Category — meditation

Yesterday I read a tweet from someone looking for advice about taking up meditation for creative reasons. I don’t know this person and I’m not sure what they were looking for, but it started me thinking on what I would say if he asked me directly.

Some of you may know that I lead meditation and writing retreats that are about reconnecting with our own creativity and, beyond that, with the moment of inspiration. And after all, what is creativity exactly, besides a continuous series of moments of inspiration? Which begs the questions: what is inspiration and where does it come from? Can my meditation practice help?

When it comes to the latter question, the answer is “absolutely” and “of course not.” [Read more →]

Hello and happy Valentine’s Day. It is a great day to think about love, although the same can be said of every day.

I returned yesterday from teaching a weekend workshop called The Wisdom of a Broken Heart, based on a book I wrote by that title. Once again, I was reminded of some very interesting things about love:

1. When we say we’re looking for love, most of us mean we’re looking for safety. Loving is the opposite of safe. Then what?
2. There is only one seat of power when it comes to love, and that is as a lover.
3. Heartbreak is simply love unbound from an object.
4. It is possible to stabilize your heart in this (broken) open state.

One of the best things ever said about love comes from Zen priest and poet, John Tarrant Roshi:

“Attention is the most basic form of love. Through it, we bless and are blessed.”

Perhaps above all, as Tarrant Roshi suggests, love is about the ability (and willingness) to simply pay attention to others, to be mindful of them. Of course a meditation practice teaches this exact skill. Please sign up for The Open Heart Project to receive instruction and support.

Beginning a meditation practice is a wonderful thing. Beginning a meditation practice with crazy expectations–as in, “I’m going to meditate from now on, every day of my life”–is a nutty thing. Establishing new habits takes time and an unswerving focus on incremental steps.

Here are some thoughts about how to slowly bring your practice to life in such a way that it will become ingrained, as opposed to a bright flash of light that is here and gone.

1. Try to practice at the same time each day. There is nothing magical about this, it’s just that our habits seem to take root more readily when such a routine is established. [Read more →]

This is me*, awaiting your questions about meditation practice. Please post in comments and I will do my best to offer you a helpful answer.

*I have been a student of Shambhala Buddhism since 1995. I teach meditation workshops all over the world. I graduated from a Buddhist Seminary in 2004 and was authorized as a meditation instructor in 2005. I am the NY Times best selling author of 6 books. I started The Open Heart Project in 2011 in order to teach everyone on earth to meditate for 10 minutes per day. As of this morning, there are 3892 members, but who’s counting.

I recently wrote about the benefit of choosing one meditation path and sticking with it. I received a lot of really interesting feedback from you, including this question from an Open Heart Project member:

Will Buddhist meditation practice interfere with the commitment to my Christian faith? Meditation is making a very positive difference in my life and, to me, enhances my faith. I don’t want to be made to feel that I’m going to have to choose. Will I?

This is a very wonderful and important question and I have a two-part answer to it.[] [Read more →]

The other day, I received an email from a member of the OHP who was wondering about continuing to do shamatha meditation (the practice we do together) while also participating in a local Zen center’s introductory course. The Zen center had requested of its students to forego other practices during this training. But this student enjoys both practices. She loves getting the OHP newsletters and practicing with my instruction. But she also felt drawn to Zazen and was appreciative of finding any place in her small town that would offer personal instruction. What to do? Should she abandon one practice for the other? Which one should she choose? Could she study at the Zen center but secretly continue to practice shamatha? Choose those elements from each tradition that felt most potent and combine them into her own personal meditation style?

This is such an awesome topic. I have two different answers: one for those who like to take it one step at a time and another one for those who want to fast track it. Both approaches have merit. I know which one is for me. How about you? [Read more →]

I recently received this very excellent question from a member of The Open Heart Project:

Q. This Shamatha meditation you are teaching is giving me good results (I become more compassionate to myself and to other people around me, and I become more objective with my feelings and thus not easily bruised).

I have joined a Zen Meditation group (where I live), and there is a requirement of giving up other meditation practices while doing the orientation course for their group.

I am confused…I feel as though your guided meditations are complementary to their Zen meditation practice as these are all Buddhist meditations. Am I being unfair by doing both Shamatha and Zen and keeping to to myself? [Read more →]

Every week The Open Heart Project grows. This weekend, we passed the 3,800 mark. THAT’S 3,809 AWESOMELY COOL PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE THE AWESOMELY COOL DECISION TO MEDITATE!! Or at least try to because, hey, we all screw up from time to time. Thank you, one and all.

Because of the recent influx—and just because it’s good to do—I thought I’d review a few key points about beginning your practice. And, let’s face it, whether you’ve been practicing for 20 years or this is your very first time, we’re all starting over. So we’re all practicing together for the first time.

There are basic 4 points to keep in mind. [Read more →]

mindfulness and awareness

practice and study

form and emptiness

precision and letting go

unconditionality and tenderness

word and story

voice and song

concentration and intuition

luminosity and emptiness

What do these pairs of words have in common?

As we practice shamatha meditation (sometimes translated as the practice of tranquility), we come to see that it is actually comprised of two elements that are 100% inseparable. The first is called mindfulness and the second is called awareness. [Read more →]

One of the very big misconceptions about meditation practice is that it will help you not to feel things too strongly—except for maybe peace, goodwill, and bliss (whatever that means). Eventually perhaps this will become true, but for most us, when strong feelings—especially strong negative feelings—are encountered, we view this as a failure of our practice. Like, if I was better at meditation, I could avoid becoming enraged when called an asshole by another driver (who was the asshole in this case, let’s face it) or the fact that my neighbor’s dog poops on my lawn every single day. I could avoid sorrow when my love is unrequited or I find that a dear friend is ill. I could avoid anxiety when I have to find a new job or have a scary appointment with the doctor. [Read more →]