The world today desperately needs a path of practical wisdom. To lead more fulfilling lives, we need to find deeper meaning and ease, what the ancient Greeks called eudaimonia.
Despite having access at our fingertips to more knowledge than ever before, wisdom and well-being have gone missing in action.
This website offers personal insights into the early Buddhist teachings as a source of practical wisdom and happiness anyone can follow no matter how busy and chaotic their lives seem.
We can realistically bring about true happiness, true contentment in our lives just as they are.
Now when I say our lives as they are I really do mean just as they are.
Many forms of spiritual practice which have found a home here in the West advocate meditation practice, which is great.
Are extended meditation retreats viable or necessary?
One very rich area, which unfortunately I don’t see discussed thoroughly enough, is how practical some of these ideas regarding meditation are for most of us. Some forms of meditation practice have been adapted to our contemporary society from renunciate, ascetic origins in the East.
Many of us first encountering these adapted forms of spiritual and contemplative development understandably may be just a little are put off by the emphasis placed on the value of extended meditation retreats.
Our ordinary lives are where the action is
This website strives to offer an alternative to many retreat-focused approaches to contemplative spirituality, as it recognizes that a huge portion of our society simply cannot afford the expense nor the time involved in undertaking retreats.
And it presents the point of view that spiritual development is at times more thorough-going when undertaken in our lives as they are — and for many of us that means living paycheck to paycheck, or raising kids, or taking care of our aging parents.
What I present here are simply my own personal findings of a 40 plus year journey through Buddhist systems of meditation and contemplation. But please know that my approach to teaching is thoroughly secular and contemporary, incorporating poetry and ecology.
No one tradition holds a trademark on personal development
I hold very dear the teachings of early Buddhism. I also find the contemplative teachings of the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish mystical traditions especially helpful in illuminating a path for busy “householders.”
Please have a look at our FAQ Page to get a more nuanced feel for our approach.
I hope that you find something here that makes sense for you.
About me
Hi. My name is Tom Davidson-Marx and I have been teaching Buddhist-inspired meditation in Honolulu since 1998, in our home on the island of O’ahu.
I trained in both the “vipassana” approach to meditation in the USA and Burma and the anapanasati (breath awareness) practice in Sri Lanka. I spent three years training as an ordained Buddhist monk practicing these forms of meditation.
I find the simple breath awareness practice, which leads to a profound, abiding peace, to be the most effective meditative approach in our group meetings.
Over the 30 plus years I have teaching meditation, I have come to settle on a simple set of instructions, well suited for busy people. They point out an accessible way to discover joy and fulfillment in our life just as it is, regardless of external circumstances, and which do not require you to spend long hours on the cushion or go away on retreat somewhere (you can, of course, if your life circumstance permits, which is a wonderful thing).
Please feel free to join us if you can. If you can’t, please consider joining the online teaching via our free, weekly newsletter –simply enter your email address in the form below.
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Here are a few pics.
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We would like to thank you yet again for the beautiful ideas you offered Jeremy when preparing her post-graduate research as well as, most importantly, regarding providing many of the ideas within a
blog post. In case we had known of your website a year ago, we will have been kept from the needless measures we were implementing.
Thanks to you.
Hi. Thanks so much for your comment here, but I actually don’t recall helping out much. I really do appreciate you posting this. Best wishes to you all. Aloha, tom and family.
Thank you Tom. Very interested. May drop in soon. Just a few blocks away. Namaste.
Hi Mike-thanks for the kind words. Would be great to meet you. Just a FYI though- we have a scheduling conflict this week, so we will not be hosting meditation this Thursday, June 8–but will be back the following Thursday June 15, 2017. Hope to see you one of these weeks. Aloha, t. & k.
Hi Tom,
I am a travel physical therapist working on three month contract at Rehab Hospital of Pacific. I practice tibetan meditation techniques at home and with my sangha in Rochester, NY. Would love to join at some point. Do you all start right at 6pm.? Are folks allowed to get there a few minutes late like 6:15 or 6:30pm. I am going to try to make one if I can get out of work early enough as I definitely connect with your website and what it describes.
Loved the cartoon reminder video on how to connect with mindfulness in daily life!
Peace and love,
Samana
Hi Samana,
Sure, no problem at all walking in “late.” We are pretty informal. Would love to have you join us!. Just drop in when you can. My cell is (808) 393.6342 if you get lost. Looking forward to meeting you. Tom and Katina
Hi Tom, I am very interesting on doing meditation. I would like to know what dates you have it other then Thursday ?
Walkiria
Hello Walkiria. Unfortunately we only meet once a week on Thursdays. I have a full time job and a family of four and this is as much time as I can realistically commit to teaching. Thank you for you inquiry. Wishing you the best on your journey.