on having no goals

on having no goals

As you set out on your meditation journey, don’t set yourself up for failure and avoid aggressive self-improvement. There isn’t anything to improve. And really, the present moment is un-tweak-able. It’s just fine as it is, and so are you. One of the trickiest aspects of mindfulness meditation is the whole thing about letting go…

let go of expectations
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let go of expectations

As we let go of expectations in our mindfulness practice, it generalizes in our life-we are more present and responsive, and less reactive. Buddhist practice is not so much about answering the so-called big questions of life and death, but rather about dissolving the angst around the questions themselves. mindfulness is about appreciating the present…

Don’t worry about progress in meditation, just keep going
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Don’t worry about progress in meditation, just keep going

Progress happens when you don’t think about it. I was struck by a poem the other day while reading a new translation of the Therigatha, a small book of verse compiled in the beginning of the 6th century BC, by Buddhist nuns, chronicling their spiritual struggles and victories. It is also regarded as the earliest-known…

Am I dreaming?

Am I dreaming?

Just as our mindfulness meditation builds the capacity to unemotionally witness the unfolding imagery in our waking state, it also allows our dream-awareness to neutrally observe its own late night show.   I had this dream the other night: lines from an obscure American poet kept haunting me, and I couldn’t remember the poet’s name….