Posts from — March 2011

This week and last I’ve spent more time reading about meditation than actually practicing it. This shows me how strong my habit pattern is to put off things that are challenging for me or that bring up even a mild amount of discomfort. It’s funny because as I’m reading at times I have the thought, “I’m reading this right now because it’s too hard to make the effort to meditate.” While thinking that, sometimes i’ll put down the book and get up and meditate and other times i’ll just keep reading.  That’s how the process has gone for me this week.

But Sunday was different. Sunday, stranded with no phone or computer, not by choice but by circumstance (i left my phone charger at work and my cell was dead, and my apartment has no internet so i have to go to a coffeeshop if i want to go online. this is too much effort for a Sunday. So, after panicking rightly so for a few hours on Saturday night and Sunday morning, I decided to just relax. I read my meditation book (not kidding) and then actually practiced watching my breath and meditating in the morning. Before I did this, i can’t tell you how restless I was with no mode of communication and with none of my usual distractions at hand – internet surfing, facebook, just picking up the phone. I was actually scared and panicked before I settled down. But once I breathed in and out for 20 minutes and meditated and read my book on how not to be afraid of being alone, I felt quite good. I felt great actually. This is what staying in the present moment, even if it’s icky means, I think. Once I was able to blast through the super dramatic stories of what not talking to anyone or being with anyone meant, I realized I could create a safe space for myself right there and then. And that’s when i started to relax.

So that’s my little experience with meditation and sticking with the present moment for this week.

On another note, I’m proud of myself because I see that perhaps I do have the discipline and will power (and the desire) needed to make meditation a daily habit of mine. I’ve gone to the gym consistently for the last two weeks and keeping up that habit (more than any of the actual excercises) has made me quite happy.

There are three steps that can make meditation more than an exercise in relaxation (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but a sacred declaration of aliveness and goodness.

Before you do your spiritual practice:

Make offerings. When you walk into a shrine room of any religion, there are often flowers, candles, and incense. These are offerings. You can make a similar type of setup in your home, by creating a smaller version of a traditional shrine. Or you can simply place some fresh flowers next to a picture of someone or something you love and aspire to emulate. You can light a candle as an offering of warmth, light, and safety. And, when in doubt, the best offering is one you can always make, no matter where you are or how you feel and that is your own experience in the moment.

Before meditation, touch in with how it feels to be you right now. Maybe you feel great, crappy, or all of the above. Feel it. Offer it to whom or whatever you hold sacred by saying something like, “I offer exactly who I am right now to the highest wisdom and goodness I can imagine.” You don’t have to know exactly what this means, just rouse a sense of generosity. [Read more →]

According to Buddhism, there are three kinds of leaders. Which one are you?

The first is the King. A King leads the charge; heads up the expedition, project, or creation. The King crosses the finish line first, making it possible for his team to also cross. He has the vision, makes decisions, and then telegraphs his instructions to the team backing him up. What they work on today, he attended to yesterday. What they will do tomorrow, he is figuring out today.

The second kind of leader is called the Ferryman, who brings all on board before attempting to make a crossing. He makes sure everyone has a position, knows the positions of others, and how what each does impacts the whole. He leads through creating relationships while always keeping an eye on the other shore. What they accomplish is a result of collaboration. The process is everything and when they win, all cross the finish line together.
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Can I just say I’m thrilled that Russell Brand is a meditator? For some reason, I take personal pride in every newcomer to the practice. I know he’s been practicing because I read it in the New York Times yesterday, in an article called Look Who’s Meditating Now. The article discussed Brand’s practice, Transcendental Meditation and his teacher, film director David Lynch’s influence on the culture of meditation. In addition to his foundation that offers free TM instruction to vets, prisoners, the homeless, and others who would not otherwise have access, Lynch has also personally “counseled” (Times’ word) actors on meditation, including Mr. Brand.

The article suggests that the benefits of meditation range from the physical (helps with obesity and hypertension) to the psychological (promotes relaxation, makes you less angry) to mitigating artistic angst (Lynch: “Maybe suffering is a romantic idea to get girls, but it’s an enemy to creativity.”) Dr. Mehmet Oz, Susan Sarandon, and Moby were also quoted and each mentioned in a different way how the practice was about calming down, not freaking out.

The part I liked was how you might think that meditation could help you take a larger perspective, which is both calming and a more creative way of being. The part I didn’t like was how you might also think that meditation could make you a famous, successful celebrity or, a second choice, a smoothly competent person who lives in bliss. I’m not saying this is what TM says, only how it came off in the article. To me. [Read more →]

The other day, I was ecstatically happy to attend a talk at the New York Public Library by one of my idols, Karen Armstrong. She is an expert on world religions—not just the ins and outs of doctrine, but each faith’s character and intention. Karen’s work puts a human face on our love of the divine and the search for meaning. Reading her work expands my heart and deepens my intelligence at the same time, so obviously I love her. (If you want to love her too, I suggest starting with her memoir, The Spiral Staircase.)

Karen has created something called “The Charter for Compassion” for the purpose of spreading ideas of kindness, tolerance, and understanding. Part of her rationale for why this can work at all is that we’re programmed to be compassionate already. Every single faith has at its heart a version of the teaching to Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself, because it is only by treating others as we would ourselves that this world will exist in peace.

Yes, yes, I thought. Of course this is true. Buddhists say the same exact thing, that bodhicitta (the union of compassion and wisdom) is both inherent in our nature and the hope of this world.

Yay! No, wait, boo. Because the very next moment, I realized that I had a problem. If I actually tried to treat my neighbors as myself, my neighbors would be in a lot of trouble. I’d be saying to them a lot of stuff like: [Read more →]

What if I told you that the way to change the world was not to be bold, resolute, brilliant, or even compassionate? What if I told you that the way to change the world was to be sad?

It sounds so improbable. When we think of those who have taught us the most about meaningful change, we think of people who are very, very brave, say, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, The Dalai Lama. Unwavering. Deep. Devoted to others and willing to die for what they believe, quite literally.

How do you get to be such a person? [Read more →]

Jenna is a wonderful pal who has taken on her meditation practice with commitment, humor, and just the right dab of melancholy. Her blog, Drinking to Distraction, is a great account of her efforts to cease distracting herself from, well, her Self. Big up, Jenna. You’re a warrior goddess for sure.

Here is Jenna’s account of what it’s been like to enter into meditation practice. After 10 months or so, this perspective is really valuable.

For years, I considered making meditation practice a part of my life. Meditation was something I idealized; it was part of the person I wanted to become.

I thought it would calm me down (eg, when trapped behind slow walkers, I would not want to throw them into oncoming traffic), deepen my understanding of the world (eg, Sarah Palin’s popularity would immediately become clear), and make me a better person (eg, when my mother announced that I should have married my college boyfriend…again, I’d smile and know her intentions were pure). (I soon came to realize none of these are true.) [Read more →]

Conversation with Jennifer Louden from susan piver on Vimeo.

Wherein we touch on her fantastic new initiative, Savor & Serve, writing, creativity, making a living, wondering if our lives will pan out, meditation, saving the world, and hairdos. Enjoy!