Meditation Techniques....
Recognizing the Buddha
Meditation teacher Larry Rosenberg went to practice with Zen Master Seung Sahn in Korea. During the journey
he undertook a pilgrimage to other masters and temples, and while traveling on a remote road he came across a particularly elegant Buddhist shrine, or stupa, at the base of a mountain. Next to it was a sign, “Way to the
Most Beautiful Buddha in All of Korea,” and an arrow pointing to the thousand-step path up the mountain.
Larry decided to climb, hiking up the steps until he reached the top. The view was breathtaking in every direction.
The simple Zen stone pagoda matched the elegance of the one below. But in place of the Buddha on the altar
there was nothing, only empty space and the gorgeous green-hilled vista below. When he went closer, at the
empty altar was a plaque that read, “If you can't see the Buddha here, you had better go down and practice some more.”
The Elephant-like Mind
Like an elephant, the mind is powerful. Once tamed, it will work for you. When you find your mind in the midst of negative thinking, when you find your mind running away on you, gently pull it back. How? Simply refuse to ride the negative thought and shift it to a positive thought. By continually pulling your mind back into positive thoughts, you will find your outlook on life improving with less fear and wanting.
The following document is an excellent introduction into bringing the mind back home so that you can rediscover who you really are.
The following document is an excellent introduction into bringing the mind back home so that you can rediscover who you really are.
elephantmind.pdf | |
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Meditation using Sound
Sound Meditation
By Sylvia Boorstein
"Deep hearing, then, is not just an auditory sensation, involving the ear, but a matter of the whole . 'Deep hearing of the Dharma' means embodying the Buddha Dharma, an experiential awakening of the total self, conscious and unconscious, mind and body." -Rev. Taitetsu Unno
One specific method for practicing mindfulness of body sensations is to focus your attention on sounds. Sounds, like everything else, arise and pass away. Just by listening, you can experience the insight of impermanence, an understanding the Buddha taught as crucial for the development of wisdom.
Early morning is great for listening. Sounds start to slip into the stillness. In a rural setting, the sounds are likely to be those of birds and animals waking up. In a city, sounds of outside action begin-garbage collection, building construction, traffic. Even in the rarefied air of a high-rise hotel room, plumbing sounds and elevator sounds and footsteps in the hall pick up in pace.
Sit in a position in which you can be relaxed and alert. Close your eyes.
The stillness of your posture and the absence of visual stimuli both enhance hearing consciousness. People are sometimes surprised to discover how much sensory consciousness gets lost in the shuffle of distracted attention.
After your body is settled comfortably, just listen. Don't scan for sounds; wait for them. You might think of the difference between radar that goes out looking for something and a satellite dish with a wide range of pickup capacity that just sits in the backyard, waiting. Be a satellite dish. Stay turned on, but just wait.
At the beginning, you'll likely find that you are naming sounds, "door slam ... elevator ... footsteps ... bird ... airplane ... " Sometimes you'll name the feeling tone that accompanies the experience: "bird ... pleasant ... pneumatic drill ... unpleasant ... laughter ... pleasant ... " After a while, you may discover that the naming impulse relaxes. What remains is awareness of the presence or absence of sounds: "hearing ... not hearing ... sound arising ... sound passing away ... pleasant ... not pleasant."
Think of your listening meditation now as a wake-up exercise for your attention. However it happens-with names, without names, with feeling tone awareness or without-just let it happen. Don't try to accomplish anything. Just listen.
Sylvia Boorstein is a Buddhist teacher, psychotherapist, and author of That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist. "Sound Meditation" is excerpted from Don't Just Do Something, Sit There by Sylvia Boorstein. Copyright © 1996 by Sylvia Boorstein. Used with permission from HarperCollins.
[image: Milarepa, brass with pigments, late-fourteenth to early-fifteenth century, Tibet. Photo © John Bigelow Taylor]
By Sylvia Boorstein
"Deep hearing, then, is not just an auditory sensation, involving the ear, but a matter of the whole . 'Deep hearing of the Dharma' means embodying the Buddha Dharma, an experiential awakening of the total self, conscious and unconscious, mind and body." -Rev. Taitetsu Unno
One specific method for practicing mindfulness of body sensations is to focus your attention on sounds. Sounds, like everything else, arise and pass away. Just by listening, you can experience the insight of impermanence, an understanding the Buddha taught as crucial for the development of wisdom.
Early morning is great for listening. Sounds start to slip into the stillness. In a rural setting, the sounds are likely to be those of birds and animals waking up. In a city, sounds of outside action begin-garbage collection, building construction, traffic. Even in the rarefied air of a high-rise hotel room, plumbing sounds and elevator sounds and footsteps in the hall pick up in pace.
Sit in a position in which you can be relaxed and alert. Close your eyes.
The stillness of your posture and the absence of visual stimuli both enhance hearing consciousness. People are sometimes surprised to discover how much sensory consciousness gets lost in the shuffle of distracted attention.
After your body is settled comfortably, just listen. Don't scan for sounds; wait for them. You might think of the difference between radar that goes out looking for something and a satellite dish with a wide range of pickup capacity that just sits in the backyard, waiting. Be a satellite dish. Stay turned on, but just wait.
At the beginning, you'll likely find that you are naming sounds, "door slam ... elevator ... footsteps ... bird ... airplane ... " Sometimes you'll name the feeling tone that accompanies the experience: "bird ... pleasant ... pneumatic drill ... unpleasant ... laughter ... pleasant ... " After a while, you may discover that the naming impulse relaxes. What remains is awareness of the presence or absence of sounds: "hearing ... not hearing ... sound arising ... sound passing away ... pleasant ... not pleasant."
Think of your listening meditation now as a wake-up exercise for your attention. However it happens-with names, without names, with feeling tone awareness or without-just let it happen. Don't try to accomplish anything. Just listen.
Sylvia Boorstein is a Buddhist teacher, psychotherapist, and author of That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist. "Sound Meditation" is excerpted from Don't Just Do Something, Sit There by Sylvia Boorstein. Copyright © 1996 by Sylvia Boorstein. Used with permission from HarperCollins.
[image: Milarepa, brass with pigments, late-fourteenth to early-fifteenth century, Tibet. Photo © John Bigelow Taylor]
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Six OSHO Meditations - Dynamic, Kundalini, Nataraj, Gourishankar, Mandala, No Dimensions
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Meditating with and without an object
a_refuge_into_being.pdf | |
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