches our brain to be more socially intelligent.

Abuse has many forms.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Sat, 04 Feb 2017 10:34:00 +0000

Abuse has many forms. Expropriating one's childhood in favour of an adults pursuits is one of the subtlest varieties of shadow self creation.

Child Within Penning that is, writing down the truth of our feelings, our point of view, our fears

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 09:43:00 +0000

Child Within Penning – that is, writing down the truth of our feelings, our point of view, our fears, our angers, our hopes, our expectations, our desires, our fantasies, our hatreds, our regrets, our thoughts, our memories, our prejudices, our secret loves, our painful experiences, our humiliations, our past traumas – requires massive intimacy with ourself. This self-intimacy is the essence of mindfulness, and yet is also what makes mindfulness so difficult. Many people find it difficult to script – or write in a deep and prolonged way – because of the strange feelings of being so emotionally intimate with ourself. But if we can tolerate the potential discomfort, if we can sit with the truth of who we really are and look at our truth expressed on the page in front of you, then you can nurture a wonderful relationship with our greatest ally: our own true child within!

In each of us, there is a child within. Our child within is perfect and undamaged.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 09:33:00 +0000

In each of us, there is a child within. Our child within is perfect and undamaged. We have all had times of difficulty as children and many of us have experienced childhood problems of disrespect. To protect and defend ourselves against future suffering, we the dtysfunctioning adult often attempt to forget those painful times. Every time we’re in touch with the experience of suffering, we believe we can’t bear it, and we stuff our feelings and memories deep down in our unconscious mind. Where the child rebels once more from our adult abuse, It may be that we haven’t dared to face this child for many decades.

But just because we may have ignored the child doesn’t mean she or he isn’t there. The child within is always there, trying to get our attention. The child says, “I’m here. I’m here. You can’t avoid me. You can’t run away from me.” We want to end our adult suffering by sending the child to a deep place inside, and staying as far away as possible. But running away doesn’t end the child within confusion; it only prolongs it.

The intuitive child within voice demands attention, but we do the opposite. We run away because we’re afraid of the power inside our child. The block of confusion in us feels overwhelming. Even if we have time, we don’t come home to our child within. We try to keep ourselves constantly dissociated—watching television or movies, socialising, or using alcohol or drugs—because we don’t want to experience the child withins clarity of mind all over again.

The child is there and we don’t even know he/she is there. The child in us is a reality, but we can’t see her/him. That inability to see is a kind of ignorance of the constructed parent. This child has been severely ignored. She or he really needs us to return to the clarity of mind we used to posses. Instead we turn away from our childhood truths.

Ignorance is in each cell of our body and our consciousness. It’s like a drop of ink diffused in a glass of water. That ignorance stops us from seeing reality; it pushes us to do foolish things that make us suffer even more and confuse us again the already-ignored child within us.

The child is also in each cell of our body. There is no cell of our body that does not have that child in it. We don’t have to look far into the past for that child. We only have to look deeply and we can be in touch with him/her. The distracted child within is lying inside all of us right now in the present moment.

But just as the child within is present in every cell of our body, so are the seeds of awakened understanding and happiness handed down to us from our perfect child within. We just have to use them. We have a lamp inside us, the lamp of our child within shining in our locked basement, which we can re-light anytime. The oil of that lamp is our breathing, our stages, and our perfection. We have to light up that lamp of childhood so the light will shine out and the darkness will dissipate and cease. Our practice is to light up the lamp.

When we become aware that we’ve forgotten the child in ourselves, we feel great compassion for that child and we begin to generate the energy of re-connection. The practices of walking, sitting, and breathing are our start our reconnection. With our breath and steps, we can produce the energy of our child and return to the awakened wisdom lying in each cell of our body. That energy will embrace us and heal us, and will heal the damaged adult that skates on our surface tormenting us.

We have childhood and adulthood all backwards.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 09:16:00 +0000

We have childhood and adulthood all backwards. start to imagine how it would be if our children within were the true leaders and we all followed their example.

Firstly, the child within has no job or financial responsibilities. They are free to dedicate 100% of their time to leading us forward.

The Child Within wouldn’t need to lead through fear, intimidation, well placed press campaigns, or even charisma, but through the simple fact of them being helpless. Anything that might put our health at risk, and therefore our ability to adequately take care of our helpless leaders, would have to be cut out of our lifestyle.

We would probably exercise more, eat less crappy, junk foods, and consume less alcohol, drugs and cigarettes.

We all know our child within like to sleep a lot, and through this example, maybe we’d learn how important rest is. Maybe we would stop killing ourselves for money, stop exhausting our energy in pursuit of material happiness, and simply come home and sleep.

And yes, there are nights when our child within doesn’t sleep, when they keep their parents up all night, exhausting them, but it would be okay because you wouldn’t have to go to work the next day, and no sick note would be needed.

All you would have to do is call your boss and say that you were up all night taking care of one of the leaders of the world, so you won’t be in today as they are finally asleep and you are about to join them.

We wouldn’t have to worry about our child within spending the country’s money as they don’t need fancy clothes, expensive cars, or luxury holidays. They just need simple clothing, love, care and attention.

Maybe this would make us take a long hard look at the things we actually need. If our helpless leaders can survive without so much, then why can’t we? Especially as we’re actually aware and able to take care of ourselves. Why would we need more than our leaders?

World leader meetings would not be affairs where country politics, the economy, laws or spreading of the countries funds are discussed, but they would be times of selfless, inspired gift-giving, food, smiles, and quality time spend with family, friends and loved ones.

We all know that nothing brings people together in a loving way more than a newborn child.

Our Child within would not have to give long speeches to try and inspire their people, as they are naturals at inspiring wonder and appreciation for life. To watch a child learn to move, smile and giggle for the first time makes you stop and contemplate how wonderful the simple things in life are.

Everything to our child hidden within is the most amazing thing in the world.

They don’t need computer games, blockbuster movies, or to be entertained with technology. They find pleasure and wonder and happiness in simple games of peek-a-boo, or simply lifted into the air and bounced on a knee.

They are amazed by the simple fact that we have hands and feet that we can move and control just by thinking. Watching them learn to grab, sit, crawl and walk, is an awe-inspiring time, and maybe we’d start to marvel everyday at our own ability to walk, talk, sing, dance, and make each other smile and laugh just by pulling a silly face.

Maybe we’d wake up every morning and take a minute to stare at our hands and feet, wiggle our toes and play with our fingers, fascinated by our own miraculous selves.

Pollution, war and fighting would all have to become things of the past, as they would most definitely pose too much of a threat to our leaders upbringing.

Plus, leaders ultimately decide on going to war but I think babies would be too busy sleeping to even start any.

Maybe we’d have more story-time, build more playgrounds instead of factories, plant more trees instead of paving roads, and take better care of animals so our leaders can grow up to see and learn.

To cherish women would become our life. To look after our sisters and daughters, mothers and aunties, the past, present and future birth givers of our leaders.

Babies would also be truly neutral.

They have no prejudice and no ego. They are completely untouched by the trappings of greed, jealousy, hate, or other negative emotions we allow to drive us in adulthood.

Our Child within hold no grudges and have not experienced betrayal or lies yet. They represent what every person and country needs at some point — a complete, clean slate and fresh start.

Our Child Within also have true power, which they don’t obtain through the threat of military force, scandal or money, but through simply existing.

Only our child within can put a woman through nine months of pain and aches, and hours of labor, only to instantly and completely fill her with joy the moment they’re born.

Only a child within can make the toughest men you’ve ever met turn into soft-talking, silly-face-making, happy clowns, who’ll play peek-a-boo on a semi-crowded train full of strangers without caring what anyone around thinks of them.

And when our child within grow into adults who can finally feed, dress and take care of themselves, there would be no farewell ceremony, no speeches given, no need to ask them to step gracefully down.

No. Instead they would just be given a ball, or a bike, or meet up with other former leaders, and with a smile told, “Thank you, you can go outside and play now.”#10stages#childwithin.

Turn away from the computer/tablet/smartphone and sit for a moment noticing the sensations in your mind and body

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 01:30:00 +0000

Turn away from the computer/tablet/smartphone and sit for a moment noticing the sensations in your mind and body.

How do you feel? What can you hear?

Try to be as present in that moment.

If your mind wanders off to tasks that you have to complete or starts working over things that happened yesterday, let these go.

Gently bring your mind’s focus back to the present. Just be wherever you are for a few moments.

Remember: mindfulness is not about trying to make sense of anything, it’s about attention to that moment.

Meditation Mind eating meditation

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 01:24:00 +0000

Will you be eating any food today?

Thought so.

So you can practice a little mindfulness meditation while you eat.

When you take the first bite of any meal, just take a moment to really pay attention to the taste.

Look at the food carefully, feel the textures in your mouth, smell it and notice how your body reacts to it.

You don’t need to keep this up all the way through the meal, but use it every now and then to focus your attention.

Ten Stages After this session Dare to be fully recovered

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 14:43:00 +0000

After this session Dare to be fully recovered

When a new hour begins today, dare to smile gratefully.

When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.

When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.

When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.

When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.

When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.

When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.

When times are tough, dare to be tougher.

When love hurts you, dare to love again.

When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.

When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.

When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.

When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.

When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.

MEDITATIONS ON THE TEN STAGES PATH

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 12:48:00 +0000

Meditations ON THE TEN STAGES PATH

The path begins with strong reliance
On my kind Teacher, source of all good;
O Bless me with this understanding
To follow him with great devotion.

This human life with all its freedoms,
Extremely rare, with so much meaning;
O Bless me with this understanding
All day and night to seize its essence.

My body, like a water bubble,
Decays and dies so very quickly;
After death come results of karma,
Just like the shadow of a body.

With this firm knowledge and remembrance
Bless me to be extremely cautious,
Always avoiding harmful actions
And gathering abundant virtue.

Samsara’s pleasures are deceptive,
Give no contentment, only torment;
So please bless me to strive sincerely
To gain the bliss of perfect freedom.

O Bless me so that from this pure thought
Come mindfulness and greatest caution,
To keep as my essential practice
The doctrine’s root, the Pratimoksha.

Just like myself all my kind mothers
Are drowning in samsara’s ocean;
O So that I may soon release them,
Bless me to train in bodhichitta.

But I cannot become a Buddha
By this alone without three ethics;
So bless me with the strength to practise
The Bodhisattva’s ordination.

By pacifying my distractions
And analyzing perfect meanings,
Bless me to quickly gain the union
Of special insight and quiescence.

When I become a pure container
Through common paths, bless me to enter
The essence practice of good fortune,
The supreme vehicle, Vajrayana.

The two attainments both depend on
My sacred vows and my commitments;
Bless me to understand this clearly
And keep them at the cost of my life.

By constant practice in four sessions,
The way explained by holy Teachers,
O Bless me to gain both the stages,
Which are the essence of the Tantras.

May those who guide me on the good path,
And my companions all have long lives;
Bless me to pacify completely
All obstacles, outer and inner.

May I always find perfect Teachers,
And take delight in holy Dharma,
Accomplish all grounds and paths swiftly,
And gain the state of Vajradhara.

Ten Stagers will know most and yet will act innocently.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 10:38:00 +0000

Ten Stagers will know most and yet will act innocently. It is the ones who know little who make a fuss about their knowledge. The more stagers know, the less we show to others. Besides, a ten stager is never ready to correct people for their follies, to condemn them for their errors, or to accuse them of foolishness.We have experienced all these and more we see so much of errors and follies and foolishness that we never feels inclined to point them out; we just sees dissociations in its different aspects, and understands the process we go through in life. It is by mistakes and errors that we learn in the end, and stagers never feels that we should condemn anyone for them; we only feels that they are natural given the dissociations we all suffer.

We who have realised the inner life our child within

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 10:19:00 +0000

We who have realised the inner life our child within is a mystery to everyone; no one can fathom the depth of that child, except that it promises sincerity, it emits love, it commands trust, it spreads goodness, and it gives an impression of a perfect child within and the truth. For the adult who has realises the child within every act is his meditation; if we are walking in the street it is our meditation; if we are working , that is our meditation.

Therefore the one who has realised the inner life is a mystery to everyone

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 23:34:00 +0000

"Therefore the one who has realised the inner life is a mystery to everyone; no one can fathom the depth of that person, except that he promises sincerity, he emits love, he commands trust, he spreads goodness, and he gives an impression of God and the truth. For the man who has realised the inner life every act is his meditation; if he is walking in the street it is his meditation; if he is working as a carpenter, as a goldsmith or in any other trade or business, that is his meditation."
— The Inner Life

Choose an act of kindness today that you can do invisibly

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 23:27:00 +0000

Choose an act of kindness today that you can do invisibly, without receiving credit. Pick up and throw away litter without telling anyone, for instance, or send a gift certificate anonymously to someone you know who would not suspect that you were the source of this gift.

The child within is not just the emotional hidden child.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Thu, 12 May 2016 12:44:00 +0000

The child within is not just the emotional hidden child. It is deep inside us. Meaning? It is operating unconsciously. we cannot control its immediate, instinctive, automatic reactions because they happen much before our consciousness kicks in.

What is it reacting to? At a high level, we can say that the hidden child within reacts to new or threatening objects in the environment. When its triggered, it sends immediate rapid fire signals to our brain and body. To do what? To make our body ready to fight or flight the situation.

Heart beats faster. Muscles tense. Blood pressure rises. Adrenalin is pumped into our bloodstream. More sweating. Lungs take in more O2. And many, many more reactions.

This is excellent news. Without our body prepared like this, we are simply not equipped to protect ourself in the face of genuine danger. How can you run away from a snake if your body doesn't "feel" like you'll be dead if you don't?

Another excellent news is that child within triggering is so incredibly quick, automatic and visceral, that "consciously", we have to do nothing to prepare our body to fight or flight. The bodily reactions from a triggered child within just "show up in our life". One second we're a beach bum on a hammock sipping our orange and the next second we're sprinting for our life when a lizard falls on you.

Be thankful that our child within exists. It can save our life when the dangers are real.But what if the dangers are not real.What if our child within is constantly driving us, what if the child within is overdeveloped and cant switch of the responses

Meditation Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 14:19:00 +0000

Meditation Mind

May everyone be happy,
May everyone be free from misery,
May no one ever be separated from their happiness,
May everyone have equanimity, free from hatred and attachment.

Creating a stagers trigger for ourself.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 18:21:00 +0000

Creating a stagers trigger for ourself. This is something that reminds us to relax. It could be an action, like putting the phone off, or closing our computer down. Every time we do this action, take a deep in-breath and then let it out, noticing how our muscles relax. The tension will probably tend to creep back again somewhat, but by repeating this exercise we’ll get better at letting go of physical tension and find it easier to achieve a relaxed state.

Take three minute breaks from your daily schedule, perhaps in pauses between tasks, or as breaks when things are becoming stressful.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 18:08:00 +0000

This is a simple yet effective practice that illustrates how the way we pay attention changes the nature of our experience.

We have different ways of looking, both at the external world and, more metaphorically, in the mind, and the way we look determines the nature of our experience. We can look in a tight, narrow, focused way, which leads to physical tension inner tunnel vision and mental strain, or we can look in a more open and receptive way, taking awareness right to the periphery of our vision. Looking in this way leads to greater relaxation and calmness.

So-called “tunnel vision” is associated with the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers the so-called fight or flight response and leads to stress. The more open, receptive way of seeing, by contrast, promotes activity in the parasympathetic nervous system, which brings the mind, body, and emotions back into a state of rest.

Going into peripheral vision is something that can be used during “down time,” helping to create a resting space during the day, or can be used as to stay relaxed while engaged in presentations and public speaking.

BREATHING IN, BREATHING OUT

Opening the Mind shows us that how we pay attention affects the mind, this exercise teaches us that what we pay attention to likewise affects our mental and emotional states.
Paying attention to the physical sensations of the breath is probably the oldest form of meditation known. The breath has the advantage that it’s always present, that it’s an experience of the body, which helps to ground the mind, and that it’s intimately connected with our emotional states. Simply bringing the mind patiently back to the breath over and over again will have the effect of calming the mind and resolving stress. (We don’t, in this form of meditation, control the breath in any way but simply allow the breath to find its own pace).

However, there are different effects on the mind depending on whether the in breath or the out breath is paid attention to. When we emphasize awareness of the out breath, for example by counting after each exhalation, we tune in to the sense of letting go that takes place every time we breathe out. Each exhalation involves a sense of physically letting go, and this has the effect of calming the mind. On the other hand, the act of paying attention to the in breath through counting before each inhalation makes us aware of the sense of expansion and energizing that takes place each time we breathe in. This tends to have a stimulating effect on the mind, helping us to be more alert and focused. Any time you have a pause in your activities, such as between tasks or when sitting at traffic lights, or when you realise that you’re becoming stressed, bring your awareness to the breath. If you feel in need of a calming influence, begin counting out breaths. If you sense that you need more energy, count before each in breath.

INTERCONNECTEDNESS

A sense of being isolated from the world saps our confidence by making us seem small and insignificant. This meditation is a reflection on interconnectedness, in which we reflect on how the breath connects us with other living things. For example each out breath helps to create rainforests, and the air you are breathing right now comes from the forest. Rather than seeing yourself as isolated, you can come to appreciate yourself as part of a greater whole. This realization can be very empowering.
Pause before you eat or drink anything, and reflect upon not only where the food came from but on the many people (farmers, transportation workers, store employees, etc) who were involved in bringing it to you. The next time you pass a tree, give some thought to the fact that the tree is partially made up of carbon dioxide that you’ve breathed out in the past (and is therefore partly you) and that you contain oxygen that the tree has given out (and so you are partly the tree).
PROTECTED BY LIGHT
The poster depicted a scene from the Buddha’s life, in which he is experiencing his spiritual awakening while seated under the Bodhi tree. At that moment he experiences doubt and begins to question his right to experience the bliss and insight that is arising in him. Iconographically and mythically this is portrayed as an army of demonic forms assaulting the Buddha by firing arrows, and hurling rocks, spears, and other weapons at him. However the Buddha is protected by an aura, and whenever the demons’ weapons touch this aura they are transformed into beautiful flowers that fall harmlessly to the ground. We found that by imagining that we are similarly protected by an aura, our mind was protected against stress. The sources of stress were outside of us, and the aura protected us from any harmful influences.
This protective aura can also be used to provide a sense of cherishing others if we expand our own aura to embrace others around us or if we imagine people in distant places surrounded by their own protective auras. Interestingly, caring for others has also been shown to reduce our own stress.
As you go about your daily activities, and especially at times of stress, visualise your protective aura and imagine that external sources of stress cannot affect you. Extend your protection to others by embracing them in your own aura.

HEALING LIGHT MEDITATION

Appealing to a “higher power” is common in all meditative and prayer traditions, even in non-theistic traditions such as Buddhism. Exercises such as this one, in which we imagine that we are receiving light and love from an external source in the form of a ray of light that touches the heart, tap into the powerful resources of the unconscious, making more energy available for coping with everyday life.
In any periods of down time, close your eyes, bring your awareness to the heart area, and imagine that a ray of loving light is flowing to your heart. If it helps you to see this light as coming from a religious source then feel free to do so, but it’s okay to be “creatively vague” about the source of these qualities.
BEING IN THE MOMENT Anyone who has tried meditation has realised – perhaps with a certain amount of shock – just how much the mind wanders. We bring our awareness to the breath, which seems easy enough until we realize that for the last five minutes we've been daydreaming. The mind likes to wander. Much of this wandering is remarkably useless and even bad for us. We spend a surprising amount of time wishing that the past had been different, or worrying about things in the future that we have little or no control over. Mindfulness keeps on bringing us back to our present-moment experience, which in reality is the only thing we have. The past is gone and the future is just an idea. All we ever have in our experience is this eternally unfolding present moment. When we start to realize that every experience is unique and will never happen again, we begin to value our experience – and the present moment – more than ever before.
When you find yourself thinking about the past or future, come back to your present moment experience – sensing the body, your breathing, and noting how you feel – and realising that thoughts about the past and future are just thoughts. You are here, now, so cherish this moment for it will never come again.

MEETING PAIN WITH COMPASSION

A lot of our suffering is self-imposed. We take an original painful episode in our lives – perhaps something that has been said to us that we didn't like – and we replay it over and over again, in effect forcing ourselves to repeat that suffering. And we take the suffering further by creating stories – stories about our own unworthiness, thoughts about how these things shouldn't happen to us, angry thoughts about revenge, thoughts about further things that might go wrong – that cause us further pain.
Mindfulness has been shown in medical and therapeutic contexts to lessen anxiety and stress by reducing “rumination”. There are benefits to cultivating the quality of acceptance so that we can allow a sense of hurt to exist in the heart without spiralling off into thoughts that only multiply the discomfort we feel.
When you find that you’ve called to mind a circumstance that’s caused you pain, see if you can accept the unpleasant feelings that have arisen. Moreover, see if you can wish the hurting part of you well, embracing it in a field of tender care.
THREE MINUTE BREATHING SPACE
This short meditation is designed to be brought into daily life. The three-minute breathing space is an opportunity to pause momentarily amidst the day’s busyness, so that you can regain a sense of balance. First we step out of automatic pilot by noticing what’s going on in our experience this very moment. We then bring awareness to the breathing, letting go on each out breath. Finally, we expand awareness back into the whole of our experience, including our experience of the world around us, before returning to activity.
Just do it! Take three minute breaks from your daily schedule, perhaps in pauses between tasks, or as breaks when things are becoming stressful.

When we try to meditate we begin to see just how unruly the mind is as it wanders here and there in a seemingly random way.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 12:46:00 +0000

When we try to meditate we begin to see just how unruly the mind is as it wanders here and there in a seemingly random way. This gives us an opportunity to see how much of the time we live on automatic pilot. When we’re on automatic pilot the mind often manifests thought patterns such as blaming, anger, frustration, doubt, avoidance, and anxiety. These kinds of thoughts cause us suffering, but often we’re not even aware that we’re suffering.

Our Meditation Practice is the antidote to life on automatic pilot. Meditation is an attitude of conscious awareness of our experience in which we take responsibility for our own child within. The starting point for developing meditation is to consciously become aware of the sensations of the body; the aspect of our experience that it’s easiest to become aware of. Of course what happens is that the mind starts to wander. At this point we’ve lost our meditation, and are back on automatic pilot. Becoming distracted is inevitable and nothing to be concerned about. What we do when we realize that we’ve been distracted is to step back into our present moment experience by becoming aware of the body once again. When we notice that the mind is indulging in regret, frustration, or anger about having been distracted, we simply note that these things are happening and return to the body. Over time we start to notice that the mind is calming down, that the body is relaxing, and that we’re feeling more content.

This practice is our coming home and creates a foundation for every other meditation practice that follows. I’d suggest coming back to this one over and over.

Keep bringing our awareness to the body as we go about everyday activities. We may find it useful to keep our awareness focused in the middle, which is a point two finger-widths below the navel and the same distance into the body. The is the physical centre of the body, and keeping our awareness focused on that point helps to centre and ground the mind.

Our practice is part of the path to complete liberation from limiting assumptions, views, emotions, and behaviours.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 08:53:00 +0000

We have mixed feeling about the term “selflessness”. We might associate it with an ascetic self-denial, or with self-hatred. But the experience of lovingkindness teaches us that there is a loving, joyful, and deeply fulfilling way to experience a dissolving of our narrow sense. Rather than seeing selflessness as a diminution of what we are, we might be more accurately see it as a broadening and expansion of ourselves – an expansion that has, in theory, no limit.
Our practice is part of the path to complete liberation from limiting assumptions, views, emotions, and behaviours. In our terms this practice can culminate in the attainment of recovery, or enlightenment. This may not be our own personal goal in life, but in the spirit of lovingkindness we wish you well on our journey of self-discovery into the rich inner world, and hope that we find the happiness and fulfilment that is our inherent and natural potential.

This change in our perspective is just the beginning of what can be a complete transformation in the way we see ourselves.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 08:47:00 +0000

We tend to see a sharp distinction between “inside” and “outside,” “self” and “other.”

These are distinctions that seem to so natural that we rarely, if ever, question them. And yet we've seen that the notion of separate internal and external worlds doesn't hold up to scrutiny. The outside world is really a product of our subjective states meeting the objective pole of our experience.

Sometimes when we’re sitting in meditation (or even walking in meditation) this distinction between inner and outer begins to blur. We begin to have a sense that there is less of a sharp distinction between these two worlds, to see in fact that they are really one world that we unconsciously split in two. Sometimes there is no distinction at all, and our awareness simply constitutes a unitary field of awareness that lacks divisions into inner and outer, self and other.

This can happen in the our practice. While cultivating lovingkindness we are learning to widen our sense of ourselves. We’re leaving behind a narrow sense of ourselves that assumes the best way to be happy is to look mainly, or even solely, after our own interests. And yet in this practice we soon learn that we are at our happiest and most fulfilled when we take other people into account by wishing them well. This change in our perspective is just the beginning of what can be a complete transformation in the way we see ourselves.

We do, in fact often live in a state of “hallucination”

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 08:42:00 +0000

Having an argument with yourself, although you think you’re arguing with another person because you’re (in a way) hallucinating. We do, in fact often live in a state of “hallucination”, where we confuse what is going on in our heads with what is going on in the outside world.

Does this kind of internal argument have effects on the outside world and on the enemy? Well, perhaps not directly, but indirectly it certainly does. After one of these arguments we may well be in a bad mood, and take it out on “innocent people,” like our friends and family.

And of course if we meet our enemy then we’ll almost certainly have a worse relationship with him or her because of the ill will we’ve generated. To some extent, the enemy can be another one of those “innocent people.” This person has been away minding his or her own business, and then we inflict the negative mental states – that we have generated in an argument with ourselves – on them.

So what can we learn from this? We could learn just the simple fact of this dynamic, that we cultivate emotions internally and then those have an effect on the outside world. But a somewhat more profound reflection is to begin questioning the very nature of the distinction between our inner and outer worlds. What happens inside us affects our perceptions of the outside world and of the people in it. We might, for example have gotten into a bad mood through our internal argument, and in that bad mood assume that everyone is out to make our lives difficult (it’s childish, I know, but that’s how we act a lot of the time). And as I’ve pointed out, our inner argument directly affects how we perceive our enemy – perhaps it even creates the very perception of having an enemy – and then affects how we relate to them.

The practice of lovingkindness can fundamentally alter our attitudes and understandings about our relationship with the world.

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 08:39:00 +0000

The practice of lovingkindness can fundamentally alter our attitudes and understandings about our relationship with the world. Here’s an example: have you ever had the experience of having an argument with someone, but entirely in the privacy of your own head? I’m sure you’re familiar with that experience.

But have you ever wondered who it is that you’re arguing with? Most of us never get that far in our analysis of ourselves, but let’s do it now. It’s obviously not the actual other person that you’re arguing with, since they’re probably not present, and even if they are then it’s not the external version of them that you’re having the argument with.

If you think about it, you can only reach the conclusion that it’s yourself that you are arguing with. One part of your mind (which you identify as yourself) and another part of your mind (which manifests as an internal representation of your enemy) are locked in a fight. The “real” enemy isn’t involved at all. (It’s interesting to ask who, if anyone, wins these arguments, but I’ll leave you to figure that out for yourselves).

Lovingkindness practice with the help of our child within

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 08:35:00 +0000

Lovingkindness practice with the help of our child within — both in our meditation and in daily life — can play a major part in the development of wisdom, or insight. We are learning some useful things about relating to ourself and others while we’ve been learning this beautiful practice.

We can learn, for example, that emotions are something that we can cultivate, and not just things that happen to us. This can be a major insight for many people.

We can learn that whether someone is our enemy largely depends on how we relate to them.

We can learn that how others relate to us is conditioned by how we relate to them.

We can learn that how we relate to others depends on how we relate to ourselves.

We can learn that how we relate to people in our thoughts conditions how we relate to them in real life.

When we find we’ve become embroiled in an argument

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 08:25:00 +0000

When we find we’ve become embroiled in an argument, then ask ourself and the other person, “Do we want to resolve this, or do we want to win?” The idea of “winning” comes from an ego-based and highly deluded view that our happiness is best served by getting our own way. In fact, we’re generally most happy when we get what we want and remain in harmony with others. Winning makes this impossible and often, winning is losing.

We should never assume that we have all the answers. If we instead start with the assumption that we have a viewpoint which is partly true (and probably partly untrue), then we can see others with whom we have disagreements as being partners in a joint exploration of the truth, and not enemies that have to be bludgeoned by our views.

Of course this is not easy to practice. We’ll fail a lot of the time, but anything that is worth doing involves a lot of learning by trial and error. That in itself should remind us to practice humility in our disagreements with others.

Our speech is one of the most important ways we can take into the world our lovingkindness

noreply@blogger.com (Fraser Trevor) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 08:21:00 +0000

Our speech is one of the most important ways we can take into the world our lovingkindness, or that we develop in meditation .

We’ve said already that mindful speech should not only be honest, but should be meant kindly. One of the most effective means of being kind in our speech and of helping others is to express appreciation of them. This is an excellent practice.

We all tend to delete certain perceptions from our consciousness. When we have an enemy, then we’ll tend not to notice anything positive about that person; we just concentrate on what we don’t like.

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The practice of lovingkindness can fundamentally alter our attitudes and understandings about our relationship with the world.

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When we find we’ve become embroiled in an argument

Our speech is one of the most important ways we can take into the world our lovingkindness