AOM TV: How Meditation Can Change Your Life and Mind

PLEASE WATCH

I think this is really important

Sam Harris, Jon Kabat-Zinn & more

How Meditation Can Change Your Life and Mind

YouTube Direct Link: https://youtu.be/jCJdl6Vs7wg

AOM TV: Shauna Shapiro 'The Power of Mindfulness"

Shauna Shapiro

The Power of Mindfulness: 

What You Practice Grows Stronger

YouTube Direct Link: https://youtu.be/IeblJdB2-Vo

AOM Meditations: 091020

~*~

"When we carefully observe our thoughts, we discover that they are not in our control—we swim in an uninvited constant stream of memories, plans, expectations, judgments, regrets. Often the root of these movements of mind is dissatisfaction. We seem to want both endless excitement and perfect peace. But instead of being served by our thinking, we are driven by it in unconscious and unexamined ways. While thoughts can be enormously useful and creative, often they dominate our experience with attachments to our likes and dislikes, with views that divide the world into higher and lower, self and other. Our thoughts repeatedly tell stories about our successes and failures, plan our security, habitually remind us of who and what we think we are. Through mindfulness, we can come to know and let go of the patterns of unhelpful worry and obsession; we can clarify our confusion and release destructive views and opinions. We can reflect on what we most value."

~Jack Kornfield

~*~

“We tend to be particularly unaware that we are thinking virtually all the time. The incessant stream of thoughts flowing through our minds leaves us very little respite for inner quiet. And we leave precious little room for ourselves anyway just to be, without having to run around doing things all the time. Our actions are all too frequently driven rather than undertaken in awareness, driven by those perfectly ordinary thoughts and impulses that run through the mind like a coursing river, if not a waterfall. We get caught up in the torrent and it winds up submerging our lives as it carries us to places we may not wish to go and may not even realize we are headed for.

“Meditation means learning how to get out of this current, sit by its bank and listen to it, learn from it, and then use its energies to guide us rather than to tyrannize us. This process doesn’t magically happen by itself. It takes energy. We call the effort to cultivate our ability to be in the present moment ‘practice‘or ‘meditation practice.’”

~Jon Kabat-Zinn

from his book,

Wherever You Go, There You Are.

~*~

"While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes, one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes.  At first glance, that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing?  But that’s precisely the point.  The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality.  I’m being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions.  There’s no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.

While washing dishes, you might be thinking about the tea you’re going to drink afterwards, and so try to get them out of the way as quickly as possible in order to sit and drink tea.  But that means that you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes.  When you are washing the dishes, washing the dishes must be the most important thing in your life.  Just as when you’re drinking tea, drinking tea must be the most important thing in your life.

In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future -and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

(The Miracle of Mindfulness)

~*~

"Mindfulness simply means awareness. It's a direct, intuitive knowing of what you are doing while you are doing it. It's knowing what's going on inside your mind and body, and what's going on in the outside world as well.

Most of the time our attention is not where we intended it to be. Our attention is hijacked by our thoughts and emotions, by our concerns, by our worries for the future, and our regrets and memories of the past. Mindful awareness is about learning to pay attention, in the present moment, and without judgement. It's like training a muscle - training attention to be where you want it to be. This reduces our tendency to work on autopilot, allowing us to us choose how we respond and react." 

 ~Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn

AOM TV: Meditation and Going Beyond Mindfulness by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is so wonderful

So Sweet, So Funny

I love his teaching style

He makes you feel good

And simplifies Meditation

I know this video is over an hour long

But I highly recommend watching and listening

You may want to use closed captions

But be aware they've typed some incorrect words

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Meditation and Going Beyond Mindfulness - A Secular Perspective

In his talk he discusses the following:

1. How Yongey Learned to Meditate

2. How To Meditate

3. A Guided Awareness Meditation

YouTube Direct Link: https://youtu.be/ukTaodQfYRQ

AOM TV: Free Your Mind by Eckhart Tolle

Teachings from Eckhart Tolle

How to be Completely Carefree

"The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment" by Eckhart Tolle is intended to be a guide for day-to-day living and stresses the importance of living in the present moment and avoiding thoughts of the past or future. The book is not religious, but calls upon many of the most sacred spiritual teachings from religions around the world. "The Power of Now" has helped millions of people free themselves of their obsessive thoughts, psychological pain and fears. 

YouTube Direct Link: https://youtu.be/hZeoyYOYgg4

AOM Meditations: ONE THING

Saint Jerome Writing by Caravaggio

(An example of the art technique, Chiaroscuro)

~*~

"When we carefully observe our thoughts, we discover that they are not in our control—we swim in an uninvited constant stream of memories, plans, expectations, judgments, regrets. Often the root of these movements of mind is dissatisfaction. We seem to want both endless excitement and perfect peace. But instead of being served by our thinking, we are driven by it in unconscious and unexamined ways. While thoughts can be enormously useful and creative, often they dominate our experience with attachments to our likes and dislikes, with views that divide the world into higher and lower, self and other. Our thoughts repeatedly tell stories about our successes and failures, plan our security, habitually remind us of who and what we think we are. Through mindfulness, we can come to know and let go of the patterns of unhelpful worry and obsession; we can clarify our confusion and release destructive views and opinions. We can reflect on what we most value."

~Jack Kornfield

~*~

from the scattered brain of AOM:

My mind is always a busy place. When I am doing a task, (washing dishes, mowing the yard, folding clothes, etc. etc.) I am always thinking of what's next - rushing to what's next. I often find myself trying to multi-task.  I hurry through one activity to get to another and another, etc. All of this thinking and pushing ahead tends to cause me stress. Great Balls of Fire it rattles my brain. : )

It's taken me YEARS (60 to be exact) to finally find a way to overcome this mental habit that causes me so much stress. Here's my new found secret: 

ONE THING

When I am involved in an activity and CATCH my mind rushing ahead to the next, I say to myself, "One thing". In this I am telling myself to relax and focus on what I am doing at this present moment. Just do the one thing. Take your time - don't rush it - just do the ONE THING. When I do this, I immediately relax and become mindful, focusing on what I am doing at that present moment. So next time you CATCH your mind wandering and rushing off to the next things, remind yourself by thinking, ONE THING.

Maybe this will help you live more mindful. It's helped me.

~AOM

As our beloved friend, Thích Nhat Hanh, says: 

“If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not "washing the dishes to wash the dishes." What's more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future -and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”

~Thích Nhat Hanh

(The Miracle of Mindfulness)

ONE THING

Commercial Break: Mindfulness

today's posts are brought to you by MINDFULNESS

Be the watcher of your thoughts and feelings

Meditations: Living Mindfully by Thich Nhat Hanh

Living Mindfully

In this passage, Thich Nhat Hanh takes the example of 

drinking Tea Mindfully to show us how to live Mindfully.

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves. Slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life. You must be completely awake in the present to enjoy the tea. Only in the awareness of the present, can your hands feel the pleasant warmth of the cup. Only in the present, can you savor the aroma, taste the sweetness, appreciate the delicacy. If you are ruminating about the past, or worrying about the future, you will completely miss the experience of enjoying the cup of tea. You will look down at the cup, and the tea will be gone.

Life is like that. If you are not fully present, you will look around and it will be gone. You will have missed the feel, the aroma, the delicacy and beauty of life. It will seem to be speeding past you. The past is finished. Learn from it and let it go. The future is not even here yet. Plan for it, but do not waste your time worrying about it. Worrying is worthless. When you stop ruminating about what has already happened, when you stop worrying about what might never happen, then you will be in the present moment. Then you will begin to experience joy in life.”

I don’t think of the past anymore, I don’t think of the future anymore, I’m free from the past, from the future, and there is a real encounter between me and the tea.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

M I N D F U L N E S S: 051419

What are you doing right now?

What are you thinking?

What are you feeling?

What is going on around you?

What sounds do you hear?

What do you see around you?

What sensations are you feeling?

At This Present Moment

HERE & NOW

About Mindfulness

I talk a lot about it because

It has dramatically changed my life for the better

And I'd really like you to have this gift in your life

Important NOTE! : )

Something you should know

Mindfulness is different from Meditation in that

You don't have to Meditate to be Mindful

But you do have to be Mindful to Meditate.

     

As I continue to study and practice Mindfulness

My life is truly improving

I now can catch myself thinking of things

That would normally send me

Into a tailspin of depression or an explosion of rage

Now, I can see them

Before they have a chance to take me with them

Now - I am learning to watch my thought and feelings

Like stepping out of myself

To be the watcher of my thinking and feeling

Having that little distance 

Affords me the time to choose how I will respond

Being more aware of my thoughts and feelings

Has helped me avoid living a life of mindless reactions.

It used to be that

When others would push my buttons

I went into an instant programmed reaction

Reacting without thinking

Like a rudderless boat recklessly tossed about 

by people and events around me.

Now, as I continue to grow in being Mindful,

It's like having a rudder to steady and steer my life

I can see obstacles that lay before me
(I can see clearly now the rain is gone : )

I have time to decide how I will respond to life

And choose a wiser course of action

I now see things about myself that I never saw before

I can now savor the moments of my life

On a deeper and richer level

And the really cool thing is...

It's really not all that difficult

I mean really

If I can benefit from it - anyone can

It just requires you to make the effort to be aware

Of what's going on in each present moment

Whatever you are doing - pay attention to that

Be With That

Be Here, Now, in This Present Moment

And it will benefit your life

As it has mine

Now here's some folks who do a good job explaining Mindfulness:

~*~

"While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes, one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes.  At first glance, that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing?  But that’s precisely the point.  The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality.  I’m being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions.  There’s no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.

While washing dishes, you might be thinking about the tea you’re going to drink afterwards, and so try to get them out of the way as quickly as possible in order to sit and drink tea.  But that means that you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes.  When you are washing the dishes, washing the dishes must be the most important thing in your life.  Just as when you’re drinking tea, drinking tea must be the most important thing in your life.

In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future -and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

(The Miracle of Mindfulness)

~*~

"Mindfulness simply means awareness. It's a direct, intuitive knowing of what you are doing while you are doing it. It's knowing what's going on inside your mind and body, and what's going on in the outside world as well.

Most of the time our attention is not where we intended it to be. Our attention is hijacked by our thoughts and emotions, by our concerns, by our worries for the future, and our regrets and memories of the past. Mindful awareness is about learning to pay attention, in the present moment, and without judgement. It's like training a muscle - training attention to be where you want it to be. This reduces our tendency to work on autopilot, allowing us to us choose how we respond and react." 

 ~Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn

Why Mindful Meditation

“We tend to be particularly unaware that we are thinking virtually all the time. The incessant stream of thoughts flowing through our minds leaves us very little respite for inner quiet. And we leave precious little room for ourselves anyway just to be, without having to run around doing things all the time. Our actions are all too frequently driven rather than undertaken in awareness, driven by those perfectly ordinary thoughts and impulses that run through the mind like a coursing river, if not a waterfall. We get caught up in the torrent and it winds up submerging our lives as it carries us to places we may not wish to go and may not even realize we are headed for.

“Meditation means learning how to get out of this current, sit by its bank and listen to it, learn from it, and then use its energies to guide us rather than to tyrannize us. This process doesn’t magically happen by itself. It takes energy. We call the effort to cultivate our ability to be in the present moment ‘practice‘or ‘meditation practice.’”

~Jon Kabat-Zinn

from his book,

Wherever You Go, There You Are.

Meditations on Mindfulness: 042619

Yosemite Valley - Yosemite National Park

~*~

"When we carefully observe our thoughts, we discover that they are not in our control—we swim in an uninvited constant stream of memories, plans, expectations, judgments, regrets. Often the root of these movements of mind is dissatisfaction. We seem to want both endless excitement and perfect peace. But instead of being served by our thinking, we are driven by it in unconscious and unexamined ways. While thoughts can be enormously useful and creative, often they dominate our experience with attachments to our likes and dislikes, with views that divide the world into higher and lower, self and other. Our thoughts repeatedly tell stories about our successes and failures, plan our security, habitually remind us of who and what we think we are. Through mindfulness, we can come to know and let go of the patterns of unhelpful worry and obsession; we can clarify our confusion and release destructive views and opinions. We can reflect on what we most value."

~Jack Kornfield