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Meditation, the B52s, and Spaciousness. ~ Chad Woodland
by elephantjournal.com on Feb 4, 2012
Yes, we Shambhala Buddhist enjoy parties and we love to dance. So we're on the dance floor and the B52s Love Shack comes on and its always been one of my favorite tunes. Great times ensue153 views
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Where’s My Universal Fairy Godmother? ~ Tracy Crossley
by elephantjournal.com on Feb 2, 2012
My very apparent lack of wish fulfillment caught up with me today. It hit me while on my slightly rainy run; it caused me to yell out “I give up”!206 views
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Kitchen Sink Dharma: Foundation. ~ Rick Gilbert
by elephantjournal.com on Feb 1, 2012
Shamatha instructs practitioners to place gentle attention on a particular object when discursive thoughts threaten to crowd out a general sense of being present in the moment. Often, the object of light focus is the breath.90 views
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Ginsberg, The Mayan Jungle & a Bear Who Will Eat You.
by Karl Saliter on Jan 27, 2012
This poem is Allen praying his grace transfer to you, reader. Praying for you to snap out of it, with the considerable evocative nuance of this master poet. He prays for you and to you, and none of it comes off as prayer.353 views
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Zen for the Beginner’s Mind. ~ Andrew Wilson
by elephantjournal.com on Jan 27, 2012
Zen is directly seeing into one's original nature before any thoughts arise.356 views
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Ambivalence & Doubt on the Spiritual Path. ~ Belle DeArmon Alonzo
by elephantjournal.com on Jan 23, 2012
Building your own spiritual path from scratch and life experience is not easy, quite the opposite.133 views
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Did Someone say Dharma?
by Braja Sorensen on Jan 22, 2012
Dharma is what lies behind the door marked "Spiritual Equality." Open it and step inside and leave all other labels at the threshold...475 views
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Be Bold, Brilliant & Bodacious. ~ Sherri Rosen & Tyler Blanski
by elephantjournal.com on Jan 22, 2012
Too often we play it safe, hedge our bets, look for the easiest road. And, when we are afraid to take risks or to pursue our dreams, we settle for what's familiar and safe. But the odds are that when we are only okay, out of danger or home free, we are not living from our hearts. Sure, we might be unhurt, uninjured and unscathed, but we are not really living either.46 views
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Religiousness and the Spiritual Path. ~ Chad Woodland
by elephantjournal.com on Jan 19, 2012
Just as monks do with their religious convictions, we can use those inspirations to drive our spiritual journey.101 views
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Sponsored Giveaway: BetterListen! Free Download, Thich Nhat Hanh.
by elephantjournal.com on Jan 17, 2012
…939 views
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Leadership + Four Skillful Actions.
by Linda Lewis on Jan 16, 2012
But humanity has survived this far because of these very uplifted qualities, plus ordinary kindness. The nurturing tendency of human beings to be kind doesn’t make the news, but it is the reason why each of us is alive today. The very motivation to lead in order to be of benefit is an expression of this.623 views
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One of the Scariest Things I’ve Ever Done: Living 2 Years at a Buddhist Retreat Center (Part I.). ~ Sherri Rosen
by elephantjournal.com on Jan 16, 2012
Believe me, there were many days I struggled through this practice, not wanting to care about anyone except myself. What I began to realize from doing this practice was not to lash out at others in order to make them feel the pain that I was experiencing. It was important to sit with my feelings and allow them to pass.194 views
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One of the Scariest Things I’ve Ever Done: Transitioning Back to the Real World After 2 Years at a Buddhist Retreat Center (Part II.). ~ Sherri Rosen
by elephantjournal.com on Jan 16, 2012
When I came back to New York City, after my two-year stay, a big change occurred in my publicity business. I began to discriminate whom I would work with as clients, whom I would have as friends and whom I would have as lovers. Respect and kindness became important to me and I began attracting those qualities in the people who came into my life. Not all of the time, but most of the time. After all, it was up to me to discriminate no matter who came into my life.202 views
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Sexism in the Buddhadharma.
by Linda Lewis on Jan 9, 2012
The present 17th Karmapa is actually working hard to establish equality for nuns, going against this remaining frozen "tradition" of sexual inequality within the world of Karme Kagyu monasticism.695 views
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Death and the New Year.
by Eric Klein on Jan 2, 2012
Do your goal and to-do list matter? Who to ask? Death has insights for the New Year.1,088 views
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So It’s Money You Want?
by Matt Wallace on Dec 20, 2011
Often times the desire for fortune is put down in the community of spiritual seekers.109 views
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How becoming a Buddhist helped me to love Jesus.
by Writing Our Way Home on Dec 19, 2011
If we can open ourselves to new experience, it will change the whole world for us.146 views
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Super-Size My Ego with a Side of Spiritual Materialism. ~ Greg Eckard
by elephantjournal.com on Dec 14, 2011
the ego can cleverly twist a well-intentioned desire for a spiritual life to its own ends.569 views
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The Daily Spiritual Experience.
by Matt Wallace on Dec 11, 2011
In today’s spiritual experience, tales of levitating yogis, mind-altering meditations, and transcendent multi-hour asana practices dominate the scene, leaving many less “accomplished” spiritual seekers in search of the ultimate experience.859 views
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Buddhism in the Barnyard. ~ Hollie Hirst
by elephantjournal.com on Dec 10, 2011
They say we are like the animals we choose.... or more precisely, that we choose animals that are most like us, and that those creatures become more and more like us as time goes on…87 views
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Buddhist Yoga: Joining with Naturalness, Part VII. ~ Ari Goldfield & Rose Taylor Goldfield
by elephantjournal.com on Dec 7, 2011
In this final piece in a seven-part series on Buddhist Yoga, we will focus on practicing Buddhist Yoga in daily life.354 views
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Follow Your Heart. ~ Chloe Park
by elephantjournal.com on Dec 6, 2011
When I say I want to be like Gandhi, I’m serious. It’s not really a joke at all.324 views
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Notes On Passion, Suffering & Buddhism.
by Brianna Bemel on Dec 6, 2011
A few of us are born with a specific passion and this becomes our life’s calling, but generally speaking, I believe passion is a state of mind. It doesn’t find us, we find it. It’s like any relationship. Cultivating passion can take work and dedication. It starts off as an interest and as we build upon that interest, slowly over time, it sometimes blossoms into passion. But most of our lives are so fast paced, we hope passion will travel at the same speed to our doorstep. We forget that passion takes time to develop. It takes time to learn how to tap into.318 views
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Can Fear Be Good for Your Yoga Practice? Part 1.
by Valerie Carruthers on Nov 30, 2011
Your hand now on the same latitude as your heart, surrendering to that grace-filled moment you can awaken into fearlessness or at least consider the idea of it. Given such portals into ecstatic release and blissful emptying what purpose could fear possibly serve in Yoga practice, other than being something we'd like to stamp paid?201 views
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A Lesson from Horses & the Process of Cultivating Compassion. ~ Jacey Tramutt
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 30, 2011
Our minds want to judge our experience and ourselves. Becoming curious about what happens if I just allow my truth is the first step. We often find resistance at first -- and that's ok. Just start there and feel the resistance. Life will give us plenty of opportunities to practice every day.416 views
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Buddhist Yoga: Joining with Naturalness, Part VI. ~ Ari Goldfield & Rose Taylor Goldfield
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 30, 2011
In this sixth of seven pieces on Buddhist Yoga, we will focus on how to skillfully work with sickness on the path of practice. The view of Buddhist Yoga is that sickness is our friend. It can benefit our practice even more than being healthy does.130 views
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Mindfulness & Jon Kabat-Zinn.
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 29, 2011
There are many different ways to practice mindfulness, but generally, the fundamental idea (regardless of which way you practice) is to focus your attention in one direction. This can be done through focused breathing techniques, repeating a mantra, or observing a certain emotion or body sensation. Instead of letting the mind wander in a million different directions, the objective is to calm the mind enough to be able to fully experience the present moment.582 views
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Meditation Tips For Beginners & Those Beginning Again.
by Jennifer Fields on Nov 26, 2011
The loving kindness meditation was just what I needed to jump-start not only my personal meditation time, but it was also a safe, non-threatening way to introduce meditation to many of my yoga students.3,262 views
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100,000 Aspirations Project, Collecting Positive Intentions. ~ Anna Baldwin
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 23, 2011
100,000 Aspirations is collecting aspirations from people in all communities to be be put in a monument to peace being built in Vermont.159 views
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Buddhist Yoga: Joining with Naturalness, Part V. ~ Ari Goldfield & Rose Taylor Goldfield
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 23, 2011
In this fifth of seven pieces on Buddhist Yoga, we will focus on Buddhist Yogic Exercise. One of the methods to realize the fruition of Buddhist Yoga is yogic exercise. While there are many forms of yogic exercise, this presentation is based on teachings given by Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. In Khenpo Rinpoche’s system, the actual exercises are best learnt under the direct guidance of an instructor, but the key points on how to work with the body and mind can be applied to all kinds of movement.156 views
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Our Paths Cross, Granting Passage to Places Otherwise Unreachable. ~ Arno Michaels
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 23, 2011
“I know about hate and violence.” Paul said this after overhearing a conversation about my book. My Life After Hate is a reflective memoir-ish kind of thing about how I came to spend seven years as a white power skinhead and how I thankfully came to my senses.90 views
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Ten days continuous chanting: What’s the point?
by Writing Our Way Home on Nov 23, 2011
I completely failed to explain the reasons behind this ten day continuous chanting to my mum. And so I may fail here as well. But it feels important to try.54 views
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Educating for Noble Qualities In Challenging Times. ~ Noel McLellan
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 21, 2011
Our interactions are generally about academic content, and I do my best to help the students learn, but passing on the transmission of trust is the real point.1,116 views
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Why the Dharma Should Be Sold: Or How to Make a Living Off of Spirituality Without Being Called a Sellout. ~ Keith Martin-Smith
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 21, 2011
The dharma is not sold, it is said, and certainly not sold at handsome profits. My question is: why not?394 views
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Buddhist Yoga: Joining with Naturalness, Part IV. ~ Ari Goldfield & Rose Taylor Goldfield
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 17, 2011
In this fourth of seven pieces on Buddhist Yoga, we will focus on the third quality cultivated in Buddhist Yoga—the previous two being renunciation and compassionate bochichitta. The third quality of mind that Buddhist yogis and yoginis need is the view of the profound true nature of reality—non-dual awareness.394 views
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Ordinary Perfection: A Buddhist Approach to Self-acceptance. ~Sister Shamu
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 16, 2011
I have this crazy idea of what perfection is supposed to be like, of what an enlightened person, a spiritual person, an intelligent person is supposed to be like. I don’t measure up. The Buddhists have a teaching about “ordinary perfection.” It is about finding perfection in non-perfection. It is about recognizing that enlightenment, or mature spirituality, looks exactly like your life right now, exactly as it is.106 views
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Making space for heartwork when it feels impossible
by Writing Our Way Home on Nov 15, 2011
2011 is disappearing like sand through my fingers. So what about the important things? Those things that get pushed out of the way. Writing. Spiritual practice.117 views
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Do Not Drink the Kombucha: the Watering Down of Wisdom.
by Erica Mather on Nov 13, 2011
It seems these days that everyone who can quote or repackage the wisdom of these true masters fancies themselves one by default.4,237 views
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Dharma talk: How to dodge your ego
by Writing Our Way Home on Nov 10, 2011
After the service, Kaspa told me I'd got everything right, apart from the terrible faux pas of walking down the centre of the material in front of the shrine. This is reserved for EMPERORS ONLY. Talk about giving myself a promotion...75 views
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Buddhist Yoga: Joining with Naturalness, Part III. ~ Ari Goldfield & Rose Taylor Goldfield
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 9, 2011
In this third of seven pieces on Buddhist Yoga, we will focus on the second of the qualities that are foundational aspects of Buddhist Yoga—the first being renunciation and the third being the profound view. The second quality cultivated by practitioners of Buddhist Yoga is bodhichitta,[1] the motivation to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.412 views
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Waking Up From the American Dream: Buddhist Reflections on the Occupy Wall Street Movement. ~ Madrone Phoenix
by elephantjournal.com on Nov 9, 2011
If I can't dance to it, it's not my revolution.” ~ Emma Goldman280 views
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Your Life Is Not a Highway.
by Kate Bartolotta on Nov 9, 2011
Your life is not a highway with every turn clearly marked, speed limits posted and billboards telling you what's ahead. Your life is a long and winding road with unexpected delights that make the bumps tolerable.309 views
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The Many Gifts of Cancer (What Your Doctor Won’t Tell You).
by Jessica Stone Baker on Nov 9, 2011
“You know, we all get gifts from going through cancer. Cancer is different from other illnesses.” Excuses, go away. Welcome, Enlightenment.2,144 views
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Buddhist Yoga: Joining with Naturalness, Part II. ~ Ari Goldfield & Rose Taylor Goldfield
by elephantjournal.com on Oct 31, 2011
“Renunciation” can be a frightening word. In order to practice Buddhist Yoga, are we being told that we must renounce the people we love, the activities we enjoy, our work – our life as we have lived it?492 views
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Buddhist Weddings.
by Linda Lewis on Oct 26, 2011
And then, as still continues, the couple would make six offerings symbolic of the paramitas or transcendent virtues: generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, meditation and prajna or insight—which included a hearty sense of humor. These were the guidelines for marriage.993 views
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Is this image offensive to you? Think different = Do different.
by Mathew Gerson on Oct 19, 2011
How do I change my own narrative about those millions of "others" that I will never meet?313 views
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