Everything that we do is essentially aimed to please our self. When we are growing up, we start learning that we can rely on no one but our own self. This sets up expectancy as well as inadequacy, hope and consequently ill-will. All of these are detrimental. We get trapped in a cycle of hope …
There is no resolving pain. Hard as that sounds, it doesn’t have to be reason for melancholy. We have to ask ourselves which is better. Warding off that which is distressing or allowing it to occupy our psyche. It might be also be prudent to state that allowing it for our own sakes is likely not as …
When we think or feel or act, we do so willingly. Each one of us chooses to sense or at least give it credence. In that choice, we are all the same no matter who we think we are, or how and where. Whether we know it or not, our awareness is open to our …
We are built to assess and interpret. The circumstances we find ourselves in often provide the chance to modulate how we do this. If we are swayed by appearances, we fail to estimate the value that any happenstance can confer upon us. If we measure whatever is happening from the viewpoint of the self, our …
The practice of meditation can be difficult to sustain. Often, we veer towards such practices for becoming a certain way. No matter how subtle or refined such ends might be, they are something we seek or want to acquire. Having goals is good and even the goal of complete freedom is an end that requires …
Why start a contemplative practice? If you are reading this, you have asked yourself this very question or something similar. Perhaps you have thought about starting meditation or finding out about mindfulness. At contemplative, we prefer the term contemplative practice. Meditation means different things to different people and is often offered as a magic trick …
Sit for some time if possible free of distractions and comfortably. See if you can allow your mind and body to be still. As you become still, ask yourself this simple question: What do I want? As you sit quietly, witness the flurry of responses and answers your mind comes up with. As this happens, …
This is an exercise to engage in when you are feeling distress or discomfort. It doesn’t matter what that is. It could be a feeling of frank pain, anxiety or boredom or that vague sense of being incomplete or needing something more. Begin this exercise by acknowledging that you are not alone in experiencing this …
Take a moment to reflect upon what is going on in your life. Perhaps you are unwell and experiencing distress, maybe even pain. Or things are more upbeat, your business is making money, or your children are doing well in college. Perhaps you are in a bad relationship, with frequent conflicts and argument. Whatever experience …
Focus on any object in your visual field, say a chair. Tuning in into just your sense of vision, what appears? If you were to have no notion of language, or the memory of past objects, no contrast were being offered by other similar things in your visual field and you just went by your …
