Zen meditation reading for September 11, 2023
Treat Yourself with Great Tenderness
#meditation #meditations #zen #mindfulness
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CxDos0ariSj/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Zen meditation readimg for September 10, 2023
Reality As It Is
The Ever-Changing Body
#meditation #meditations #zen #mindfulness
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CxApBf3LKYo/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Stoic Lessons from Marcus Aurelius: Insights from 'Meditations' #stoicism #stoic #stoicphilosophy #marcusaurelius #meditations

https://tinyurl.com/3nrst6nj

Anyone have recommendations for ~10 min guided #meditations for people who haven't done any #meditating before? I'm teaching a class on #well-being this semester and want to have the students do some #meditation. Thanks for recommendations!

Meditation | 09-03
There are many things we can do, but forcing people to do better is not one of them.
Forcing people to change their behavior is not one of them.
I see so many examples in the news of people who are so absolutely, doggedly convinced *they* are right that they do more harm than good.
Everyone is wrong.
We could all use humility. We could all use a step back, a deep breath, a moment where we listen rather than shout.
Give it a try. Really, honestly, give it a try.

#Meditations #Siin

Meditation | 09-03

There is so much we can do, but forcing others to do better is not Forcing people to change their behavior is not one of them.
I see so many examples in the news of people who are so absolutely, doggedly convinced *they* are right that they do more harm than good.
Everyone is wrong.
We could all use humility. We could all use a step back, a deep breath, a moment where we listen rather than shout.
Give it a try. Really, honestly, give it a try.

#Meditations #Siin

Fairy Ring meditation for September 3, 2023
The Blue Hag - ending of cycles before rebirth. Work through any past hurts.
#meditation #meditations #gaelic #mindfulness
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CwvH645x29D/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Zen meditation reading for September 1, 2023
The Rebel
#meditation #meditations #zen #mindfulness
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CwptanMLbYE/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Hey everyone! We've decided to start holding weekly study sessions and #meditations! We will be working through 365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao. #Everyone is welcome! The online stream will start this Sunday at 11Am Central time and be hosted by @patrickstewart! Just join the community Discord and join us this weekend for the first one!

https://discord.gg/7Ghw6GaXKs

Zen meditation reading for August 30, 2023
Consciousnesss
#meditation #meditations #zen #mindfulness
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CwkpwdnSzOf/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Zen meditation reading for August 29, 2023
The Outside
Ice-olation
#meditation #meditations #zen
https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cwh04dqMmEe/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Meditations | 08-28

Cycles

I've had this obsession for the last decade with the idea that everything is cyclical. My brain doesn't comprehend time the way that others seem to, and that's led to my existence being a strange loop of simultaneous occurrences on top of one another. Grasping at the repetitive cycling of days: sunrise, sunset, mealtimes, wake and sleep, biological cycles -- these have been the ways in which I've tethered myself to linear consensus reality. But when I stop and allow my mind to drift, all things are occurring simultaneously. I can see ahead and behind, all at once. It's often confusing, and sometimes it makes it difficult to focus. But with this comes the knowledge that everything that has come to pass will come to pass because it has come to pass and will again.

Cycles.

It is time for another cycle of generation and birth, time to honor my body once again as I grasp the meaning of the repetition of this sacred act. The me that tethers herself to sunrise-sunset-mealtime cadence panics at the thought that once again there will be a time where I Am Not Me, after I just so recently discovered Being Me again. It's difficult to grasp, it's terrifying, it's so exciting. But the me that sees all things has known that this would happen, that this would happen "now", and that this is all a part of My path. Because I know, I can relax knowing that it is just another cycle, a beautiful opportunity to re-focus on the body and the body within, to emphasize rest and self-care and restoration.

And perhaps this is all too vague to understand, and that's fine, because ultimately I'm just throwing this out there for me and me alone, but if you hear what I am saying, perhaps it'll feel good to you, too.

#Meditations #Cycles #Siin

What five #meditations did the #Buddha recommend for attaining enlightenment?
https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/canon/an5.71

Meditations | 08-15

The dog park recently has been an interesting microcosm of society. In evaluating the strange relationships that these humans have with their animals, in watching their anxiety at work: their fear of being embarrassed, their fear of something happening to their dog, their fear of being called out for their dog's bad behavior, and so on; I have really had some interesting thoughts about the way that we treat animals and the way that we treat each other.

There is one girl in particular with two dogs that have subtle but severe behavioral issues. This girl is blonde and cute and it's quite likely that her behavior has never been criticized. As such, she seems to have very little self-awareness, and she is an extraordinarily anxious and angry person.

An aggressive dog is quite often a defensive one. An aggressive human is quite often a defensive one.

When our dogs cannot trust that we will not put them in bad situations they will take matters into their own hands. This happened today: there is a husky at the park who picks on one of the blonde girl's dogs. Not in an aggressive way, although he certainly has his own behavioral issues, but in a way where her dog often gets pinned.

Instead of allowing her dog to set a boundary, she always grabs his collar and forceably removes him from the situation. She yells at the other dog's owner. She panics.

Today her dog saw that the husky was there and immediately went for its throat. A legitimate fight ensued. Thankfully it was broken up without severe injury to either dog.

Both the husky's owner and the blonde girl kept their dogs at the dog park after this incident.

Ego is a really interesting thing. We cannot survive without it. It tells us to eat, to care for ourselves, to bathe which in turn helps us avoid parasites or infection, to expect certain treatment from other human beings which is beneficial for our survival (or, which is at least not detrimental to it).

Both women yelled at one another, and then retreated to separate benches, as though the dogs wouldn't interact again. As though the dogs could somehow exist on the same level of passive-aggression as humans.

An aggressive dog is quite often a defensive one. An aggressive human is quite often a defensive human.

People walk around, animals their accessories, unintentionally forcing these four-legged and highly conscious beings to mirror their own anxieties, their own ego trips, their own fear and panic and completely adrift sense of self.
They assume that all conflict is terrifying, force their dogs to flee from it as they themselves do.
And the result? Maladaptive defensiveness. The blonde girl has another dog who follows mine around barking. She responds by yelling at it to stop. In other words, the dog barks because he's apprehensive about the size of my dog and he's anxious. She barks back and feeds its anxiety.

There is a lack of willingness to accept responsibility on behalf of both parties. We so often retreat and tell our friends how wrong the other was.

But how often in conflict do we actually sit back and ask ourselves what subtle but severe issues do we have that caused this conflict in the first place? What role we play?

In my experience watching others, the answer seems to be never. It's a curious thing, ego.

#Meditations #Siin #Ego #Psychology #Sociology

STOICISM BOOKS 📙

https://youtu.be/nC0YqxlIFMI

#Stoicism #StoicBooks #Meditations #MarcusAurelius #Seneca #LettersFromAStoic #Epictetus #TheEnchiridion #PersonalGrowth #Philosophy

"Or is it your reputation that's bothering you? But look at how soon we're all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of all those applauding hands."

-- Marcus Aurelius #Meditations

(multiple alternate translations exist, the core idea remains)

Meditations | 07-26

The thing about ambiguity is that it begs for projection. Ambiguity is not a mirror but a screen that passively accepts what is broadcast onto it without making you aware that it's really you you're watching.

Ambiguity is a little uncomfortable, a little distorted, a little uncanny. It reveals things that hit home, but that you aren't consciously aware of. It speaks -- not to you -- but over your shoulder, breath on the back of your neck. It doesn't aim to be disconcerting: it doesn't aim to be anything. But the result of unconscious fears, desires, beliefs being projected onto an unexpected surface in unexpected ways is just that.

Sometimes the urge is to resist the discomfort. Sometimes, the urge is to rationalize it. If we can make it make sense, force the ambiguous thing to fit into the schema of the world that we've created through our life, then we can alleviate the discomfort. In this way, other people become symbols when we don't know them well. Sometimes we idolize, fantasize, make someone everything we want them to be, and set them up on a pedestal of all of our strange expectations. Sometimes we denigrate, hate, dismiss, or even attack them, make them the very symbol of all we fear and despise.

We could learn so very much about ourselves if we could lean into these projections: if we could be aware of this unconscious behavior as we engage in it. If we could recognize the ambiguity of a person or a thing, and then walk ourselves through the way that we're projecting onto that screen, dissect the resulting images, and try to figure out where they come from, there is space for a significant amount of growth. Beyond that, when we do this with people, we do ourselves and them a massive disservice. Either we force expectations on others and suffer when they do not live up to them, experience severe envy when we assume someone is all that we desire but all that we are not, or we dismiss and despise those who may very well be allies despite that they have not actually wronged us.

#Meditations #Siin #Ambiguity #SelfAwareness

Meditations | 07-17

I cannot control the outcome.
I cannot control if the British Petroleum company cuts corners and allows yet another spill into sacred land.
I cannot control the acidification of the oceans.
I cannot save each and every reef.
I cannot regenerate every lost grassland, hold every captured wild mustang.
I cannot control the actions of the few who are responsible for the greatest tyrannies of the world, nor the actions of the many who unthinkingly go about life making choices that benefit those few.

I will live my life in service to the land,
I will live my life in service to my community,
I will plant each and every tree, and store each and every molecule of carbon in freshly regenerated soil that I can,
I will make the most responsible choices I can,
I will educate as many as will listen,
and perhaps that is all I do.
And perhaps it will still all burn around me.
And I will have to accept that: my lack of control, the lack of permanence of all things.

And so, may we have the strength to do what we can.

#Meditations #Contemplations #Siin #EcologicalCrisis

purpose called you from the beaks of black birds circling porch and red sky and never again eyes called from the beaks of seagulls and the sea breeze called you out of classrooms and offices out from under fluorescent light daze and paycheck paycheck paycheck and asked you what you would do if you weren’t afraid of hunger or rejection or a lack of prestige
it called you from the front seat of a beat up black car and spoke in tongues that sounded like collapsing chains and grinding gears from belly-to-belly bus and post no bills scaffolding and pissing on railings laying on your back in broken glass parking lot in the middle of the city chewed gum in hair refusing to move forward with routine
called from the steps of community parks with gunfire and the “de donde eres” from the tile floor of bars like shoes on spilt beer from pool halls and hennessy bottles and liquor store front doors corner stores and candle shrines
whispered urges turned to banshee shrieking tires and the cacophony of war of wailing slamming head on pavement
coyote screams heckling barks and brutal desert winds
dig needle into flesh, offer sacrifice of blood and sweat and hair and sex and find
listening is easy

#Meditations #Siin #BadPoetry #Consciousness #Contemplations

Have been sleeping outside underneath the stars, nude, awaking to the first light of dawn each morning. Each night is begun with final waking visions of brilliant milky way and endless stars, each day commences as sun rises over black mountains groaning of ancient volcanoes and brilliant blue seas. Dreams are punctuated with hysterical coyote songs like the flutes of those who stewarded this land before the value of it was forgotten by greedy men desperate for glinting gold, who razed every last tree to the ground on their frenzied rush to their own demise.

#RanchoDeLaLiberta #Meditations #LandWorship