Your Past Need Not Become Your Future.
by Ed & Deb Shapiro on May 22, 2013
No matter how hard we want to, there’s one thing we can never do and that’s change the past. We can weep, beat our fists against the wall, eat bags of cookies to assuage our guilt, but it won’t make the slightest bit of difference and won’t make us feel any better. The past [...]
327 views
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The Trick To Getting What We Want.
by Hayley Hobson on May 22, 2013
For many of us, there are obstacles that stand in the way of how to get what we want. Why is that? It should be easy, right? Unfortunately, for some, it is not easy. Believe it or not, some people just don’t know what they want. They have no idea how to think outside the [...]
56 views
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Why I Am a Secular Buddhist. ~ Ted Meissner
by elephantjournal.com on May 18, 2013
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644 views
Comments 5
How to Bring Discipline to Your Practice.
by Shane Armstrong on May 17, 2013
Week 5: Share My Path Series. Could you vow, and most importantly keep that vow, to do anything for 1,000 days straight? How about 2,000 days? How about every day for the rest of your life? This week we feature Travis Eneix and his path: a meditation journey that began in a small hallway; his [...]
550 views
Comments 3
Under the Influence of the Buddha.
by Michelle Fajkus on May 17, 2013
The trouble is, temptations never end, and a true pothead can always invent a good reason to smoke. Because I’ve got a headache, a stomachache, insomnia, boredom, stress. Because it’s Saturday morning. Because the sun is setting. The list goes on forever.
118 views
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What Do Corn Chips Have to Do with Enlightenment? ~ Mark DiFilippo
by elephantjournal.com on May 17, 2013
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133 views
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Do not kill Buddha; thou would Bury the Dead. ~ Enver Rahmanov
by elephantjournal.com on May 15, 2013
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97 views
Comments 2
The Foundational Trinity: Grounding, Orienting & Resourcing.
by Julian Walker on May 15, 2013
The 3rd excerpt from Awakened heart, Embodied Mind: A Modern Yoga Philosophy Infused with Somatic Psychology and Neuroscience.
Because the body is our home, being at home in the body is essential —being “comfortable in your own skin.”
737 views
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10 Reasons to Have More Sex.
by Hayley Hobson on May 15, 2013
It’s not a secret that sex sells or that just the mention of sex gets everyone a little hot under the collar. Humans were designed to be sensual beings and are drawn to sex as a profound vehicle to connect, feel, experience pleasure and euphoria, make babies and love others. When the time and space [...]
6,971 views
Comments 3
What Buddha Might Say To Deepak Chopra.
by Ed & Deb Shapiro on May 14, 2013
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” ~ The Buddha Many years ago, we were teaching a meditation weekend in Plymouth, England. On the Saturday, after the program was over for the day, Carole, one of the attendees, told us she had just been with Deepak Chopra, that he had walked out of the [...]
3,439 views
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The Protector Principle.
by Miriam Hall on May 14, 2013
How to Help Your Inner Critic Help You Lately, I have finally gotten around to listening to the Self-Acceptance Project, a wonderful set of free recordings from Sounds True. The theme that keeps arising in all of these very special, once-only interviews with people like Brene Brown, Cheri Huber and Parker Palmer (plus many more) [...]
434 views
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Finding the Time for Meditation. ~ Sarah Booth & Shane Armstrong
by Shane Armstrong on May 10, 2013
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149 views
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The Impossible Paradox of Life & Death.
by Andrew Cohen on May 8, 2013
A few days ago, my wife and I found out that my little friend and life companion has terminal cancer.
557 views
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The Dance of Ritual & The Unconscious. ~ Jyoti Wind
by elephantjournal.com on May 5, 2013
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163 views
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Establishing Sacred Space.
by Julian Walker on May 3, 2013
My love floats through the air like music….
We are three.
One stops at the threshold and bows,
One lifts the sacred cup and we see wine flames play over her face,
One turns to any cold onlookers and says
—this dance is the joy of existence…
1,119 views
Comments 15
Accepting Sadness in Meditation. ~ Shane Armstrong & Carolyn Riker
by Shane Armstrong on May 3, 2013
Initially meditation was calming, relaxing and quite centering. Then I started to tap into other emotions that I immediately warranted as negative and fearsome. I hit on an overwhelming sadness. I would cry every time I attempted to meditate.
576 views
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Do You Know What Stillness Means? ~ Morgan Webert
by elephantjournal.com on May 1, 2013
We’ve all heard references to “calming, quieting, clearing or bringing peace to the mind,” and as many times as I’ve heard such phrases, only recently did someone challenge me to ask myself how well I really understood what it meant.
471 views
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10,002 Ways to Pray “Help.”
by Karl Saliter on May 1, 2013
I hold them as if they might speak to me through my arterial walls, though I’m not fluent in that. They are silent as a feather landing in a hammock.
828 views
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When Self-Help Equals Self-Hate.
by Miriam Hall on Apr 30, 2013
Waylon’s post Self-Help is Bad For Us made me really, really happy. I kept talking about it everywhere I went, posting on Facebook, clogging my airways with it. Yes, I thought, Yes. Absolutely. Here’s why: I am just about to turn 36 and I’ve been in therapy since I was 19. I read a lot [...]
3,127 views
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Ladakh: An Ancient Land that Can Teach Us a Thing or Two.
by Lisa Tully on Apr 30, 2013
Ever wondered what life would be like without dysfunctional families, plastic bags and distant governing bodies telling us what to do locally? In my search for cultures that can teach us something new I have started to explore a far away land where life is more harmonious. Learn about my findings here.
213 views
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Holding on Tightly & Letting Go Lightly.
by Greer Van Dyck on Apr 29, 2013
It is an important process to live just for yourself and nobody else. We hold on to these preconceived notions of how you should live and what you should for yourself so tightly, and now is the time to let go lightly.
641 views
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Sitting with Terrorism: Notes from a Boston Meditator. ~ Shelli Jankowski-Smith
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 28, 2013
Yet, finally, I went. The world can go to hell in a handbasket, yet still, there is this thread of a practice.
557 views
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Wisdom: The Fruit of Practice. ~ Barry H. Gillespie
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 27, 2013
Practice, Practice, Practice. From practice comes wisdom, From not practicing, wisdom’s end. Knowing these two courses, development or decline, Conduct yourself so wisdom will grow. ~The Dhammapada Wisdom (Panna) is the fourth of the ten paramis, the perfections that Theravaden Buddhism encourages you to cultivate. It arises as you develop the third parami, renunciation (nekkhama) [...]
308 views
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What Keeps Us Coming Back to the Meditation Cushion?
by Shane Armstrong on Apr 26, 2013
Share My Path is an archival experiment seeking to build a repository of the paths taken by practitioners of meditation and is hosted here at elephant journal. If you’d like to have your path featured and made part of the archive please e-mail or find us here for more information. It only takes a short interview and your time will be rewarded in knowing you’ve shared with others and perhaps helped someone find their path.
741 views
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Can Buddhism Inform the Christian Understanding of God? ~ John Ankele & Anne Macksoud
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 25, 2013
Love: the compassionate energy of the interconnecting spirit. Excerpt of an Interview with Paul Knitter by Old Dog Documentaries. Old Dog Docs: How has Buddha and your practice within the Buddhist tradition informed your understanding of who God is or what God is? Paul Knitter: First of all, Buddhism made clear something that I had learned in [...]
235 views
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Why We Need to Live Like There Is No Tomorrow.
by Hayley Hobson on Apr 24, 2013
Don’t wait until it is too late to do and say everything that means something to you.
61 views
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Crack Your Cocoon.
by Miriam Hall on Apr 22, 2013
It’s spring. Well, most places. Likely you are cleaning your home…how about your head? Chogyam Trunpga Rinpoche came up with a powerful modern metaphor for the cluttered state of mind that human beings have experienced for a long, long time: Cocoon. From Great Eastern Sun, here is a description of Cocoon and beginning to taste [...]
317 views
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Rumi, Dharma & Passion. ~ Catie Joyce
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 22, 2013
In the past, I had this idea that dharma is this nice, straight, paved path. You may have to bumble through the woods to get to it, but once you’re there, you can see clearly straight ahead for miles and miles. You just know it. It’s an easy walk, maybe it’s even one of those moving sidewalks, like in the airport.
326 views
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When the Bombs Hit Close to Home. ~ Betty Riaz
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 22, 2013
Then, in that one moment, everything changed for me. My heart filled with love, compassion and a deep sadness for the current state of events. Why? He looked like a carbon copy of my 14-year-old son that I love from the bottom of my heart.
870 views
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Walk the Talk Show: Joan Halifax Roshi: How to Balance Inner Work & Outer Social Activism.
by Walk The Talk Show on Apr 21, 2013
Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis: Joan Halifax Roshi. Apologies for the many sound problems…I’d advise just watching and listening while it’s synched, then just listening. Apologies, and deep thanks to Halifax Roshi! ~ ed. Waylon sits with leading Zen Buddhist teacher Joan Halifax. They talk re: how to balance inner work & outer [...]
836 views
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What the #$&% is Actionless Action? ~ Matthew Gindin
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 19, 2013
On action, liberation and violence in the Bhagavad Gita. In 2006, I spent a summer studying the Bhagavad Gita as part of a Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) program in a Canadian ashram. Previously, while living as a Buddhist monk, I read the Gita maybe a dozen times in different translations, as well as spent a [...]
190 views
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Your First Time: Sometimes It Hurts.
by Shane Armstrong on Apr 19, 2013
So before I get into me, I need to ask of you. In order for this to work, I’m in need of interview subjects. All I ask is that you be an experienced (as defined by you) practitioner of some form of meditation and be comfortable sharing your path.
591 views
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Engaging Compassion in Boston. ~ Enver Rahmanov
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 18, 2013
Boston. Baghdad. New York. Kabul. Tel Aviv. Gaza… Syria…Burma… Rwanda… Tibet… the sorrow of violent tragedies that I have learned in my generation seems to have crossed all the borders. The reality is that are no borders, even if we try to build the walls and fences that separate us.Hurt, like love, travels thousand of miles.
152 views
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Welcome All.
by Edie Lazenby on Apr 17, 2013
Frank Ostaseski said one of the things his teachers have shown him is to welcome all. Frank’s teachers are the dying, as he is a pioneer in the field of hospice work. I was introduced to him through one of Tara Brach’s most recent podcasts—I must say, in my experience he demonstrates a rare sensibility. [...]
191 views
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Finding Ourselves Through Buddhism. ~ Lama Thubten Yeshe
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 15, 2013
To become their own psychologist, a person doesn’t have to learn some big philosophy. All they have to do is examine their own mind every day.
1,519 views
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Eating Emptiness: Impermanence is the Real Diet. ~ Miriam Hall
by Miriam Hall on Apr 9, 2013
Impermanence is the real diet. Empty calories are seen as a negative thing—something to be avoided, like calories without any other value: chips or chocolate. However, I propose a different kind of empty eating—one that is empty of struggle. When Buddhists speak of emptiness it is often misunderstood to mean lackluster, without feeling. However, what [...]
480 views
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Dear Gloomy Self—It’s Okay to Be You.
by Kelli Prieur on Apr 4, 2013
It’s okay that today just doesn’t feel good yet. It’s alright that you woke up this way, on the wrong side of the bed, with your knickers (or your heart) in a knot, with your brightness buried down, boiling somewhere deep beneath your gloominess, your darkness, beneath your own 50 shades of grey. It’s okay, [...]
2,676 views
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Buddha Doodles: Surrender What’s out of Your Control. ~ Molly Hahn
by elephantjournal.com on Mar 31, 2013
…whimsically illustrated reminders of the inherent happiness and wisdom that we carry with us at all times. As a spunky cartoonist with a knack for spirituality, this is my way of being of service to the world on a daily basis.
382 views
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Go Now & Begin Your Practice: An Interview with Youngbear Roth. ~ Sidney Bennet
by elephantjournal.com on Mar 29, 2013
Love is the story. God is the story. Realizing your complete being is the story. Look, everything else that we celebrate, chase after, suffer with are all footnotes. They’re valid and interesting, but they are not the story.
212 views
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Tai Chi Microcosmic Orbit Energy Circulation: A Guide for Yogis. ~ Neil Alexander
by elephantjournal.com on Mar 27, 2013
(…)
263 views
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I Had to Talk Life Directly—This Was the Understanding: An Interview with Youngbear Roth. ~ Sidney Bennet
by elephantjournal.com on Mar 27, 2013
Reminding myself of the yogic infinite overview kept me from emotionally drowning in the midst of a hopeless finite life.
475 views
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Facebook for Buddhists? 5 Rules for Maintaining a Mindful ‘Buddha-Status.’
by Tara Lemieux on Mar 22, 2013
Source: Uploaded by user via BlueMint on Pinterest Living Mindfully and Beyond Our Facebook Status. So, my Facebook page indicates that I’m a Buddhist; it’s actually now one of the standard drop down menu options. I don’t know quite how I feel about this. I mean, to be honest, I guess I have never really [...]
1,140 views
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My Birthday Gifts to You. ~ Amy Taylor
by Amy Taylor on Mar 21, 2013
What if your confidence didn’t need to be built? What if it was already there, as much a part of you as your amber eyes or the mole beneath your arm? According to Chogyam Trungpa in Smile at Fear: Awakening the True Heart of Bravery, it is. To find it, you need only wipe the condensation [...]
129 views
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Embracing Fear: How the Act of Allowing Can Bring Peace into Your Life. ~ Denise Fortin
by elephantjournal.com on Mar 19, 2013
Fear is natural. It can be our friend, warning us of impending danger. Or it can be our worst enemy, paralyzing us.
245 views
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Comparing the Modern Yogini with Tibetan Female Mystics.
by Lisa Tully on Mar 19, 2013
To be clear these women were not nuns, in fact most of them had consorts who they practiced with to deepen their spirituality through sacred sexual union.
969 views
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The Four Noble Truths & Daily Living: The Eightfold Path.
by Benjamin Riggs on Mar 19, 2013
The fourth Noble Truth or the path to freedom can be presented in a variety of ways. The classical presentation is known as the Eightfold Path. This article explores the Eightfold Path in modern, practical terms.
2,602 views
Comments 15
A Glimpse of Buddhist Psychology. ~ Lama Thubten Yeshe
by elephantjournal.com on Mar 18, 2013
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1,505 views
Comments 4
I Know You Can’t Buy Enlightenment, so How Do I Come to Terms Selling Spiritual Products?
by Miriam Hall on Mar 15, 2013
“You are selling something,” the salesperson next to me on the plane insisted. I felt myself immediately rail up against her words. Moi? A teacher of dharma and arts? Selling something? No. Not me. Not only was I resistant, I was judgmental—in fact, the judgment is what fed the resistance. I know what sales looks like, I [...]
270 views
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A Tibetan Reincarnation that Suddenly Found Itself as a Woman.
by Lisa Tully on Mar 11, 2013
A reincarnation of a previous Tibetan master, she found herself in the unique and at times very difficult position of not only being the only Westerner in a Tibetan monastery in India but the only woman as well.
589 views
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