contemplative - ARTICLES - ContemplativeLife
2024-03-29T11:59:18Z
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The Face of God
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/the-face-of-god
2016-05-09T11:17:49.000Z
2016-05-09T11:17:49.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
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<div class="author-card__details"><span class="author-card__microbio">Poet, Activist, Artist. Muslim. I’m about that free life, that tree life, that more love, that green life. Love always.</span></div>
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<div class="image__credit js-image-credit">TARA MOORE VIA GETTY IMAGES</div>
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<p>This weekend I attended a retreat in Santa Fe led by Father Richard Rohr, a world- renowned Franciscan priest, called Awakening Identity. It gathered a dynamic group of people to discuss all manner of challenging spiritual and theological topics and invited us to sit in Contemplative Practices. Contemplative Practice is the act of sitting in silence, quieting the mind and awakening consciousness to the whole of existence. It is the act of being instead of doing.</p>
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<p>Contemplative practice has been a part of my path for many years now. Muslims call it “fikr” and Buddhists call it meditation. I believe it was an integral part of the life and message of Muhammad, upon him be prayers and peace.</p>
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<p>What a contemplative practice like fikr does is that is moves the center of understanding to somewhere between the mind and the heart. The eye (or third eye) of true sight opens when this happens. Muhammad became the prophet after hermitage which he spent in meditation and contemplation in the cave of Hiraa. Father Richard says in his book, The Naked Now, “Jesus was the first non-dual religious teacher of the West, and much of the reason we have failed to understand his teaching, much less follow it, is because we tried to understand it with a dualistic mind.” Father Richard spoke about the moment when Jesus became the Christ and on to the Cosmic Christ and Christ Consciousness. This type of consciousness is what Muslims call “taqwa.”</p>
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<p>Throughout the weekend, there was nothing that he said that I disagreed with as a Muslim. It crystalized and polished the understanding that Muhammad and Jesus were brothers who carried the same message. Father Richard’s message was that it is non-dualistic thinking that can help us to all make this same discovery.</p>
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<p>On the first day, at the very first session, I wondered what my presence at this retreat would do to and for the others in attendance. What did it look like to them that a devout, practicing Muslim woman stepped out of her comfort zone and was attending a very Christian retreat? What did it feel like for them? What were their perceptions of me? Were they made uncomfortable by my presence? What opportunities did they see brought by my presence and what challenges were felt? I wondered about all these questions that first evening at dinner. These thoughts were swirling around in me like the fancy wine in their glasses.</p>
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<p>Something snapped me out of my inner monologue and a conversation started about my husband, Sebastian and my #AskAMuslim project. The banter soon turned to more lighthearted topics and eventually we were all laughing deep belly laughs as we finished our entrees. We got to talking about music, health, relationships and a story of the prophet Muhammad came to mind. Someone asked the prophet what his favorite dish was and he said, “the one with the most hands extended towards it.” He loved people and enjoyed food because he enjoyed those who were dining with him. The breaking of bread which breaks down false barriers that we build up in our minds was a sort of transcendence for me.</p>
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<p>It is indeed the very same message that I carry with me whenever I speak and teach. It is the grounding Earth that I am planted in, that which has grown me into what I am now. I have roots that grow into the depths of the Earth of my tradition and even beyond into the Earth of the unknown where labels, lines and divisions become muddied and in some cases nonexistent. Like the tree, I have branches that stretch out into the sky, begging me to see beyond what my eyes can, calling on me to use my heart’s imaginative power to know the beyond. And so the idea of being small isn’t worrisome. Non-duality through contemplative practice connects me to everything, the micro and the macro.</p>
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<p>At one point Father Richard went around the room and pointed a finger at each one of us and said, “There lives the face of God,” and moved to the next person, “There lives the face of God.” He said when we stop thinking with our binary minds we can truly live and that is when we could never even imagine hurting another. My cells contain the very micro the sky calls for me to witness and which only my heart’s imagination can comprehend. The micro is inside me. The macro is inside me. I know the sky calls me to see that which is beyond my physical sight and yet, I can visit the multiverse and see it and know it because it exists inside of me.</p>
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<p>Like Ali (the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and 4rd Caliph) said, “You think you are a small entity, but within you is enfolded the entire Universe”. When I comprehend that I am both the micro and the macro, when my heart rests in that truth, I know I am truly present and alive. It is that truth that allows me to feel the pain of another. to feel the pain and cries of the Earth and what we have done to it.</p>
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<p>Father Richard was born to German, Catholic parents and so he is Catholic. And I was born to Syrian Muslim parents, and so I am Muslim. Are these differences meaningful? I truly feel that we are humans with morphic fields for souls that intermingle and interconnect always. It it our minds that grapple with our essence and our interconnectedness. That first evening of the retreat, my questions were quieted when my heart opened and I became present to the others around me - when I opened myself to more than myself. Contemplative practice makes this a way of life instead of just moments of connection and minor enlightenment.</p>
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<p>The inability to see the face of God in another or even in your enemy is what keeps us divided and is a major contributing factor for the existence of groups like Daesh (/ISIS, but please let’s stop using this ludicrous name for them.) I cannot unpack all of what happened at this retreat, but it should suffice to say that it was mind bending and heart opening to be a Muslim sitting in a room with devout Christians, drinking from the same well of wisdom.</p>
<p>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mona-haydar/the-face-of-god_b_9852210.html</p>
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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on flow, ecstasy and the spirituality of Positive Psychology
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-on-flow-ecstasy-and-the-spirituality-of-p
2016-04-27T16:53:19.000Z
2016-04-27T16:53:19.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p><em>Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is one of the world’s best-known psychologists, famous for developing the concept of ‘flow’. Inspired by the creative process of artists and musicians, Csikszentmihalyi spent decades researching the ‘flow’ states of consciousness that people can achieve when they’re totally absorbed in doing what they’re best at. They lose self-consciousness and a sense of time, and ‘zone in’ to their activity, sometimes achieving things that are ‘almost impossible’. I interviewed Csikszentmihalyi over the phone about his latest essay, ‘The Politics of Consciousness’, published in a new collection of essays called <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=c-syAwAAQBAJ&dq=well-being+and+beyond&source=gbs_navlinks_s" target="_blank">Well-Being and Beyond</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>JE:</strong> You say in your essay that psychology does not yet have an adequate idea of consciousness. What do you mean?</p>
<p><strong>MC:</strong> The theory that most psychologists would ascribe to does not take account of the autonomy of consciousness and people’s ability to come up with plans, purpose and motivation that are not inherent. The usual definition of consciousness is that it’s awareness of what is already in the mind. Consciousness is simply a repository or collection of impulses and stimuli that have been experienced by the person. I think the question of what consciousness actually does as an agent, as a director or controller of the mind – that hasn’t been well formulated.</p>
<p><strong>JE</strong>: You talk about the politics of consciousness – the social, economic and cultural conditions that allow consciousness to flourish, and you name three essential conditions for that flourishing – freedom, hope and flow.</p>
<p><strong>MC:</strong> Yes. For example, if the freedom of consciousness is restricted by political dictatorship or lack of opportunity, then consciousness is itself restricted and has no opportunities to go beyond the direction in which external forces push it.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/wwall_1109.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5124" alt="The collapse of the Soviet Union as a revolution in consciousness" src="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/wwall_1109-300x205.jpg" width="300" height="205" srcset="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/wwall_1109-300x205.jpg 300w, http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/wwall_1109.jpg 670w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>The collapse of the Soviet Union as a revolution in consciousness</p>
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<p>That’s why I was saying that the Soviet system corrupts, because eventually people can’t suffer any more the fact they weren’t free to use their energy in ways that are more truth-orientated than people allow them to be. Behavioural psychologists might have predicted that the Soviet system would have successfully re-programmed people into subservient robots. That’s because psychologists were not able to come to terms with the existence of <em>consciousness, </em>which allows people to imagine and choose alternatives to existing reality.</p>
<p><strong>JE:</strong> In terms of hope – I suppose for centuries the basis of people’s hope was hope in the afterlife, while for the last 200 years it’s been more hope in humanist progress. Do you think we’re becoming less hopeful about the future because of economic stagnation and the looming prospect of dramatic climate change?</p>
<p><strong>MC:</strong> That’s certainly a danger, that as progress falters, that will undermine hope not just for progress but for life itself. I think that is a real problem, and that’s why I hope psychology could begin to help to find reasons for existence and for going on with life that are more reliable than progress.</p>
<p><strong>JE:</strong> And your third essential constituent for flourishing consciousness is flow. You say in your essay that if we don’t have outlets for flow, people will look for excitement through things like violence and military adventurism. You mention the Hitler Youth as an example of this. Do you think something similar is happening in Middle Eastern countries, where there’s high youth unemployment and alienation, and the boredom leads to a sort of ‘heroic Jihadism’?</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Syria-2_2741318b1.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5122" alt="Young British muslims on a Jihadi boys tour in Syria" src="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Syria-2_2741318b1-300x187.jpg" width="300" height="187" srcset="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Syria-2_2741318b1-300x187.jpg 300w, http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Syria-2_2741318b1.jpg 620w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>Young British muslims on a Jihadi boys tour in Syria</p>
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<p><strong>MC:</strong> Yes definitely. Look also at Africa, which has by now several hundreds of thousands of teenage boys who are given weapons by diamond smugglers and so forth, and for them it’s a great adventure. They remember how in the village they were frightened by attacks from neighbouring gangs, but give them a machine gun and they feel in control and able to ‘live large’, so to speak. That is a danger even under the surface of the supposedly more developed countries. For young men especially, a certain amount of purposeful effort is needed – something that they can work on and try to improve at. At the moment, all the focus is on academic performance in high school, and if you’re not successful in that one domain of cognitive skill, there’s so little to do. That’s why young people become easily seduced into drugs and violence.</p>
<p><strong>JE:</strong> In <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow" target="_blank">your TED talk, 10 years ago, on flow</a>, you made a link between flow and altered states of consciousness like ecstasy. You quoted a leading American composer, who said that sometimes he finds himself ‘in an ecstatic state where almost you feel like you don’t exist…I have nothing to do with what’s happening. I just sit there and watch in a state of awe and wonderment. And [the music] just flows out of itself.’ I’m researching ecstatic experiences at the moment. Could you talk about about how ecstasy relates to your concept of flow?</p>
<p><strong>MC:</strong> When I started studying these altered states in artists and musicians and so forth, the literature on ecstasy was one that resonated very much with what I was learning. But flow is kind of a toned-down ecstasy, something that does have some of the characteristics of ecstasy – feeling that you’re losing yourself in something larger, the sense of time disappears – but flow happens in conditions that are usually rather mundane. Of course they happen also in arts or sports or extreme physical situations, but they can happen washing the dishes or reading a good book or having a conversation. It’s a kind of experience which culminates in ecstasy.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/gianlorenzobernini_theecstasyofsainttherese-detail.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-5123" alt="What are the similarities and differences between flow and ecstasy? " src="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/gianlorenzobernini_theecstasyofsainttherese-detail-300x288.jpg" width="211" height="203" srcset="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/gianlorenzobernini_theecstasyofsainttherese-detail-300x288.jpg 300w, http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/gianlorenzobernini_theecstasyofsainttherese-detail.jpg 860w" sizes="(max-width: 211px) 100vw, 211px" /></a>What are the similarities and differences between flow and ecstasy?</p>
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<p>But the problem with ecstasy is that you can’t programme it, you have to be lucky to be a situation where all conditions are so distinctly awesome that you feel ecstasy. Or you can learn to achieve it through very long periods of training like in Hindu mystical practices. Or you can get a similar sensation by taking drugs, but the thing with the chemical path to ecstasy is that you haven’t done it yourself – it’s an external manipulation of your nervous system. And that doesn’t leave much residue in your consciousness. You don’t feel that you have achieved it, as you do when you get it through yogic techniques or true flow. If you achieve the ecstatic experience through meditation, you feel ‘I can do it’ – you are actively connected to a larger experience.</p>
<p><strong>JE:</strong> An interesting difference between the traditional idea of ecstasy and your notion of flow is that, in ecstasy, there’s the idea that your consciousness goes outside of its ordinary parameters, but also that <em>something else comes in</em> – a god, genius, daemon or spirit. This is what Plato called enthusiasm, which means ‘having a god within’. Likewise, in creative inspiration, there’s the idea that some creativity is inspired – it’s a opening up to something, and a spirit going in or communicating through you. Many artists or poets or musicians feel like they are channelling something beyond them. But in flow, the autonomy of the self remains inviolate, self-contained, separate. So it’s a disenchanted definition of ecstasy, in which you never really go beyond the self.</p>
<p><strong>MC:</strong> Well, all psychologists can report is what we learn from human behaviour or statements from people who we talk to. There may be all kind of miraculous things in the world that we have no idea about. We’re psychologists, we talk to what happens to people. If you’re talking about people who get flow, you occasionally have that sort of account, but not necessarily – many others don’t say that. For instance, chess players might say that in a really good game, they have the experience where they feel their mind has become part of the Supreme Rationality that exists outside of them in a sort of Platonic way. You feel that pure logic is coming in to your mind. But mostly the people are talking metaphorically or allegorically. They don’t actually believe it. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who actually believes.</p>
<p><strong>JE:</strong> You’ve never interviewed an artist or musician who thinks their inspiration is supernatural?</p>
<p><strong>MC:</strong> Not that what came into them is a supernatural force, no. But they experience it as ‘wow, I felt I had complete control’ – they explain it as a feeling or experience they had. They didn’t literally believe it was a spirit, not the ones I’ve talked to.</p>
<p><strong>JE:</strong> The other big difference with the older idea of ecstasy is that your description of flow very much emphasizes training and mastery and a feeling of competence and control. In ecstatic states, by contrast, there’s traditionally been this idea that the inspired person almost doesn’t know what they’re doing, they’re <em>out of control</em>. It’s not an experience of mastery so much as surrender. But you also talk about the paradox of control – that in flow states there’s both a mastery and  a letting go. Can you explain that paradox a bit?</p>
<p><strong>MC:</strong> The sense of control is never complete, because otherwise you wouldn’t be in flow. The feeling people have is that, at the moment, they have the possibility of doing things that are really difficult or almost impossible. But they have that feeling only in a conditional sense – they know they could make a mistake. On the other hand, they feel that if they do everything as it should be done, it will work out. In everyday life, you feel even if you do your best something may happen or undo what you are trying to do. When you are in flow, you feel that really you are in control but you also have a responsibility to do what you need to do. You are not worried about anything else, you’re focused and doing your best.</p>
<p><strong>JE:</strong> How does your concept of flow feed into the idea in behavioural economics that we have two systems in the brain – a deliberative-conscious system and a more automatic system? Is flow in some ways a side-stepping of the more conscious-deliberative system and an allowing of the automatic system to take over?</p>
<p><strong>MC:</strong>  So far, the studies that have been done on flow and the brain are few, but they suggest that’s what is happening is ‘<a href="http://www.harford.de/arne/articles/THH%20Exercise%20Psychiatry%20Research.pdf" target="_blank">transient hypo-frontality</a>‘ – the frontal part of the brain is not interfering with the rest of the brain. The frontal part is usually the one you use to make choices, evaluate options, think about consequences and so forth. That’s the executive part of the brain. What you are using instead are the older parts of the brain, which store patterns of behaviour, for instance if you’re a skiier, the whole set of notions involved in going down the slope, the movements and sequences, they’re all stored in the lower part of the brain. Usually, the lower part of the brain is being controlled or directed by the frontal part of the brain, but in flow, you get to be so good at practicing that if you have this information well practiced, then you can let it go freely.</p>
<p><em>Here’s my favourite example of transient hypo-frontality – Ayrton Senna’s mystic lap in the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix.</em></p>
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<p><strong>JE:</strong> What is the relationship between Positive Psychology and religion? They seem to cover similar areas – virtues, self-control, resilience, gratitude, flow, friendship, awe – but at the same time, Positive Psychology is resolutely naturalistic. Is it a naturalistic alternative to religion?</p>
<p><strong>MC:</strong> One distinction we have to make is between religiosity and spirituality. The latter is a non-denominational way of speaking about what religions sometimes do. So for instance, meditation, mindfulness, gratitude, respect and love of nature – all of these things are very much part of Positive Psychology. Spirituality is the basis of religions, the problem with religions is they become institutionalized and the form becomes more important than the substance, and you begin to have to differentiate yourself from other religions which have different forms, even though the substances are the same. Instead of being a spiritual religion, you end up with a religion that’s very much material. That happens to almost all religions, even Buddhism, which has lost a lot of its spirituality through institutionalization.</p>
<p><strong>JE:</strong> Is there a risk that, as Positive Psychology becomes adopted by governments, it also becomes institutionalized?</p>
<p><strong>MC:</strong> So far it’s been more of a critique of politics. As a critical corrective to politics, it may survive. If it becomes institutionalized in political forms, that would be really bad. I make it clear that I don’t think Positive Psychologists should work for the Army or even good political institutions, because then the spirit gets removed in favour of the structure.</p>
<p><em>As a last thought, I think one of the reasons for the success of the ‘flow’ concept in wider culture is that it given us a way to talk about altered states of consciousness, and their value, without relying on religious or animistic terminology like ‘ecstatic’ or ‘inspired’.  His way of talking about ecstasy also appeals more to the autonomous self of capitalist society – hard-working, self-controlled, diligent, competent. Indeed, flow states are described as moments of supreme control and competence, rather than as a surrender of your ego to something Other. He said in his TED talk that it’s something CEOs can feel when they’re having a great meeting – a sort of executive ecstasy.<br /></em></p>
<p><em>By exorcising ecstasy of any spirits, ‘flow’ is in keeping with the great project of modern science, which Barbara Ehrenreich describes as the attempt ‘to crush any notion of powerful nonhuman Others, to establish there are not conscious, subjective beings other than ourselves – no spirits, demons, or gods…Human freedom, knowledge and – let’s be honest – mastery, all depend on shooing out the ghosts and spirits.’  Flow is not just a ‘toned-down form of ecstasy’, it is a completely disenchanted idea of ecstasy, in which the human agent is in fact triumphantly masterful, rather than surrendering to some Other more powerful than it.<br /></em></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/animation-master-hayao-miyazaki-retires-from-feature-filmmaking-header.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5137" alt="Miyazaki and some of his creations" src="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/animation-master-hayao-miyazaki-retires-from-feature-filmmaking-header-300x192.jpg" width="300" height="192" srcset="http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/animation-master-hayao-miyazaki-retires-from-feature-filmmaking-header-300x192.jpg 300w, http://www.philosophyforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/animation-master-hayao-miyazaki-retires-from-feature-filmmaking-header.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>Miyazaki and some of his creations</p>
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<p><em>As an account of what artists think about creative inspiration, it seems to me too narrow and naturalistic. In all his research on creativity, Csikszentmihalyi has really never come across any artist who thinks their inspiration is supernatural? Well, here are some: Ted Hughes, David Lynch, Hayao Miyazaki, TS Eliot, Walt Whitman, Rilke, Goethe, Seamus Heaney, WB Yeats, DH Lawrence, Gerard Manley Hopkins, William Wordsworth, ST Coleridge, John Keats, William Blake, John Milton, George Herbert, John Donne, Homer, Sophocles, Pindar, Aeschylus, Schiller, Dante, William Shakespeare, Garcia Lorca…</em></p>
<p><em>They all thought their creative inspiration was at least partly supernatural, a gift from the spirit world. I’m sure there are many, many more examples. This is not to say creativity is<span> entirely</span> some unconscious ecstatic process – not at all, it involves a lot of conscious craft and struggle. But for these artists at least, it is also partly a gift from the spirit world.<br /></em></p>
<p><em><em>For many artists, as for mystics, ecstasy is a </em><span>relationship</span><em> – it’s a going out, a meeting, a melting, a mingling, a giving and receiving. Positive Psychology wants spirituality without Spirit, it wants awe without leaving the confines of the self – but I’m not sure you can have gratitude without a Giver, or ecstasy without a venturing forth. Peeking out of the window of the self is not the same an opening the door and walking out into the night.</em><br /></em></p>
<p><em>There’s a sort of institutionalized blindness to the supernatural in psychology – it doesn’t see it, because it </em>can’t <em>see it. Previous generations of psychologists  – Carl Jung and William James particularly – had the courage to see beyond the naturalistic fence of their discipline, and this enabled them to talk about how people actually experience and interpret altered states of consciousness. ‘Flow’ manages to cover some aspects of those experiences – but it’s a very toned-down, buttoned-up, lights-on, staying-safe-inside version of ecstasy. Have we become so afraid of the dark?</em></p>
<p><span>- See more at: http://www.philosophyforlife.org/mihaly-csikszentimihalyi-on-flow-ecstasy-and-the-spirituality-of-positive-psychology/#sthash.IcyHFpzD.yTlBJpfS.dpuf</span></p>
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Living the Compassionate Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/living-the-compassionate-life
2016-04-25T09:56:47.000Z
2016-04-25T09:56:47.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
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<h4>This teaching by the Dalai Lama explains how the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness and compassion lead inevitably to feelings of self-confidence and kindness.</h4>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364320?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364320?profile=original" width="240" class="align-full"></a></p>
<p>As human beings we all have the potential to be happy and compassionate people, and we also have the potential to be miserable and harmful to others. The potential for all these things is present within each of us.</p>
<p>If we want to be happy, then the important thing is to try to promote the positive and useful aspects in each of us and to try to reduce the negative. Doing negative things, such as stealing and lying, may occasionally seem to bring some short-term satisfaction, but in the long term they will always bring us misery. Positive acts always bring us inner strength. With inner strength we have less fear and more self-confidence, and it becomes much easier to extend our sense of caring to others without any barriers, whether religious, cultural, or otherwise. It is thus very important to recognize our potential for both good and bad, and then to observe and analyze it carefully.</p>
<p>This is what I call the promotion of human value. My main concern is always how to promote an understanding of deeper human value. This deeper human value is compassion, a sense of caring, and commitment. No matter what your religion, and whether you are a believer or a nonbeliever, without them you cannot be happy.</p>
<p>Kindness and a good heart form the underlying foundation for our success in this life, our progress on the spiritual path, and our fulfillment of our ultimate aspiration: the attainment of full enlightenment. Hence, compassion and a good heart are not only important at the beginning but also in the middle and at the end. Their necessity and value are not limited to any specific time, place, society or culture.</p>
<p>Thus, we need compassion and human affection not only to survive; they are the ultimate sources of success in life. Selfish ways of thinking not only harm others, they prevent the very happiness we ourselves desire. The time has come to think more wisely, hasn’t it? This is my belief.</p>
<h2>Developing Compassion</h2>
<p>Before we can generate compassion and love, it is important to have a clear understanding of what we understand compassion and love to be. In simple terms, compassion and love can be defined as positive thoughts and feelings that give rise to such essential things in life as hope, courage, determination and inner strength. In the Buddhist tradition, compassion and love are seen as two aspects of same thing: compassion is the wish for another being to be free from suffering; love is wanting them to have happiness.</p>
<p>The next matter to be understood is whether it is possible to enhance compassion and love. In other words, is there a means by which these qualities of mind can be increased, and anger, hatred, and jealousy reduced? My answer to this is an emphatic, “Yes!” Even if you do not agree with me right now, let yourself be open to the possibility of such development. Let us carry out some experiments together; perhaps we may then find some answers.</p>
<p>For a start, it is possible to divide every kind of happiness and suffering into two main categories: mental and physical. Of the two, it is the mind that exerts the greatest influence on most of us. Unless we are either gravely ill or deprived of basic necessities, our physical condition plays a secondary role in life. If the body is content, we virtually ignore it. The mind, however, registers every event, no matter how small. Hence we should devote our most serious efforts to bringing about mental peace rather than physical comfort.</p>
<h2>The Mind Can Be Changed</h2>
<p>From my own limited experience, I am convinced that through constant training we can indeed develop our minds. Our positive attitudes, thoughts, and outlook can be enhanced, and their negative counterparts can be reduced. Even a single moment of consciousness depends on so many factors, and when we change these various factors, the mind also changes. This is a simple truth about the nature of mind.</p>
<p>The thing that we call “mind” is quite peculiar. Sometimes it is very stubborn and very resistant to change. With continuous effort, however, and with conviction based on reason, our minds are sometimes quite honest and flexible. When we truly recognize that there is some need to change, then our minds can change. Wishing and praying alone will not transform your mind; you also need reason—reason ultimately grounded in your own experience. And you won’t be able to transform your mind overnight; old habits, especially mental ones, resist quick solutions. But with effort over time and conviction grounded in reason, you can definitely achieve profound changes in your mental attitudes.</p>
<p>As a basis for change, we need to recognize that as long as we live in this world we will encounter problems, things that obstruct the fulfillment of our goals. If, when these happen, we lose hope and become discouraged, we diminish our ability to face these difficulties. If, on the other hand, we remember that not just we but everyone has to undergo suffering, this more realistic perspective will increase our determination and our capacity to overcome troubles. By remembering the suffering of others, by feeling compassion for others, our own suffering becomes manageable. Indeed, with this attitude, each new obstacle can be seen as yet another valuable opportunity to improve our mind, another opportunity for deepening our compassion! With each new experience, we can strive gradually to become more compassionate; that is, we can develop both genuine sympathy for others’ suffering and the will to help remove their pain. As a result, our own serenity and inner strength will increase.</p>
<h2>How to Develop Compassion</h2>
<p>Self-centeredness inhibits our love for others, and we are all afflicted by it to one degree or another. For true happiness to come about, we need a calm mind, and such peace of mind is brought about only by a compassionate attitude. How can we develop this attitude? Obviously, it is not enough for us simply to believe that compassion is important and to think about how nice it is! We need to make a concerted effort to develop it; we must use all the events of our daily life to transform our thoughts and behavior.</p>
<p>First of all, we must be clear about what we mean by compassion. Many forms of compassionate feeling are mixed with desire and attachment. For instance, the love parents feel for their child is often strongly associated with their own emotional needs, so it is not fully compassionate. Usually when we are concerned about a close friend, we call this compassion, but it too is usually attachment. Even in marriage, the love between husband and wife—particularly at the beginning, when each partner still may not know the other’s deeper character very well—depends more on attachment than genuine love. Marriages that last only a short time do so because they lack compassion; they are produced by emotional attachment based on projection and expectation, and as soon as the projections change, the attachment disappears. Our desire can be so strong that the person to whom we are attached appears to be flawless, when in fact he or she has many faults. In addition, attachment makes us exaggerate small, positive qualities. When this happens, it indicates that our love is motivated more by personal need than by genuine care for another.</p>
<p>Compassion without attachment is possible. Therefore, we need to clarify the distinctions between compassion and attachment. True compassion is not just an emotional response but a firm commitment founded on reason. Because of this firm foundation, a truly compassionate attitude toward others does not change even if they behave negatively. Genuine compassion is based not on our own projections and expectations, but rather on the needs of the other: irrespective of whether another person is a close friend or an enemy, as long as that person wishes for peace and happiness and wishes to overcome suffering, then on that basis we develop genuine concern for their problem. This is genuine compassion. For a Buddhist practitioner, the goal is to develop this genuine compassion, this genuine wish for the well-being of another, in fact for every living being throughout the universe. Of course, developing this kind of compassion is not at all easy! Let us consider this point more closely.</p>
<p>Whether people are beautiful or plain, friendly or cruel, ultimately they are human beings, just like oneself. Like oneself, they want happiness and do not want suffering. Furthermore, their right to overcome suffering and to be happy is equal to one’s own. Now, when you recognize that all beings are equal in both their desire for happiness and their right to obtain it, you automatically feel empathy and closeness for them. Through accustoming your mind to this sense of universal altruism, you develop a feeling of responsibility for others; you wish to help them actively overcome their problems. This wish is not selective; it applies equally to all beings. As long as they experience pleasure and pain just as you do, there is no logical basis to discriminate between them or to alter your concern for them if they behave negatively.</p>
<p>One point I should make here is that some people, especially those who see themselves as very realistic and practical, are sometimes too realistic and obsessed with practicality. They may think, “The idea of wishing for the happiness of all beings, of wanting what is best for every single one, is unrealistic and too idealistic. Such an unrealistic idea cannot contribute in any way to transforming the mind or to attaining some kind of mental discipline because it is completely unachievable.”</p>
<p>A more effective approach, they may think, would be to begin with a close circle of people with whom one has direct interaction. Later one can expand and increase the parameters of that circle. They feel there is simply no point in thinking about all beings, since there is an infinite number of them. They may conceivably be able to feel some kind of connection with some fellow human beings on this planet, but they feel that the infinite number of beings throughout the universe have nothing to do with their own experience as individuals. They may ask, “What point is there in trying to cultivate the mind that tries to include within its sphere every living being?”</p>
<p>In other contexts, that may be a valid objection. What is important here, however, is to grasp the impact of cultivating such altruistic sentiments. The point is to try to develop the scope of our empathy in such a way that we can extend it to any form of life with the capacity to feel pain and experience happiness. It is a matter of recognizing living organisms as sentient, and therefore subject to pain and capable of happiness.</p>
<p>Such a universal sentiment of compassion is very powerful, and there is no need to be able to identify, in specific terms, with every single living being in order for it to be effective. In this regard it is similar to recognizing the universal nature of impermanence: when we cultivate the recognition that all things and events are impermanent, we do not need to consider individually every single thing that exists in the universe in order to be convinced of it. That is not how the mind works. It is important to appreciate this point.</p>
<p>Given patience and time, it is within our power to develop this kind of universal compassion. Of course our self-centeredness, our distinctive attachment to the feeling of a solid “I,” works fundamentally to inhibit our compassion. Indeed, true compassion can be experienced only when this type of self-grasping is eliminated. But this does not mean that we cannot start to cultivate compassion and begin to make progress right away.</p>
<p>Since compassion and a good heart are developed through constant and conscious effort, it is important for us first to identify the favorable conditions that give rise to our own qualities of kindness, and then to identify the adverse circumstances that obstruct our cultivation of these positive states of mind. It is therefore important for us to lead a life of constant mindfulness and mental alertness. Our mastery of mindfulness should be such that whenever a new situation arises, we are able to recognize immediately whether the circumstances are favorable or adverse to the development of compassion and a good heart. By pursuing the practice of compassion in such a manner, we will gradually be able to alleviate the effects of the obstructive forces and enhance the conditions that favor the development of compassion and a good heart.</p>
<h2>Global Compassion</h2>
<p>I believe that at every level of society—familial, national and international—the key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion. We do not need to become religious, nor do we need to believe in a particular ideology. All that is necessary is for each of us to develop our good human qualities. I believe that the cultivation of individual happiness can contribute in a profound and effective way to the overall improvement of the entire human community.</p>
<p>We all share an identical need for love, and on the basis of this commonality, it is possible to feel that anybody we meet, in whatever circumstances, is a brother or sister. No matter how new the face or how different the dress or behavior, there is no significant division between us and other people. It is foolish to dwell on external differences because our basic natures are the same.</p>
<p>The benefits of transcending such superficial differences become clear when we look at our global situation. Ultimately, humanity is one and this small planet is our only home. If we are to protect this home of ours, each of us needs to experience a vivid sense of universal altruism and compassion. It is only this feeling that can remove the self-centered motives that cause people to deceive and misuse one another. If you have a sincere and open heart, you naturally feel self-worth and confidence, and there is no need to be fearful of others.</p>
<p>The need for an atmosphere of openness and cooperation at the global level is becoming more urgent. In this modern age, when it comes to dealing with economic situations there are no longer familial or even national boundaries. From country to country and continent to continent, the world is inextricably interconnected. Each country depends heavily on the others. In order for a country to develop its own economy, it is forced to take seriously into account the economic conditions of other countries as well. In fact, economic improvement in other countries ultimately results in economic improvement in one’s own country.</p>
<p>In view of these facts about our modern world, we need a total revolution in our thinking and our habits. It is becoming clearer every day that a viable economic system must be based on a true sense of universal responsibility. In other words, what we need is a genuine commitment to the principles of universal brotherhood and sisterhood. This much is clear, isn’t it? This is not just a holy, moral or religious ideal. Rather, it is the reality of our modem human existence.</p>
<p>If you reflect deeply enough, it becomes obvious that we need more compassion and altruism everywhere. This critical point can be appreciated by observing the current state of affairs in the world, whether in the fields of modern economics and health care, or in political and military situations. In addition to the multitude of social and political crises, the world is also facing an ever-increasing cycle of natural calamities. Year after year, we have witnessed a radical shifting of global climatic patterns that has led to grave consequences: excessive rain in some countries that has brought serious flooding, a shortage of precipitation in other countries that has resulted in devastating droughts. Fortunately, concern for ecology and the environment is rapidly growing everywhere. We are now beginning to appreciate that the question of environmental protection is ultimately a question of our very survival on this planet. As human beings, we must also respect our fellow members of the human family: our neighbors, our friends, and so forth. Compassion, loving-kindness, altruism, and a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood are the keys not only to human development, but to planetary survival.</p>
<p>The success or failure of humanity in the future depends primarily upon the will and determination of the present generation. If we ourselves do not utilize our faculties of will and intelligence, there is no one else who can guarantee our future and that of the next generation. This is an indisputable fact. We cannot place the entire blame on politicians or those people who are seen as directly responsible for various situations; we too must bear some responsibility personally. It is only when the individual accepts personal responsibility that he or she begins to take some initiative. Just shouting and complaining is not good enough. A genuine change must first come from within the individual, then he or she can attempt to make significant contributions to humanity. Altruism is not merely a religious ideal; it is an indispensable requirement for humanity at large.</p>
<p><em>Adapted from </em>The Compassionate Life<em>, by the Dalai Lama. © 2001 Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Available from Wisdom Publications.</em></p>
<p class="p1">http://www.lionsroar.com/living-the-compassionate-life/?utm_content=buffer26507&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://www.lionsroar.com/author/the-dalai-lama/" rel="author" style="font-size: 1em;">ABOUT THE DALAI LAMA</a></p>
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<p>Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the US Congressional Gold Medal. Unique in the world today, he is a statesman, national leader, spiritual teacher, and deeply learned theologian. He advocates a universal "religion of human kindness" that transcends sectarian differences. The Dalai Lama is universally respected as a spokesman for the peaceful and compassionate resolution of conflict. He has also been actively involved in bringing together Western scientists and Buddhist meditators, and is a founder of the Mind & Life Institute where such meetings of the minds can take place.</p>
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Are Nones the ‘Missing Link’ in Contemporary Religion?
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/are-nones-the-missing-link-in-contemporary-religion
2016-04-23T11:13:03.000Z
2016-04-23T11:13:03.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
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<p>Scientists of various sorts have been monkeying around with religion for some time. Charles Darwin’s famous voyage on the Beagle was a high seas pilgrimage on waves of faith and doubt, after all. Ultimately, Darwin cast himself as a religious skeptic, but he continued to wonder what role religion plays in the thriving of the human species.</p>
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<p>More recently, a group of scientists raised a different set of evolutionary questions about the nature of religion. As reported in <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/chimpanzee-spirituality/475731/" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":1}}">The Atlantic</a> last month, a study of “<a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep22219" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":2}}">Chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing</a>“ led by researchers at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany revealed among separate groups of chimpanzees in West Africa practices of throwing stones at the bases of specific trees. The researchers suggested the trees might be “sacred” sites where chimpanzees gathered not for mating displays, social bonding, or some other obviously functional purpose, but rather for ritualized proto-religious behaviors not unlike those of many of our human ancestors.</p>
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<p>If chimpanzees—our nearest evolutionary relatives—are expressing an <a href="https://vimeo.com/157106967" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":3}}">inherent primate religiosity</a> with these stone gathering rituals, might it be the case that we share a genetic predisposition for religion? Is being religious part of our human nature like using symbolic language or gathering with others of our kind? If it is, is it something we can cultivate as a species, but that we can’t really erase? If this is so, does belief in God or attending worship services really matter in terms of “preserving religion”? Won’t religion express itself in one way or another no matter how secular we believe we’re becoming?</p>
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<p>These are reasonable questions to ask in a time in which it is impossible to avoid the streams of <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":4}}">demographic data </a>and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/american-religion-trends_us_570c21cee4b0836057a235ad?9k5q5c63oqitpam7vi" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":5}}">commentary</a> that tell us that Americans, among many others around the world, are increasingly leaving behind religion—at least in its narrowly institutional sense. Some 23 % of adults in the U.S. do not identify or affiliate with an institutional religion—30% for the under-30 set.</p>
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<p>But we also know increasing unaffiliation doesn’t necessarily, or even predominately, mean a move away from the kinds of ritual practices, experiences of wonder and awe, and quests for meaning and purpose that have traditionally been associated with institutional religion. Though levels of belief in God and the doctrinal teachings of religions continue to decline among Nones (as well as among<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/spiritual-but-not-religious_b_9721646.html" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":6}}">some of the religiously affiliated</a>), the <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/01/21/americans-spirituality/" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":7}}">Pew Forum reported </a>substantial increases in the percentage of Americans who report “a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being” (up 6% since 2007) and in “wonder about the universe” (up 7% since 2007). Such feelings don’t always translate into self-identification as “Spiritual-But-Not-Religious” or the development of idiosyncratic and, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lillian-daniel/spiritual-but-not-religio_b_959216.html" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":8}}">some would say</a>, shallow and narcissistic spiritualities. Rather, findings from my own national study of the spiritual lives of America’s Nones suggest many people are setting aside the institutionalized trappings of religion anchored in “believing, belonging, and behaving” in relation to a specific religious community, its teachings, and practices in favor of more fluid, evolutionary, this-worldly religiosity that adapts and changes along with other aspects of life.</p>
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<p>In <em><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lillian-daniel/spiritual-but-not-religio_b_959216.html" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":9}}">Choosing Our Religion: The Spiritual Lives of America’s Nones</a></em>, I argue that many Nones are not so much “loosing their religion” as they are revising, repurposing, and finding new ways of expressing what may very well be a “natural” religious or spiritual impulse. One of more than 100 Nones I interviewed for the book, a 49-year-old woman from Belleview, Washington I call “Catherine,” put it this way:</p>
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<p>I like to think I’ve grown spiritually over the years. Sometimes I look at some of the things I used to be into—“The Angel Years” when I was in my twenties, for instance, or the Native American drumming—and I can’t imagine putting my energy into that today. But at the time, it meant something. It helped me, I guess, to feel that I was surrounded by all these “angels.” I learned some things. ... You know, I was such a “New Ager.” I was into that for sure. ... And then I moved on. I tried different things—Twelve-Step groups, therapeutic touch, meditation. I was an Episcopalian, sort of, for a couple years. Now I practice yoga and I meditate regularly. I’m really a None. Or, maybe, an All-of-the-Above. I guess None is what’s working now. But parts of all the rest are still there one way or another. If I need them, if they make sense, they’re there for me.</p>
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<p>What counts as Catherine’s “sacred tree rituals” have evolved as her life itself has changed. But that’s not an evolution away from religion toward secularism, as Enlightenment thinkers assumed would happen as modern, scientific progress marched on. It’s a matter of spiritual adaptation to changing life circumstances. “Once you’re aware you’re just going through the motions,” she told me, “if you’re heart’s not really in it, you’re not able to give much anymore to yourself or the people around you. For me, that’s always a sign that I’ve stopped growing. It’s a sign I need to find another way.”</p>
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<p>When I came upon the Chimpanzee reports, I couldn’t help but think about my late dog, a beautiful Akita named Maya, who walked with me every morning through the Oakland Hills when I was in graduate school. Every once in a while, at the crest of a hill or the edge of a meadow, Maya would pause and gaze out at the surrounding landscape. Sure, she could have been sniffing for potential predators or, more likely, for other dogs to play with. I know my experience of her contained a good measure of projection. Still, I always sensed that she was onto something spiritually significant that I wasn’t completely able to grasp. Maybe this was part of what the Jesus of the Christian gospels was pointing out when he advised his followers to look to the natural world—to <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A26-34&version=NRSV" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":10}}">birds</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A27-29&version=NRSV" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":11}}">wildflowers</a>—for the truest teachings of divine ways.</p>
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<p>Nones like Catherine, or Atheists who insisted that their service to people in need constituted a form of “prayer,” often seemed to have a much greater attentiveness to the sensibility I saw (or imagined?) in Maya. Maybe, after all the religious shuffling going on right now settles a bit, we’ll be able to see that Nones are something of a “missing link” between a more primal, and perhaps more authentic, religiosity and the institutional edifices we’ve constructed in all too human attempts to contain and control an organic spirituality that is our genetic, evolutionary legacy.</p>
<p>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-drescher/are-nones-the-missing-lin_b_9751190.html</p>
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<div class="follow-author">Follow Elizabeth Drescher on Twitter: <a class="follow-author__link" href="http://www.twitter.com/edrescherphd" target="_blank" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":12}}">www.twitter.com/edrescherphd</a></div>
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Courage in the Workplace: Creating a Culture of Compassion
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/courage-in-the-workplace-creating-a-culture-of-compassion
2016-04-11T11:42:31.000Z
2016-04-11T11:42:31.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
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<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">The School of Management at the University of San Francisco promotes its role in preparing students to enter the workforce by identifying three sectors in which they are most likely to exercise their talents: as public administrators in various levels of government; as small to corporate business managers in for-profit endeavors; and finally, in a kind of combination of the two, as employees of non-profit enterprises that often fill the gaps in government services but do so applying practical business methods.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364305?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364305?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full" height="316"></a></span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">Those who are motivated after recognizing a social problem that needs redressing or after appreciating a common good that could be shared more widely often<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kimberly-connor/undertake%20non-profit%20administration" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":1}}" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">undertake non-profit administration</span></a>. But these organizations are also founded by problem solvers who recognize that their expertise, acquired not by conventional education in management, may meet a social need or produce a benefit. Previously I’ve written about how one can apply skills developed in humanities courses to the workplace; but here I offer an example of a non-profit that offers a technique derived from a particular discipline and its specialized knowledge of ancient traditions to create a socially engaged contemplative organization aimed at transforming the workplace itself.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">Recently I spoke to one of the co-founders and current president of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://courageofcare.org/" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":2}}" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Courage of Care Coalition</span></a>, Brooke D. Lavelle, who described for me how her long study in cognitive psychology and Buddhist contemplative theory came together in a vision for the organization aimed at providing training for people in caring roles and professions, (educators, health care professionals, social workers, clergy, activists, etc.). What Brooke and her co-founder, John Makransky—a professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology at Boston College—recognized was that those drawn to work that requires active and engaged compassion could benefit from an approach to their work that cultivates sustainable care and compassion as derived from Buddhism and other contemplative practices.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">This approach to Buddhism’s practical application is not new; twenty years ago the Dalai Lama, along with a lawyer and an entrepreneur, created Mind and Life, a non-profit committed to building a scientific understanding of the mind as a way to help reduce suffering and promote human flourishing. Courage of Care collaborates with Mind and Life approaches but with a front line focus. Courage of Care seeks to operate on the ground, meeting the needs of workers who meet needs. While they aspire to see their practices widely adapted, they operate not a global scale but on the neighborhood level.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">As Brooke explained to me, her academic training in Buddhism coincided with a growing awareness among the public of the benefits of mindfulness and meditation as techniques for improving, discerning, and replenishing humans in their daily lives. “Compassion,” Brooke observed, is “a stance, not a feeling, an encounter or a perspective” that has multiple signatures. Adopting a relational or dialogic approach, the coalition recognizes many ways to “create space” for compassion. Organized from multiple portals and levels of entry and enacted in workshops, seminars, and retreats, the coalition offers several options for Sustainable Compassion Training (SCT). In addition, online workshops offer a flexible tool that adapts to the schedule of busy professionals who recognize that they cannot act autonomously to renew their compassionate spirits.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">Care for others involves an obligation to see one another’s essential dignity and to hold each other in a “field of care,” Brooke explained. Courage of Care rejects the notion of compensatory or redemptive suffering and resists individual tendencies towards martyrdom by stressing the collaborative aspect of compassionate care. The sense of community generated by Courage of Care extends beyond the formal training in workshops and seminars and is sustained as a habit of being in a nuanced idea of self-care supported by ongoing contemplative practices.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">Resisting the trends toward instant gratification from applying mindfulness techniques and veering away from stress as the main stimulus to practice, Brooke describes how we can scaffold our needs to build, develop, and live empathetic lives and to reclaim spirituality as a safe, scientific, public activity. Where courage becomes part of the picture is when one chooses a professional life that requires daily acts of mercy. “Courage,” Brooke observed, “is the quality of our capacity for caring.” Courage of Care believes that we are empowered by others whom we serve and that the compassionate impulse generates the courage necessary to confront and respond to suffering.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">This understanding of courage tracks with the research of Associate Professor Neil Walshe in the School of Management at the University of San Francisco. An organizational psychologist, Neil’s work has tried to move past psychology’s tendency to fixate on people’s motivations towards courage and instead address the experience of courage for individuals. As he explains, “There is a paucity of research that deals with the human experience of moral behavior and even less that looks at its absence. We know far more about the conditions that can bring about morally motivated behavior but relatively little about whether this is a positive or negative experience once enacted.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">While the assumption has long been that being courageous is a positive experience, Neil, like Brooke, asks “positive for whom?” In the organizational context, while it is morally admirable that organizations might encourage courage among employees, they themselves are exposed to little if any risk in the course of doing so. Ultimately, as Neil observes, “it is the individual who expends the moral and physical capital that comes with being courageous yet it is the organization that ultimately benefits through an increase in their moral perception by employees and outsiders alike.” Motivated by the sharp rise in academic research in the realm of positive psychology and positive organizational scholarship, Neil has tried to understand what it feels like to be courageous as part of one’s work role.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">Despite the volume of research present on courage as an abstract construct, little if any attention has been paid to the experience of courage among those who perform moral and virtuous acts as part of paid employment. Most scholarship in organizational psychology has been directed at attempts to quantify or measure people’s capacity for courageous action, which excludes the role of context and circumstance from the act of courage itself. Indeed, Neil has observed that organizations have begun to use and screen employees for their moral potential without really understanding the complexity of morality and its application to workplace behaviors.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffffcc;">Institutional efforts citied by Neil support of the work of Courage of Care, including the University of Michigan’s Center for Positive Psychology and the influential CompassionLab, a research initiative aimed at giving voice to the potential that empathy and compassion could play in understanding the challenges of contemporary employment and organizational membership. Moreover, these traits also address the potential benefits that organizations might realize by way of efficiency, decreased absenteeism, reduced turnover and the simple possibility that people might enjoy their work more if the workplace was a touch more human. Courage of Care brings that touch of the better angels of our human nature.</span></p>
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<p>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kimberly-connor/courage-in-the-workplace-_b_9585168.html</p></div>
Leading neuroscientists and Buddhists agree: “Consciousness is everywhere”
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/leading-neuroscientists-and-buddhists-agree-consciousness-is-ever
2016-04-01T11:11:22.000Z
2016-04-01T11:11:22.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">New theories in neuroscience suggest consciousness is an intrinsic property of everything, just like gravity. That development opens a world of opportunity for collaboration between Buddhists and neuroscientists.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364307?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364307?profile=original" width="436" class="align-full" height="249"></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">”</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">The heart of consciousness,</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">”</span> <span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">says neuroscientist Christof Koch,</span> <span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">“</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">is that it <i>feels like</i> something. How is it that a piece of matter, like my brain, can feel anything?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">In 2013,</span> <span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">Koch, one of the world</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">’</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">s leading experts on consciousness, went to a monastery in India to discuss that question with a group of Buddhist monks. He and the Dalai Lama debated neuroscience and mind for a full day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">They had different approaches. Koch offered contemporary scientific theories on the subject, and His Holiness countered with ancient Buddhist teachings. Yet, at the end of their discussion, the two thinkers agreed on almost every point.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">“What struck me most was his belief in what we in the West call ‘panpsychism’ — the belief that consciousness is everywhere,” says Koch. “And that we have to reduce the suffering of all conscious creatures.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">Panpsychism, the idea of universal consciousness, is a prominent thought in some branches of ancient Greek philosophy, paganism, and Buddhism. And it has been largely dismissed by modern science — until recently.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1"> In his work on consciousness, Koch collaborates with a researcher named Giulio Tononi. Tononi is the father of the most popular modern theory of consciousness, called Integrated Information Theory (IIT), which Koch <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/science/21consciousness.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">once called</span></a> “the only really promising fundamental theory of consciousness.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">Tononi’s theory states that consciousness appears in physical systems that contain many different and highly interconnected pieces of information. Based on that hypothesis, consciousness can be measured as a theoretical quantity, which the researchers call <i>phi</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">Tononi has a test for measuring phi (the amount of consciousness) in a human brain. It is similar to ringing a bell; scientists send a magnetic pulse into a human brain and watch the pulse reverberate through the neurons — back and forth, side to side. The longer and clearer the reverberation, the higher the subject’s amount of consciousness. Using that test, Koch and Tononi can tell whether a patient is awake, asleep, or anesthetized.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">There are already pressing and practical needs for a way to measure consciousness. Doctors and scientists could use phi to tell if a person in a vegetative state is effectively dead, how much awareness a person with dementia has, when a foetus develops consciousness, how much animals perceive, or even whether a computer can feel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">“That’s more urgent,” asserts Koch. “We’re witnessing the birth of computer intelligence. Is a machine conscious? Does it feel like anything? If it does, it may acquire legal rights, and I certainly have ethical obligations towards it. I can’t just turn it off or wipe its disc clean.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1"> IIT also marries these practical applications with profound ideas. The theory says that any object with a phi greater than zero has consciousness. That would mean animals, plants, cells, bacteria, and maybe even protons are conscious beings.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">Koch sees IIT as promising because it offers an understanding of panpsychism that fits into modern science. In <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/370/1668/20140167" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">an academic paper</span></a>, Koch and Tononi make the profound statement that their theory “treats consciousness as an intrinsic, fundamental property of reality.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1"> Modern research and recent dialogues between Buddhists and scientists have focused mainly on understanding the physical brain. But scientists have barely begun to develop an understanding of mind — or consciousness — itself.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">On the Buddhist side, however, this is a discussion that has been going on for thousands of years. Buddhism associates mind with sentience. The late Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche <a href="http://www.lionsroar.com/meditating-on-the-mind-itself/"><span style="color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">stated</span></a> that while mind, along with all objects, is empty, unlike most objects, it is also luminous. In a similar vein, IIT says consciousness is an intrinsic quality of everything yet only appears significantly in certain conditions — like how everything has mass, but only large objects have noticeable gravity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">In his major work, the <i><a href="https://web.stanford.edu/group/scbs/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/bussho/translation.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">Shobogenzo</span></a></i>, Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen Buddhism, went so far as to say, “All is sentient being.” Grass, trees, land, sun, moon and stars are all mind, wrote Dogen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">Koch, who became interested in Buddhism in college, says that his personal worldview has come to overlap with the Buddhist teachings on non-self, impermanence, atheism, and panpsychism. His interest in Buddhism, he says, represents a significant shift from his Roman Catholic upbringing. When he started studying consciousness — working with Nobel Prize winner Francis Crick — Koch believed that the only explanation for experience would have to invoke God. But, instead of affirming religion, Koch and Crick together established consciousness as a respected branch of neuroscience and invited Buddhist teachers into the discussion.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">At Drepung Monastery, the Dalai Lama told Koch that the Buddha taught that sentience is everywhere at varying levels, and that humans should have compassion for all sentient beings. Until that point, Koch hadn’t appreciated the weight of his philosophy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">“I was confronted with the Buddhist teaching that sentience is probably everywhere at varying levels, and that inspired me to take the consequences of this theory seriously,” says Koch. “When I see insects in my home, I don’t kill them.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">The theory of IIT shows promise for the future. With more research, Koch and Tononi could better test consciousness, to prove scientifically that all beings are sentient. Meanwhile, Buddhists around the world are constantly working to develop an understanding of the mind. Traleg Rinpoche <a href="http://www.lionsroar.com/meditating-on-the-mind-itself/"><span style="color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">said</span></a> that analytical methods can only go so far toward understanding the mind. Instead, he says, by resting his or her mind and contemplating it, a meditator can develop an understanding of the nature of mind and how it relates to everything else.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">Critics of IIT argue that the theory fails to explain where consciousness comes from. Science writer John Horgan argues, “you can’t explain consciousness by saying it consists of information, because information exists only relative to consciousness.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">Understanding the source of consciousness is an extremely difficult hurdle, but Koch is up to it. He says that his ultimate goal is to understand the universe. Some say that the best way to do that is to look inside your own mind. Maybe Koch is on to something.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.5pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;" data-mce-mark="1">http://www.lionsroar.com/christof-koch-unites-buddhist-neuroscience-universal-nature-mind/?utm_content=buffer9d2a4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; text-transform: uppercase;" data-mce-mark="1">BY </span><a href="http://www.lionsroar.com/author/sam-littlefair-wallace/" title="Posts by Sam Littlefair Wallace" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0s ease-in-out; color: #000000; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; line-height: 24px; text-transform: uppercase;">SAM LITTLEFAIR WALLACE</a><span class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #a4a4a4; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; text-transform: uppercase; transition-duration: 0s !important;" data-mce-mark="1"><span class="sep" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0s !important;" data-mce-mark="1">| </span>MARCH 23, 2016</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; text-transform: uppercase;"> </span></p></div>
The Surprising Benefits of Compassion Meditation
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/the-surprising-benefits-of-compassion-meditation
2016-03-30T11:23:02.000Z
2016-03-30T11:23:02.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p></p>
<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">In recent years, <a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/slideshows/8-ways-meditation-can-improve-your-life" title="Link: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/slideshows/8-ways-meditation-can-improve-your-life"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">mindfulness meditation</span></a> has garnered loads of attention for its beneficial effects on the body and mind. Now, there's a new star on the block: compassion meditation, a less well-known but increasingly popular contemplative practice that aims to strengthen feelings of compassion and empathy toward different people (both those you care about and those who are difficult).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">"It's deeply rooted in Buddhist philosophy, which has taught us a lot about how people are connected and what is the purpose of our existence," explains Stefan G. Hofmann, a professor of psychology in the department of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University. "Compassion is the fundamental idea at the root of Buddhist philosophy – if life is suffering and we can't avoid it, we need to embrace it and be compassionate toward the suffering of others. It brings us closer to others."<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364366?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364366?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full" height="325"></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">More than just a feel-good practice, compassion meditation leads to <a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2015/04/08/how-to-boost-your-mood-with-food-this-spring" title="Link: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2015/04/08/how-to-boost-your-mood-with-food-this-spring"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">improved mood</span></a>, more altruistic behavior, less anger, reduced stress and decreased maladaptive mind wandering, according to recent research. A 2013 study at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle found that practicing loving-kindness meditation (a form of compassion meditation) for 12 weeks reduced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, <a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2015/10/08/wars-the-world-over-leave-many-fighting-ptsd-at-home-and-abroad"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">or PTSD</span></a>, as well as anger and depression among veterans with PTSD. A 2005 study from Duke University Medical Center found that practicing loving-kindness meditation for eight weeks reduced pain and psychological distress among patients with <a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2015/02/20/back-pain-natural-ways-to-get-relief" title="Link: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2015/02/20/back-pain-natural-ways-to-get-relief"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">chronic low back pain</span></a>. And a 2015 study from Brazil found that practicing yoga along with compassion meditation three times a week for eight weeks improved quality of life, vitality, attention and self-compassion among family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">[Read: <a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2013/07/30/3-meditation-techniques-for-beginners"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">3 Meditation Techniques for Beginners</span></a>.]</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">Moreover, compassion meditation may even rewire the brain. In a 2008 study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison found, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI scans, that the brain circuitry that's used to detect emotions and feelings, including empathy, is altered in people who have extensive experience practicing compassion meditation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">It's important to note that the practice of compassion meditation is fairly different from other forms. Mindfulness meditation encourages people to focus on their breathing to develop an awareness of the present moment, the here and now, and to allow their thoughts to pass without judging or engaging them, Hofmann notes. <a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2013/09/06/does-transcendental-meditation-actually-work"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Transcendental meditation</span></a> involves silently repeating a mantra that you are given.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">By contrast, with compassion meditation, you're focusing your attention in specific ways, rather than letting your mind wander, Hofmann explains. It might involve silently repeating benevolent phrases or visualizing kind wishes that express the intention to move from judgment or dislike to caring, compassion and understanding of someone else.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">Yet, mindfulness meditation is a prerequisite for compassion meditation, says Dr. Charles Raison, a psychiatrist and professor in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. "You need a stable mind to benefit from other practices." With compassion meditation, participants might think of someone who's struggling or suffering and focus on invoking kind thoughts or visual images of the person. "In a way, it's a fake-it-'til-you-make-it strategy: You imagine the person suffering and work on generating powerful empathy to activate compassion toward the person," Raison explains.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">[Read: <a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2015/12/09/6-reasons-why-men-should-meditate"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">6 Reasons Why Men Should Meditate</span></a>.]</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">The underlying rationale is "that all sentient beings are in the same boat – we all want to be happy and we're all trying to get by and it's our ignorance that gets in the way" of happiness, connection and fulfillment, Raison explains. The big-picture goal with compassion meditation is to develop a deep sense of kinship and connection with other people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">To do that, you might sit quietly, breathe gently and silently repeat a phrase designed to evoke a feeling of goodwill, such as "May [name of person] be free from mental suffering and free from physical suffering" as you picture the person's face, Hofmann suggests. (Jack Kornfield, a Buddhist teacher, <a href="https://www.jackkornfield.com/meditation-on-lovingkindness/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">offers other compassionate phrases worth repeating</span></a> on his website.) It helps to start with people you like, then to move on to people you're frustrated by, Raison says.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">With a variation called self-compassion meditation, the goal is to cultivate kindness, understanding and empathy toward yourself, to recognize that <a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2016-01-20/are-you-catching-other-peoples-emotions"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">your negative emotions</span></a>and thoughts are harming you and to cut yourself a break by changing the conversation in your head. "Self-compassion is an idea that doesn't exist in the Tibetan world," Raison notes. "Western people seem to need something akin to '<i>I'm good enough and doggone it, people like me!'"</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">Even so, some experts, like Kristin Neff, an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas–Austin, believe that self-compassion meditation is an essential part of the equation. "If you just give compassion to others and not yourself, you'll burn out," says Neff, author of "Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself." "With compassion toward the self <i>and</i> others, there's an element of common humanity, a sense of connectedness that we're all in this together. It's different when you practice in the context of suffering: You're finding ways to accept and acknowledge that suffering is there then you're focusing on what you can do to soothe, comfort and alleviate it."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">[Read: <a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/slideshows/11-simple-proven-ways-to-optimize-your-mental-health"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">11 Simple, Proven Ways to Optimize Your Mental Health</span></a>.]</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">As with other forms, there's a reason compassion meditation is often referred to as a practice. "All of these meditation practices are like exercise – they require active participation and discipline and they're not easy," Raison says. Only, in this case, you're basically training your mental muscles to challenge your thoughts and cultivate a sense of empathy and connection toward others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">You can learn to do compassion meditation at local mindfulness or mind-body centers or by downloading guided meditations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's <a href="http://centerhealthyminds.org/well-being-tools/compassion-training/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Center for Healthy Minds</span></a> or from Neff's <a href="http://self-compassion.org/category/exercises/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">self-compassion meditations</span></a>. With regular practice, you'll get better at it, experts say, but if you stop doing it, your skills are likely to atrophy, just as they would with a physical skill. It's worth the effort, experts say, because it may turn out to be powerful medicine for your state of mind and your relationships. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">http://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/2016-03-23/the-surprising-benefits-of-compassion-meditation</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><a href="http://health.usnews.com/topics/author/stacey-colino"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 18pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"><a href="http://health.usnews.com/topics/author/stacey-colino"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Stacey Colino</span></a> <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">CONTRIBUTOR</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;">Stacey Colino</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'inherit','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; color: #ffffcc;"> is a freelance Health + Wellness reporter at U.S. News. You can connect with her on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/stacey-colino/5/a32/bb"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">LinkedIn</span></a> or email her at <a href="mailto:staceycolino@gmail.com" title="Link: mailto:staceycolino@gmail.com"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">staceycolino@gmail.com</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #ffffcc;"> </span></p></div>
Tech-assisted meditation vs. the human experience
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/tech-assisted-meditation-vs-the-human-experience
2016-03-26T12:12:24.000Z
2016-03-26T12:12:24.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Our daily lives are becoming more complex, connected and challenging, putting our general population under an immense amount of pressure. The result is more stress than we’ve ever faced before. So what can we do about it? Enter meditation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Meditation in short means "mind training". It is a practice that helps us better understand our own mind and strengthen skills like attention and compassion. There are many forms of meditation out there. Some are rooted in ancient practice and years of research, and some have been created more recently. When starting meditation it’s important to know which practice you are doing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Historically, meditation has been taught through a highly trained teacher, whereas today, the fast pace of modern life has left many time-starved and looking for more efficient and easily accessible options. This is where mobile meditation apps come in. While both ways of exploring meditation have their benefits, there are a few key differences.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Apps are emerging as an easy way to experience meditation. Most focus on giving the minimum dose of meditation, suggesting that from just a few minutes of practice a day, you’ll have increased happiness and a better life. Some apps have been built with the expertise of researchers and experienced teachers, while others have not. While there isn’t yet a large amount of research on the long term effect of apps, many users report feeling the benefits like reduced stress, greater clarity, enhanced attention, and more.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Here are my top meditation app picks:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">      </span></span> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Stop, Breathe Think</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">      </span></span> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Insight Timer</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">      </span></span> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Whil</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">      </span></span> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">The Mindfulness App</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">From my experience, the difference between using a meditation app versus learning with a teacher or group is significant.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">For example, a teacher can share their experience with you. They can listen to the challenges you are having and share advice. When you meditate in a group, there is a feeling of community that can help motivate you to practice. All of this is important to help us maintain a meditation practice. Meditation programs are available in most major cities. In these programs, participants develop a practice over time by meeting weekly in a group with an experienced teacher.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">One of the most researched meditation programs called MBSR or the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program is delivered over eight weeks. Research is pouring out about the health benefits of taking this program, showing outcomes like reduced stress and chronic pain, increased immunity and even enhanced cognitive abilities like attention and memory.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">To develop positive habits, build new skills or simply just to take care of ourselves, in my opinion, nothing beats an experienced guide and a supportive community.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">However, apps can be a great introduction and start to the journey of finding a teacher or community you connect with.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Either way, whether choosing to practice through a meditation program or an app, it is important to research the experience of the teachers. Just like with exercising the body, you need a skilled trainer to exercise the mind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 14.25pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">My Tips for using Meditation Apps:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">      </span></span> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Carve out a time in the day that works for you to practice, even if it’s a few minutes in the morning or before bed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">      </span></span> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Create a beautiful space in your home to practice - it can be as simple as clearing a small area for a chair or cushion and a candle</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">      </span></span> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Clarify your your intention and ask yourself "Why do I want to meditate?"</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">      </span></span> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Try out a few different meditation apps, read the bios of the teachers and get to know the intention behind the practice to see if it is the right one for you.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/am-extras/tech-assisted-meditation-vs-the-human-experience-1.2811285</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"><a href="http://www.mindfulnessstudies.com/"><span style="color: #ffffcc; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.mindfulnessstudies.com/</span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"><a href="http://michaelapollo.com/"><span style="color: #ffffcc; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://michaelapollo.com/</span></a></span></p>
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</div>
To Live With Gratitude, an Interview with Robert Kennedy, S.J., Roshi
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/o-live-with-gratitude-an-interview-with-robert-kennedy-s-j-roshi
2016-03-24T13:08:18.000Z
2016-03-24T13:08:18.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">“We shall not cease from exploration,” wrote the Catholic poet T.S. Eliot. “And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” Father Robert Kennedy has explored the world since he was ordained as a priest in 1965. He joined the Jesuits straight out of Xavier High School in New York City, vowing to remain for life, and he has.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">The tall, kindly Kennedy, who describes himself as conservative by temperament, was serving the Church in conservative Japan as Vatican II was dismantling the Catholic culture he had known and loved since he was a boy. The shock of returning home and finding it transformed led him to Zen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364296?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364296?profile=original" width="404" class="align-full" height="269"></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">As a Jesuit, Kennedy was naturally interested in studying other religions but he was also seeking a way to be Catholic that didn’t depend on outer forms. After completing doctoral studies in theology and preparing for psychoanalytic training on this continent, he returned to Japan in 1976, to study with Yamada Roshi in Kamakura. The Zen master assured the Christian priest several times that he did not want to make him a Buddhist but to empty him “in imitation of ‘Christ your Lord’.’’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Kennedy went on to study with Maezumi Roshi in Los Angeles, and with Bernard Glassman Roshi in New York. Glassman made Kennedy a teacher or sensei in 1991, and conferred Inka, or a final seal of approval, in 1997, making Kennedy a Zen roshi or master.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Through Zen, Kennedy arrived where he started, with God. In one form of true Christian contemplation, he affirms, there are no words, no knowledge of any subject or object. He came to see what Meister Eckhart, Thomas Merton, and other contemporary contemplatives described: At the end of our striving we are meant not only to follow Christ but to be Him. Our true identity is one with God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><i><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Parabola</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> joined Kennedy for lunch and conversation in the Jesuit living quarters of St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, New Jersey, where he teaches theology and Japanese.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">—Tracy Cochran</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">PARABOLA:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> Can you talk about those times when God seems to be silent, about what the Christian tradition regards as the darkness of faith?<br> <b>ROBERT KENNEDY:</b> In the beginning, faith can be very easy. It’s like being a child who naturally loves to hear stories. Some people carry that beautiful childlike faith their whole lives. But for some people, the religious stories and liturgy and symbols can suddenly collapse. This can be very painful. Jesus himself seemed to experience the disappearance of God, the disappearance of consolation as a human being, in Gethesame, on the cross. “My God, why have you forsaken me?” For some people this silence or darkness must be endured so that they can have own voice, so that they can truly be themselves. God doesn’t change; our perception of God often changes through life. We project onto God our highest aspirations, and of course this is not God. The time comes to stand on our own feet, carry our own cross, die our own death. In the Christian tradition, the goal is to become Christ ourselves. There is a Zen koan, “How do you greet someone without words or silence?” In Zen, silence is also emphasized but it should be productive and fruitful, even if it is experienced as patient waiting. It does not mean lacking energy or having a quiet disposition.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> In our culture, it’s very difficult for people to bear silence.<br> <b>RK:</b> The culture is against being alone, or being quiet, or enduring loneliness without distraction. I was talking to some diocesan priests, who remembered how the holy hour, when they were just supposed to be silent and prayerful in church, was sometimes so difficult, so painful. Their whole lives were geared for work and for service. How hard it was to be still.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> There’s no Sabbath anymore.<br> <b>RK:</b> I think we Christians have lost a lot when we lost the Sabbath. I guess there’s no going back, but the idea of giving a whole day to thoughtfulness and quiet is a wonderful thing. The Jews speak of welcoming the Sabbath like a bride. They hold it in great reverence. I think it’s a great gift that we’ve lost. Going to mass for an hour often doesn’t do it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> In your book <i>Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit</i>, you quote an Emily Dickinson poem that sums up this movement of faith: “Finding is the first Act/The second, loss,/Third, Expedition for/The “Golden Fleece”/Fourth, no Discovery/Fifth, no crew/Finally, no Golden Fleece/Jason—sham—too.”<br> <b>RK:</b> All her spiritual life is in that poem, I think. Finding happiness, then loss, then charging around the world looking for the truth, then discovering what we weren’t looking for.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> Is there a point at which the demarcation between meditation and prayer disappears?<br> <b>RK:</b> I think Zen has great resonance with Christianity at the point where Christians realize that all images of God are just our projections, really. We imagine the most beautiful and the best things we can think of, and that of course is not God. Meister Eckhart says, leave God for God. It’s a mistake to talk too quickly about love. The danger is that we imagine what Jesus is, say, and then we try to fall in love with what we’ve just imagined. It’s not a very solid foundation for our life. It’s not only a question of love but of attention, of being present without the distractions of these images, putting ourselves in the presence of a reality that we do not know, being silent but not drifting, trying to be wide awake, not in a “spiritual” world, but in this world. Can we be awake to where we are, where we sit, without giving it a name, or a judgement about it? Zen says do not judge by any standards. And that is a wonderful place. But there’s another step too, when we realize that this eternal truth, in whose presence we are sitting, is not an object in front of our gaze but experienced as our very self. The faithful practitioner must finally stop hero-worshipping and act out of a center of confidence—and live that way, becoming useful. Silence can be tremendously fruitful in bringing us to these different stages of life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> You write in your book of inner poverty, that stage when a person stops hoping for God.<br> <b>RK:</b> I think the first experience of that is when we give up thinking of God as a gift-giver, separate from ourselves. We discover the great gift of God’s own Self to us. This is one meaning of the Incarnation, the unity of the divine and the human. It doesn’t just apply just to Jesus, it applies to all of us. We are one with this Absolute, one with Christ who was one with the Father. And everything is given to us. At the moment of Creation, everything is poured out. God doesn’t have to tinker with His creation. It is perfect, and it plays itself out in our lives, as we experience it. Everything is a gift. Stop asking for this or that. We have God’s own spirit. Why would we ask for toys or trinkets? And something follows from this: We have no virtue, no merit. Virtue and merit are given to us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; color: #ffffcc; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; color: #ffffcc; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> If I work hard at my spiritual practice, sit every day, and so on, doesn’t that gain me merit?</span><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"><br> <b><span style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">RK:</span></b><span style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Not a bit of it.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> How can that be true?<br> <b>RK:</b> Faith demands the destruction of what faith built. We’re not asked to give up the worst in ourselves, but the very best. The things that made us what we are. The things we were proud of, on which we based our confidence. We must see them as gifts, not a private possessions. This can be frightening, if we counted on getting into heaven only because of our good works. But it’s also immensely freeing. I have just to act in this world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> So what can be done?<br> <b>RK:</b> Be quiet for a while, and let our limitations gradually drip away. Someone once said that the spiritual life is just being hung out to dry for ten or twenty years, to drip away in the sunshine. An intent of silence to let ourselves grow until we see that Jason is a sham too, and we’re all Jason, restlessly searching the world. Stop looking for the Golden Fleece, and realize that it’s all given, acted out quite simply in the circumstances of our life. We don’t have to climb the highest mountain. The Zen koans are filled with this and it has such resonance in Catholic faith.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> When God says “Be still, and know that I am God,” is that what He means?<br> <b>RK:</b> I would think so, but I would come back to poverty. It is the poverty of realizing that we have no virtue, we have no merit. It is all given. Everything is a gift. There is no bargaining with God, in the Christian view. There are no deals.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> Life gives most of us glimpses of this. But we forget.<br> <b>RK:</b> Yes, we do. And that’s our life. The practice is to keep coming back to practice, to keep paying attention, and to use those things that help us to pay attention, like good posture, gentle breathing, a quiet place. And certainly not to be demanding, or complaining. I think the basic attitude in all religions is gratitude, to live with gratitude.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> When Catholics speak of “the still, small voice within,” what does that mean?<br> <b>RK:</b> Well I think in the Christian world, the primary meaning of revelation is the experience that we are touched somehow by God. Again, words fail. Spoken to by God, or God somehow revealing something to us—something about God Himself, or something about ourselves, something about our path in life, what we should do—and people usually feel very strongly about that in the Semitic religions, that God not only exists but can speak. I love the story of the young rabbi who couldn’t get on with his studies because he would break down in tears just reading the words, “God said.” Zen has nothing to do with revelation of course. It deals with our experience in the present moment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> You really are Catholic in the sense that you live in a global world.<br> <b>RK:</b> Jesuits are especially taught to love the other as other—not to tolerate the other, but to walk in their shoes and experience what they experience, their share of the truth that we all have. This isn’t relativism, it’s decency, in dealing with another person. You never dismiss someone else. I love that in Buddhism especially. You can never say “I am not that.” We always imagine truth is on the other side but it’s right here, it’s ourselves. And I think that is one meaning of the Incarnation: It is our very selves. When St. Augustine used to give Communion in North Africa, he’d say, “Receive what you are.” Not what you may become. You are the Body of Christ. So is your neighbor. So of course you should love your neighbor as yourself. What is your neighbor but yourself? If people see this in a different way, that’s okay. One might say, “I love my neighbor because my neighbor is Christ.” Another might say, “My neighbor is my very self.” They’re saying the same things in different ways.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> You seem to be saying that there are words, and then there is silence, the reality.<br> <b>RK:</b> Both words and silence are reality. In the end, Christians and Buddhists meet at the begging bowl. For Christians, there is a reality that transcends us and calls us. In Zen, the experience of emptiness leads us forward. But whatever you say about Zen, you can say the exact opposite. Zen would say that we should come to zazen with absolute confidence, that weakness is<br> not helpful. Zen would say “Come to the meditation like a champion about to run his course.” This can be done, and we can do it. I remember Maezumi Roshi said that to me that poverty is not a virtue for the Buddhist. He said that Christians seem to make a virtue of poverty, and Buddhists didn’t. He stressed confidence, appreciation of our own capacities—in a sense, riches.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> Do people call you Father or Roshi?<br> <b>RK:</b> My fellow Jesuits and friends just call me “Bob.” In the school, usually it’s professor, in the parish it’s Father, in the zendo it’s Roshi.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> And when you sit down in stillness, how do you know yourself?<br> <b>RK:</b> I just sit until the self falls off. No Roshi, no Father, no Bob. When we first experience this emptiness, it can<br> be frightening. It seems a very lonely place. But this is a temporary stage. Finally, it’s not that we’ve lost everything, but that we’ve gained everything. All that we see is our very selves. And there is no final step. There couldn’t be a final step in Zen. Zen is life, and it’s always opening up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> Zen is particularly good at letting you know that there’s nowhere to get to, nothing to get.<br> <b>RK:</b> Zen strips away that whole sense of holiness. One Chinese Zen teacher told me, “Its so hard to deal with Catholics, because they love their spiritual life. “ And Zen is trying to show them that there is no “spiritual life.” There’s just one life, with different aspects. I was always touched by that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> Do you have a way of being Zen that is your own?<br> <b>RK:</b> I was a Jesuit priest before I came to Zen, so I feel that my own path is to try to introduce Zen to the Catholic people. I think it would be a great gift to bring to so many people who are trying to learn to live and to pray, honestly. And I think we can learn from the whole world as Catholics, and certainly from Zen. That they are not our enemies, even though intellectually they are different—that difference can be enriching and lead to light and to friendship and to common work with like-minded people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">P:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> I believe the word Catholic means universal.<br> <b>RK:</b> Absolutely. In the wonderful words of St. Paul, whatever is true, whatever is lovely and beautiful, do that. Go from truth to truth, without getting stuck. Look at all we learned from the Greeks. All we learned from the Jews. We can learn from everyone.</span><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">♦</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">http://parabola.org/2016/03/15/to-live-with-gratitude-an-interview-with-robert-kennedy-s-j-roshi/?utm_content=buffera1694&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; line-height: 19.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><i><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">From </span></i><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Parabola<i>, Vol. 33, No. 1, Spring 2008: Silence. This issue is available to purchase <a href="https://store.parabola.org/vol-331-silence-p129.aspx"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">here</span></a>. If you have enjoyed this piece, consider <a href="http://parabola.org/subscribe/"><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">subscribing</span></a>.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #ffffcc;"> </span></p></div>
Five Science-Backed Strategies for More Happiness
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/five-science-backed-strategies-for-more-happiness
2016-03-23T08:00:03.000Z
2016-03-23T08:00:03.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">The Greater Good Science Center has collected many <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/#filters=happiness"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">happiness practices</span></a> on our website Greater Good in Action, alongside other research-based exercises for fostering kindness, connection, and resilience. Below are 11 of those happiness practices, grouped into five broader strategies for a more fulfilling life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364271?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364271?profile=original" width="306" class="align-full"></a></span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: #f04d2f; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">1. Acknowledge the good</span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">If we don’t feel happy, it’s tempting to look for things to fix: the job that isn’t prestigious enough, the apartment that’s too cramped, our partner’s annoying habit. But focusing on all the negatives isn’t the surest route to feeling better. Instead, a simple way to start cultivating happiness is by recognizing the good.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">In the <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/three-good-things"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Three Good Things</span></a> exercise, for example, you keep a journal devoted solely to the positives in your life. Each evening, you write down three things that went well and add some detail about each, including how they made you feel. For example, you might recall a heartfelt thank you from a coworker, a quiet moment drinking tea, or your daughter’s infectious laughter. Importantly, you also briefly explain why you think each good thing happened—which focuses your attention on the enduring sources of goodness that surround you.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">A <a href="http://dev.rickhanson.net/wp-content/files/papers/PosPsyProgress.pdf"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">2005 study</span></a> invited participants to do this practice daily for a week, and afterward they reported feeling happier and less depressed than when they started. In fact, they maintained their happiness boost six months later, illustrating how impactful it can be to focus on the good things in life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Many of those good things lie just outside our doorstep, and we can practice noticing them on a<a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/savoring_walk"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Savoring Walk</span></a>. Here, you take a 20-minute walk and observe the sights, sounds, and smells you encounter—freshly cut grass, an epic skyscraper, a stranger’s smile. Each time you notice something positive, take the time to absorb it and think about why you enjoy it. On your subsequent Savoring Walks, strike out in different directions to seek new things to admire.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">In a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805851194?ie=UTF8&tag=gregooscicen-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0805851194"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">study by Fred Bryant of Loyola University Chicago</span></a>, participants who took Savoring Walks daily for a week reported greater increases in happiness than participants who went for walks as usual. “Making a conscious effort to notice and explicitly acknowledge the various sources of joy around us can make us happier,” write Bryant and Joseph Veroff in the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805851208?ie=UTF8&tag=gregooscicen-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0805851208"><i><span style="color: #ffffcc; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Savoring</span></i></a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">If you have trouble seeing the good that’s already around you, another strategy is to create some. In <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/creating_and_recalling_positive_events"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Creating and Recalling Positive Events</span></a>, you carve out time for yourself and fill your schedule with enjoyment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">When you have a day free, don’t rush around doing chores; instead, try three different happy activities:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 18.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>
<!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Something you do alone,</span></b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> such as reading, listening to music, or meditating.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 18.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>
<!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Something you do with others,</span></b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> such as going out for coffee, riding your bike, or watching a movie.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 18.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>
<!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Something meaningful,</span></b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> such as volunteering, helping a neighbor in need, or calling a friend who’s struggling.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">If your go-to happiness practice has been Netflix and a bowl of ice cream, this exercise can reconnect you with different sources of satisfaction. These three activities should offer you a sense of pleasure, engagement, and meaning, <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/43062/10902_2004_Article_1278.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">all viable paths to a satisfying life</span></a>. A <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24230461"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">2014 study</span></a> found that even psychiatric patients with suicidal thoughts found value in doing this exercise, reporting more optimism and less hopelessness afterward.</span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: #f04d2f; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">2. Add happiness through subtraction</span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'MS Gothic'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'MS Gothic'; color: #ffffcc;">
</span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Even after we identify the positives in our life, we</span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; color: #ffffcc;">’</span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">re still prone to adapting to them over time. A good thing repeated brings us less satisfaction, until it no longer seems to contribute to our day-to-day mood at all; we take it for granted. That’s why, sometimes, it’s a good idea to introduce a little deprivation.</span> <span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'MS Gothic'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'MS Gothic'; color: #ffffcc;">
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">In <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/mental_subtraction_positive_events"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Mental Subtraction of Positive Events</span></a>, you call to mind a certain positive event—the birth of a child, a career achievement, a special trip—and think of all the circumstances that made it possible. How could things have turned out differently? Just taking a moment to imagine this alternate reality creates a favorable comparison, where suddenly our life looks quite good. <br> <br> In a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2746912/"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">2008 study</span></a>, participants who performed this exercise reported feeling more gratitude and other positive emotions than participants who simply thought about past positive events without imagining their absence. Mental Subtraction seems to jolt us into the insight that the good things in our lives aren’t inevitable; we are, in fact, very lucky.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">If imagining absence isn’t quite enough for you, what about experiencing it for real? In the <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/give_it_up"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Give It Up</span></a> practice, you spend a week abstaining from a pleasure in order to appreciate it more fully. This pleasure should be something that’s relatively abundant in your life, such as eating chocolate or watching TV. At the end of the week, when you can finally indulge, pay special attention to how it feels.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">In a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1948550612473489"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">2013 study</span></a>, people who gave up chocolate savored it more and experienced a more positive mood when they finally ate it at the end of the week, compared with people who ate chocolate as usual. This exercise may not only open your eyes to a single pleasure (like the miracle of cacao), but make you more conscious of life’s many other pleasures, too.</span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: #f04d2f; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">3. Find meaning and purpose</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Creating and Recalling Positive Events reminds us that pleasure isn’t the only path to bliss; meaning can also bring us happiness, albeit a quieter and more reflective kind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">In the <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/meaningful_pictures"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Meaningful Photos</span></a> practice, you take pictures of things that are meaningful to you and reflect on them. Over the course of a week, look out for sources of meaning in your life—family members, favorite spots, childhood mementos—and capture about nine or ten different images of them. At the end of the week, spend an hour reflecting on them: What does each photo represent, and why is it meaningful to you? Jot down some of those thoughts if it’s helpful.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Amid the chores and routines, life can sometimes feel dull and mundane. Reigniting our sense of meaning can remind us what’s important, which boosts our energy and gives us strength to face life’s stresses. In a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259525849_Through_the_windows_of_the_soul_A_pilot_study_using_photography_to_enhance_meaning_in_life"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">2013 study</span></a>, college students who completed this exercise not only boosted their sense of meaning, but also reported greater positive emotions and life satisfaction as well.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">We can also boost our energy and motivation by fostering a sense of purpose, and the <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/best_possible_self"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Best Possible Self</span></a> exercise is one way to do that. Here, you journal for 15 minutes about an ideal future in which everything is going as well as possible, from your family and personal life to your career and health.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">In a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760500510676"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">2006 study</span></a>, participants who wrote about their Best Possible Selves daily for two weeks reported greater positive emotions afterward, and their mood continued increasing up to a month later if they kept up the practice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">This exercise allows us to clarify our goals and priorities, painting a detailed picture of where we want to be. This picture should be ambitious but realistic so that it motivates us to make changes, rather than reminding us how imperfect and disappointing our lives are now. When we reflect on our future this way, we may feel more in control of our destiny.</span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: #f04d2f; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">4. Use your strengths</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Just as we hunt for things to fix in life, we also tend to obsess over flaws in ourselves; our weaknesses loom large. But what if we put more time and attention into our strengths and positive attributes?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">The <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/use_your_strengths"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Use Your Strengths</span></a> exercise invites you to consider your strengths of character—from creativity and perseverance to kindness and humility—and put them into practice. Each day for a week, select a strength and make a plan to use it in a new and different way. You can repeat the same strength—directing your curiosity toward a work project one day and toward your partner’s interests the next—or work on different strengths each day. At the end of the week, synthesize the experience by writing about what you did, how it made you feel, and what you learned. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">In a <a href="http://dev.rickhanson.net/wp-content/files/papers/PosPsyProgress.pdf"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">2005 study</span></a>, participants who engaged in this exercise for a week reported feeling happier and less depressed, and that happiness boost lasted up to six months. Use Your Strengths may help us transfer skills between home and work—applying our professional creativity to our children’s school assignments or our domestic kindness to our co-workers—and give us a confidence boost all around.</span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: #f04d2f; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">5. Connect with others</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">The practices above invite us to turn inward, tinkering with our attitudes and the way we view the world. But <a href="http://condor.depaul.edu/hstein/NAMGILES.pdf"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">decades of science</span></a> also suggest that turning outward and connecting to the people around us is one of the surest routes to happiness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">As a first step, you can try an adapted version of the <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/best_possible_self_for_relationships"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Best Possible Self exercise for relationships</span></a> to give you insights into what kinds of social connection you desire. In an ideal life, what would your relationships with your spouse, family, and friends look like?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">One way to feel an immediate boost of connection is through <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/random_acts_of_kindness"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Random Acts of Kindness</span></a>. Random Acts of Kindness don’t have to be flashy or extravagant; they can be as simple as helping a friend with a chore or making breakfast for your partner. You can also extend your circle of kindness to strangers and community members, feeding a parking meter or offering a meal to someone in need.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">In a <a href="http://sonjalyubomirsky.com/wp-content/themes/sonjalyubomirsky/papers/LSS2005.pdf"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">2005 study</span></a>, participants who performed five acts of kindness on one day a week for six weeks reported increases in happiness. (This didn’t happen when they spread out their acts of kindness across the week, perhaps because a single kind act may not feel noteworthy on its own.) Researchers also suggest varying your acts of kindness over time to keep the practice fresh and dynamic.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Some of your acts of kindness may involve giving, and the <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/make_giving_feel_good"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Make Giving Feel Good</span></a> practice helps ensure that giving does, indeed, bring happiness. Researchers <a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_make_giving_feel_good"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton</span></a>, among others, have found evidence that being kind and generous does make us happier, but they’ve also found that acts of giving are most effective when they meet these three criteria:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 18.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>
<!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">It’s a choice:</span></b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> Give because you <i>choose</i> to, not because you feel pressured or obligated to.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 18.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>
<!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">You connect:</span></b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> Giving can be an opportunity to make connections with the people you’re helping, so choose activities where you get to spend time with recipients, like helping a friend move or volunteering at a soup kitchen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 18.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; color: #ffffcc;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>
<!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">You see the impact:</span></b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> If you’re donating money, for example, don’t just give and move on. Find out what your money will be used for—like new classroom supplies or a cooking stove.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">In a <a href="http://dunn.psych.ubc.ca/files/2010/11/Investing-in-Others-Prosocial-Spending-for-ProSocial-Change-2012-Updated-June-2012.pdf"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">2011 study</span></a>, participants were offered a $10 Starbucks gift card to use in different ways: They either gave it to someone, gave it to someone and joined them for a drink, or used it on themselves while drinking with a friend. The ones who gave the card away <i>and</i> spent time with the recipient—connecting with them and seeing the impact of giving—felt happiest afterward.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Of course, the pursuit of happiness isn’t all sunshine and rainbows and mugs of tea and smiling children. Sometimes we need to tackle our insecurities and weaknesses, and we can’t just ignore our draining jobs and nagging relatives. But the practices here represent the other side of the coin, the one we often neglect: seeing, appreciating, and mobilizing the good.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc; mso-no-proof: yes;">http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/five_science_backed_strategies_for_more_happiness?utm_source=Newsletter+Mar+16,+2016&utm_campaign=GG+Newsletter+Mar+17+2016&utm_medium=email
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 276.8pt; line-height: 0%; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 1.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 276.8pt; line-height: 0%; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 1.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> </span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: #666666; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 11.25pt; line-height: 13.5pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">About The Author</span></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;">Kira M. Newman</span></b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffffcc;"> is an editor and web producer at the Greater Good Science Center. She is also the creator of The Year of Happy, a year-long course in the science of happiness, and CaféHappy, a Toronto-based meetup. <a href="http://twitter.com/kiramnewman"><span style="color: #ffffcc;">Follow her on Twitter!</span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #ffffcc;"> </span></p></div>
How Meditation Went Mainstream
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/how-meditation-went-mainstream
2016-03-18T11:24:02.000Z
2016-03-18T11:24:02.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 9.95pt 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99; letter-spacing: -.35pt;">And why the ancient practice might still get trendier</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">The idea of meditation seems simple: Sit still, focus on breath, reflect. But the practice of meditating is rooted in a deep cultural history that has seen the practice grow from a religious idea to something that can now seem more stylish than spiritual.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364298?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364298?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full" height="214"></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Though plenty of people still meditate for religious reasons, these days, the practice has joined yoga as a secular and chic trend, as dedicated meditation studios open in cities like New York and Los Angeles. Even Equinox, a fitness company with gyms across North America and in London, is launching a class called HeadStrong in April, which will combine high intensity interval training with meditation. The trend has also caught up with technology, with apps like Headpsace and OMG. I Can Meditate!, both of which have partnered with airlines (Virgin Atlantic and Delta, respectively) to offer in-flight meditation options. Headspace also debuted <a href="https://headspace.com/blog/2016/02/18/introducing-headspace-meditation-pods-making-the-invisible-visible/"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">specially designed meditation pods</span></a> that co-founder Rich Pierson says hopes people will use “like Superman used phonebooths, only instead of emerging in tights intent on fighting crime, they’ll come out with a clearer, calmer outlook.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">“It used to be that if you wanted to try Tibetan Buddhism and meditation, you had to travel all the way to Tibet, and if you wanted to try Korean meditation, you had to travel all the way to Korea. But now you can go to neighborhoods in New York and do both in an hour,” says Lodro Rinzler, author and ‘Chief Spiritual Officer’ at the Manhattan studio <a href="http://mndflmeditation.com/"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">MNDFL</span></a>, which opened in late 2015. “All of a sudden people are saying this can help you, but Buddhists have been saying, yes, we’ve known this for 2,600 years.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">How that happened is a complicated story, and a surprisingly recent one considering meditation’s ancient origins.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Some archaeologists date meditation back to as early as 5,000 BCE, according to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/meditation-modern-life/201307/overview-meditation-its-origins-and-traditions"><i><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Psychology Today</span></i></a>, and the practice itself has religious ties in ancient Egypt and China, as well as Judaism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and, of course, Buddhism. Meditation’s global spread began along the Silk Road around about five or six centuries BCE, as the practice moved throughout Asia. As it arrived in a new spot, it would slowly transform to fit each new culture. But it wasn’t until the 20th century that it began to move beyond the realm of specific religions, especially in the West.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">As TIME reported in a 2003 <a href="http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1005349,00.html"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">cover story,</span></a> meditation began to be seriously studied for its medical benefits in the 1960s, when a researcher in India named B.K. Anand “found that yogis could meditate themselves into trances so deep that they didn’t react when hot test tubes were pressed against their arms.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">And yet meditation remained on the fringe of science, the kind of topic that was brushed off by many mainstream Western researchers. In fact, Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Herbert Benson waited until late at night to moderate a study on meditation in 1967, at which point he found that people meditating used 17% less oxygen, lowered heart rates and produced increased brain waves that could help with sleep. Benson went on to publish <i>The Relaxation Response</i> and founded the Mind/Body Medical Institute, continuing to pioneer for meditation’s benefits on biology. “All I’ve done,” Benson told TIME, “is put a biological explanation on techniques that people have been utilizing for thousands of years.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Benson wasn’t the only person in the U.S. who was investigating meditation’s health benefits. Jon Kabat-Zinn, to take another example, learned about meditation while studying at MIT and turned it into a lifelong career, founding the Stress Reduction Clinic at UMass Medical Center in 1979.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">It was around the same time that meditation got the boost that it needed to bring some attention to the science: celebrity status. Transcendental Meditation (TM), which a <a href="http://time.com/vault/issue/1975-10-13/page/89/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">1975 TIME story</span></a> called a “drugless high,” became popular among no less than <a href="http://time.com/vault/issue/1967-09-22/page/1/"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">the Beatles</span></a>. As one way to cope with the strangeness of their global fame, they turned to TM, eventually going to India to study. Mia Farrow also went to India to meditate with the Fab Four after her divorce with Frank Sinatra, to study with Maharishi, whom TIME<a href="http://time.com/vault/issue/1969-02-07/page/1/"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">called</span></a> “the groovy guru.” The hippie decades of the ’60s and ’70s welcomed troves of meditation and mindfulness centers as well, including the <a href="http://www.esalen.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Esalen Institute</span></a>, site of Don Draper’s final scene in the <a href="http://time.com/3881812/mad-men-finale-review/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">finale of <i>Mad Men</i></span></a>, set in 1970.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">By the 1990s, the scientific and celebrity sides of popular meditation finally met in the middle. The product was a Hollywood-friendly, health-focused concept that had largely shed the hippie implications it had once carried.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">In 1996, <a href="http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,984738,00.html"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">TIME reported on Deepak Chopra’s </span></a>book <i>Ageless Body, Timeless Mind</i>, which had sold 137,000 copies in one day right after Chopra was featured on Oprah. Celebrities continued to spread the word, especially as Demi Moore, George Harrison, Michael Jackson and Donna Karan referred to Chopra as a guru. Athletes also began to tout the benefits of meditation and mindfulness: legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson published <i>Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior</i>, in 1995, and now Stephen Curry, the NBA’s 2015 MVP, practices different kinds of mindfulness exercises. Meanwhile, the studies continued to roll in confirming meditation’s benefits, to potentially slow or <a href="http://time.com/4218125/brain-games-neurofeedback-aging/"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">reverse neurodegeneration</span></a>, <a href="http://time.com/4108442/mindfulness-meditation-pain-management/"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">reduce pain</span></a> and help <a href="http://time.com/4063368/stress-relief-meditation/"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">manage stress</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Rinzler, of MNDFL, imagines the studies will only help meditation continue its path to the mainstream. “It’s no longer just your spiritual friend saying you should try meditation,” he says. It’s your doctor.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in; line-height: 20.15pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">http://time.com/4246928/meditation-history-buddhism/</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #ffff99;"> </span></p></div>
Contemplative Serenity: 6 Liberating Practices for the Super Busy Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/contemplative-serenity-6-liberating-practices-for-the-super-busy-
2016-03-15T15:00:18.000Z
2016-03-15T15:00:18.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">The damp winter wind stings the eyes and carries the delightful smells of the ocean. The metallic chains are dragged loudly on the car deck in a kind of repetitive dance. Island after island they are opened and closed by the staff of the Washington State Ferries. It is a sound I have learned to love as it gets me closer to my destination.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">Shaw Island is a bucolic gem with no hotel, restaurant or store. Its life unfolds at the peaceful rhythm of the tides. It seems a universe apart from 2016 and the U.S. mainland.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">Every January I go on retreat to the guest house of a very small community of Sisters of Mercy blessed with a superb gift of hospitality. Their wooded grounds embrace me and my dogs with the kind of quietness of which Thomas Merton (1915-1968) wrote: "there is more comfort in the substance of silence than in the answer to our questions." Daily, I join the Sisters for mass in their tiny chapel that sits austerely on the beach. From the windows, the bright colors of the few crab fishing boats stand out against the calm green-gray waters. In the substance of this silence only singing can be heard from seabirds and Sisters.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">This experience is so serene that months of exhaustion and overwork seem to disappear almost instantly into a familiar place beyond the boundary of words. Thankfully the return to the hectic life does not have to wreck this serenity.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">I found the following practices to be particularly helpful in preserving interior peace:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">.Turning off the TV:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">As the finiteness of life becomes clearer, the use of time becomes a pressing matter of choices. TV can result in mindlessness while richer priorities are calling for our attention. So while I still very much like to watch a sporting event, political debate or elections results coverage, I turn my TV off more and more. Time becomes more abundant and the quiet more conducive to thinking.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />
.Rediscovering the great writings: As often as possible I read texts that have inspired and nurtured humanity for generations. The immortal literature of Dostoevsky and Shakespeare, among many others, continue to dazzle with the radiance of their insights. The great writings in Mythology, Spirituality, Religion and Poetry take you even deeper. They have the ability to transport you to the timeless and universal human longing for transcendence.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">.Nature:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">I can now see the great Montana wilderness from my backyard. For most of my life I was in very large cities: Paris, Rome and Los Angeles. I had then to encounter nature in the minimalism of a small garden, a city park or in California, a crowded beach. Trees, flowers, birds and insects remind you that there is a breathing reality out there that wants absolutely nothing to do with the crazy pace of your life. There is much wisdom in adopting frequently nature's much healthier tempo.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">.The art of stillness:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">As a troubled aristocratic young man, Romuald of Ravenna (950-1027) spent a lot of time studying contemplation. He eventually brought together two great traditions: the intellectual stillness of the Irish mystics and the interior passivity of Byzantine meditation. To his disciples he gave this very simple direction: "Empty your mind and sit in complete stillness." I practice this every day for an hour, if possible, but even 10 or 15 minutes are significantly helpful. This takes you to a different level of consciousness that Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) described as: "pristine and entirely untouched by fears or the wounds of life." I like to teach the practice to people tormented by anxieties or whose lives have been shattered by grief or trauma. They can, temporarily, find shelter at the center of their being from their overwhelming pain. The spiritual treasures of my own Catholic tradition are extraordinarily rich. They will always be home to me, but all spiritual traditions offer deeply meaningful contemplative guidance.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">.The Tech Sabbath:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">Our busy, overstimulated culture is in the process of rediscovering the importance of the weekly refuge of time. Many Silicon Valley creators now often practice the "Tech Sabbath' during which they stay away from their smart phones and computers one day a week or every weekend. Our souls crave a regular sanctuary of time. We all benefit from it.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">.Compassion and prelude to action:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">To quote Eckhart again: "What we take in by contemplation we pour out in love." The contemplative path is not an exercise in self-absorption. It is perhaps counterintuitive but it has the exact opposite effect: compassion for others. When authentic, spiritual stillness is always a prelude to action. People and animals who suffer are always part of my contemplative moments. I have always been extremely sensitive to the cruel treatment of animals.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; line-height: 20.25pt; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff66;">It is never easy to say goodbye to Sister Maria and Sister Mary Danielle and leave behind the sacred pace of their lives. The ferry landing at Shaw Island is tiny and very picturesque. It is almost complete darkness when the boat departs. But the sky already suggests a breathtaking sunrise over the neighboring islands. Beyond, lies the promise of the majestic and mighty Mountain Northwest and the long and magnificent drive home. Then, once again, I can place myself at the service of the people of Butte, MT with renewed joy and serenity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #ffff66;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-beretta/contemplative-serenity-6-liberating-practices-for-the-super-busy-life_b_9404392.html</span></p>
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Four Awe-Inspiring Activities
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/four-awe-inspiring-activities
2016-03-12T12:16:48.000Z
2016-03-12T12:16:48.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">When was the last time something filled you with awe? While young children seem to be wonderstruck on a regular basis, this experience tends to be rare in adults; our attention is by necessity more focused on day-to-day responsibilities and mundane tasks. But awe is just as important for adults, according to a new and rapidly growing field of research.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Researchers define awe as the feeling we get in the presence of something larger than ourselves that challenges our usual way of seeing the world. A great work of art, a breathtaking vista, a moving speech, the first flowers of spring—these can all evoke awe.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Central to the experience of awe is a sense of smallness, but not the kind associated with shame or self-doubt—rather, awe involves feeling interconnected with others and broadening our horizons, like a camera lens zooming out to reveal a more complex and inclusive picture. From this vantage point, everyday concerns tend to feel less overwhelming—as we get smaller, so do they.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Research suggests that awe has numerous <a href="https://faculty-gsb.stanford.edu/aaker/pages/documents/TimeandAwe2012_workingpaper.pdf"><span style="color: #ffff99;">psychological benefits</span></a>, including increased life satisfaction, a sense of time slowing down or standing still, and a greater desire to help others. It may also have health benefits: A <a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/awe_boosts_health"><span style="color: #ffff99;">recent study</span></a> found that people who experienced awe more frequently in their daily lives showed lower tissue levels of interleukin-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine associated with heart disease risk. Remarkably, awe predicted lower levels of interleukin-6 than other positive emotions, including joy, contentment, and amusement. Awe may help people cope better with stress by promoting curiosity and exploration, rather than withdrawal and isolation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">It’s not necessary—or desirable—to feel awe all the time, but most of us could use a little more of it in our lives. Researchers have identified several effective strategies for increasing awe, many of which are <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/#filters=awe"><span style="color: #ffff99;">collected</span></a> on the <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Greater Good Science Center website Greater Good in Action (GGIA)</span></a>, which features the top research-based activities for fostering happiness, kindness, connection, and resilience.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Here, I highlight GGIA’s four core awe practices.</span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: #f04d2f; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">1. Write about a personal experience of awe</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="color: #ffff99; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364259?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364259?profile=original" width="306" class="align-full" height="204"></a>What experiences in your life have most filled you with a sense of wonder and inspiration? A hike through the Grand Canyon? A visit to the pyramids of Egypt? Your child’s first steps?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">The simple act of writing about awe can be very powerful. The <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/awe_narrative#data-tab-how"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Awe Narrative</span></a> practice involves reflecting on a personal experience of awe and then writing about it in as much detail as possible. Recalling the experience in vivid detail can conjure up the feelings you had at the time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">A <a href="http://www.bauer.uh.edu/mrrudd/download/AweExpandsTimeAvailability.pdf"><span style="color: #ffff99;">2012 study</span></a> led by Melanie Rudd, assistant professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, found that people who completed this writing exercise felt even better than people who recalled and wrote about a happy experience. Afterward, they reported stronger feelings of awe, less sense of time pressure, and greater willingness to volunteer their time to help a charity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">This practice may be especially useful when the daily grind is weighing you down. Even just a brief reminder of an awe-inducing experience from your past may help lift you out of the doldrums and remind you that the world can be a magical place.</span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: #f04d2f; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">2. Take an Awe Walk</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364279?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364279?profile=original" width="432" class="align-full" height="288"></a></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><i><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrischabot/8574770893"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Flickr</span></a> / <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrischabot/"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Chris Chabot</span></a> / <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">CC BY-NC 2.0</span></a></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Travel can be a great source of awe, but awe can also be found closer to home. The <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/awe_walk"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Awe Walk</span></a>practice involves taking a stroll somewhere that has the potential to inspire awe. This could be a natural setting, like a tree-lined trail; an urban setting, like the top of a skyscraper; or an indoor setting, like a museum.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Whether you feel awe on your Awe Walk depends not just on where you go, but on your attitude. One way to create more opportunities for awe is to approach your surroundings with fresh eyes, as if you’re seeing them for the first time. Otherwise ordinary features—a bird singing, the color of the sky—may be transformed into something more extraordinary.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Your walk will also be enhanced if you leave your cell phone (and other potential distractions) at home so that you can be fully present, and if you seek out novel environments, where the sights and sounds are unexpected.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">But it’s also possible to integrate an Awe Walk into your daily routine—even if a route is familiar to you, you can make an effort to notice new things. The same old sights you pass every day may turn out to be surprising sources of inspiration. As a case in point, Paula Hawkins, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594633665?ie=UTF8&tag=gregooscicen-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1594633665"><i><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">The Girl on the Train</span></i></a>, got the idea for the bestselling novel <a href="http://www.metro.us/entertainment/how-a-subway-ride-inspired-the-latest-it-book/zsJoal---YuRXhP1BL0DRQ/"><span style="color: #ffff99;">during her morning commute</span></a>, as she gazed curiously out the train window.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Indirect evidence for the effectiveness of the Awe Walk comes from a <a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_awe_makes_us_generous"><span style="color: #ffff99;">2015 study</span></a> led by Paul Piff, then a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. In this study, one group of participants stood in a grove of towering eucalyptus trees and gazed up for just one minute, while another looked at a building instead. Those who looked up at the trees reported greater feelings of awe, were less likely to feel superior to others, and were more likely to help someone in need, supporting the idea that awe fosters a sense of humility and concern for others.</span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: #f04d2f; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">3. Watch an awe-inducing video</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364314?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364314?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full" height="300"></a></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><i><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Yosemite National Park</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Even if you’re stuck at home, awe can be found on your computer screen—the Internet provides an endless supply of goosebump-inducing images and videos. One of these videos is featured in the<a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/awe_video#data-tab-how"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Awe Video</span></a> practice—a reel of majestic shots from Yosemite National Park. <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/"><i><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;" data-mce-mark="1">National Geographic</span></i></a> is another good source of awe-eliciting media, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">YouTube</span></a> hosts countless recordings of riveting speeches and performances.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">You could also draw from your own photo or video collection, if you’ve visited awe-inspiring locations, or make a point to capture your next adventure on film (provided that this doesn’t interfere with the experience itself).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Research suggests that the Awe Video practice is an effective way to boost awe in the moment. In a second <a href="http://www.bauer.uh.edu/mrrudd/download/AweExpandsTimeAvailability.pdf"><span style="color: #ffff99;">2012 study</span></a> led by Melanie Rudd, participants watched a brief video displaying people in city streets and parks interacting with vast, mentally overwhelming images of waterfalls, whales, and astronauts. Compared to participants who watched a video designed to induce happiness, they reported greater feelings of awe and a sense of having more time.</span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: #f04d2f; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 11.25pt 0in; line-height: 17.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">4. Read an awe-inspiring story</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364431?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364431?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full" height="282"></a><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Written words can also evoke awe. The <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/awe_story"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Awe Story</span></a> practice involves reading a detailed story about climbing up the Eiffel Tower and taking in the panoramic view. The story is told in the second person to make readers feel like they’re experiencing it themselves.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Awe-inspiring writing can also be found in literature and nonfiction, such as Stephen Hawking’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553380168?ie=UTF8&tag=gregooscicen-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0553380168"><i><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">A Brief History of Time</span></i></a>, and in your own writing (a reason to consider <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/awe_narrative#data-tab-how"><span style="color: #ffff99;">recording</span></a> your experiences of awe as they occur, so that you can reflect back on them when you’re in need of an awe boost).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">A third <a href="http://www.bauer.uh.edu/mrrudd/download/AweExpandsTimeAvailability.pdf"><span style="color: #ffff99;">2012 study</span></a> led by Melanie Rudd illustrates some possible benefits of reading about awe. In this study, participants read either the Eiffel Tower story or a story about climbing an unnamed tower and seeing a plain landscape from above. Those who read the Eiffel Tower story reported greater awe, a greater preference for experiences over material objects, a sense of having more time, and greater life satisfaction (compared to those who read the neutral story). That sense of having more time was what made people more satisfied with their lives.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 13.5pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99;">Life can sometimes feel lackluster and dull, and inspiration can be hard to find. On those days, even a small dose of awe can go a long way in elevating your spirits and reviving your sense of purpose. Awe isn’t always a comforting feeling—sometimes it can be downright frightening—but it’s a powerful way to cut through the monotony and see things in a new light. We hope that the awe exercises on Greater Good in Action will be a useful starting point as you aspire to make your life more “awesome.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #ffff99;">http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_awe_inspiring_activities?</span></p></div>
How the power of gratitude can improve personal wellbeing
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/how-the-power-of-gratitude-can-improve-personal-wellbeing
2016-03-07T13:05:22.000Z
2016-03-07T13:05:22.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Robert Emmons, a leader in the field of gratitude research at the University of California researfches</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"> gratitude. The key message that Dr Emmons highlights is that the practice of appreciation can significantly increase happiness levels.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">He believes that this is not difficult to achieve and that even a few hours spent writing a gratitude journal over a three-week period can create an effect that lasts for six months, if not more. The research findings have also indicated that cultivating an attitude of gratitude can bring other health benefits, such as longer and better-quality sleep time.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Feeling grateful has a number of other benefits, too. Feelings of gratitude are associated with less frequent negative emotions and can promote more positive emotions, such as feeling energised, alert, and enthusiastic.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364225?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364225?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full" height="312"></a></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">You can even experience pleasant muscle relaxation when recalling situations in which you were grateful. It is apparent that the act of giving thanks can have a remarkable impact on a person’s well being, and the best thing is that we can tap into this amazing resource any time we like!</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">An appreciative mind-set can have a very powerful effect on the way we perceive our reality and ultimately, the way we live our lives. By cultivating an attitude of gratitude, we can seek out and attract more positive things into our life to be grateful for.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">The important thing about having an attitude of gratitude however is the quality of the feeling that accompanies it.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;"> The study of gratitude within the field of psychology only began around the year 2000, possibly because psychology has traditionally been more focused on understanding distress than understanding positivity. However, with the advent of the positive psychology movement, gratitude has become a mainstream focus of research.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">The main conclusions that have been drawn so far are that grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality, optimism and lower levels of depression and stress. The disposition toward gratitude appears to enhance the feel-good factor. Grateful people, however, do not deny or ignore the negative aspects of life; they simply focus on the potentially positive outcomes that can be discovered.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">People with a strong disposition toward gratitude have the capacity to be more empathic and find it easier to take the perspective of others. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Gratitude does not necessarily require religious faith. However, faith and belief in something enhances the ability to appreciate.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">It also appears that grateful individuals place less importance on material goods; they are less likely to judge their own and others’ success in terms of possessions accumulated; they are less envious of others and are more likely to share their possessions with others.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">In a comparative study, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer negative physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded neutral life events.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">A related benefit was also observed with regards to personal goal achievement. Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals over a two-month period compared to subjects under other experimental conditions.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">A daily gratitude intervention with young adults resulted in higher reported levels of the positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Participants in the daily gratitude condition were also more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem or having offered emotional support to another person.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Research has also identified that children who practice grateful thinking have more positive attitudes toward school and their families.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Gratitude plays a key role in positive illness management and in a sample of adults with neuromuscular disease, a 21-day gratitude intervention resulted in greater amounts of high energy positive moods, a greater sense of feeling connected to others, more optimism about their lives, and better sleep duration and quality.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Studies also provide evidence that a positive, appreciative attitude enhances the body’s healing system and general health by helping your body to produce more immune-boosting endorphins.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;"> When you hold feelings of thankfulness for at least 15 to 20 seconds, beneficial physiological changes take place in your body. Levels of the stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine decrease, producing a cascade of beneficial metabolic changes. Coronary arteries relax and increase the blood supply to your heart. Your breathing becomes deeper, raising the oxygen level of your tissues.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Gratitude has been the “forgotten factor” in happiness research and scientists are latecomers to the concept of gratitude. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Religions and philosophies have long embraced gratitude as an indispensable and integral component of health, wholeness and well-being. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a well worth investment and clearly hosts a multitude of benefits</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">I hope you like this poem…</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Before I close my eyes each night, at the end of every day. There is something very important, that I always like to say</span></em></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Thank You</span></b></em></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Thank you for the things I’ve learnt, they teach me how to know. Thank you for my challenges, they show me how to grow</span></em></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Thank you for the good times and thank you for the bad. It helps me to appreciate what I have and haven’t had</span></em></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Thank you for my family and thank you for each friend. You are so very special and all that matters in the end</span></em></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Thank you for my experiences and thank you for my past. For the magic of the memories through my lifetime that will last</span></em></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">Thank you for my journey and the dreams I’m going to live. Thank you for my future and for the best I’ve yet to give</span></em></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;">So before I close my eyes each night what I really want to say. Is thank you for my life and thank you for today. </span></em></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 6.75pt; line-height: 15.6pt; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #ffff99;"> </span></p>
<p>https://www.trainingjournal.com/articles/feature/how-power-gratitude-can-improve-personal-wellbeing</p></div>
HBR - Mindfulness Can Literally Change Your Brain
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/hbr-mindfulness-can-literally-change-your-brain
2016-03-02T12:52:05.000Z
2016-03-02T12:52:05.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 0%; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 24.0pt; font-family: 'National','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #ffff99; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364274?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2364274?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-left" height="277"></a></span></b></p>
<p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Guardian','serif'; color: #ffff99;">The business world is abuzz with mindfulness. But perhaps you haven’t heard that the hype is backed by hard science. Recent research provides strong evidence that practicing non-judgmental, present-moment awareness (a.k.a. mindfulness)<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/how-meditation-may-change-the-brain/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">changes the brain</span></a>, and it<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://hbr.org/2012/10/mindfulness-helps-you-become-a" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">does so in ways<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></a>that anyone working in today’s complex business environment, and certainly every leader, should know about.</span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2rem; text-rendering: optimizeSpeed; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Guardian','serif'; color: #ffff99;">We contributed to this research in 2011 with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004979/" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">a study</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>on participants who completed an eight-week mindfulness program. We observed significant increases in the density of their gray matter. In the years since, other neuroscience laboratories from around the world have also investigated ways in which meditation, one key way to practice mindfulness, changes the brain. This year, a team of scientists from the University of British Columbia and the Chemnitz University of Technology were able to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24705269" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">pool data from more than 20 studies</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to determine which areas of the brain are consistently affected. They identified at least eight different regions. Here we will focus on two that we believe to be of particular interest to business professionals.</span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2rem; text-rendering: optimizeSpeed; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Guardian','serif'; color: #ffff99;">The first is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a structure located deep inside the forehead, behind the brain’s frontal lobe. The ACC is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18189012" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">associated with self-regulation</span></a>, meaning the ability to purposefully direct attention and behavior, suppress inappropriate knee-jerk responses, and switch strategies flexibly. People with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7895011" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">damage to the ACC</span></a> show impulsivity and unchecked aggression, and those with <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16815874" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">impaired connections</span></a> between this and other brain regions perform poorly on tests of mental flexibility: they hold onto ineffective problem-solving strategies rather than adapting their behavior. Meditators, on the other hand, demonstrate<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20509209" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">superior performance on tests of self-regulation</span></a>, resisting distractions and making correct answers more often than non-meditators.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17548160" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">They also show</span></a> more activity in the ACC than non-meditators. In addition to self-regulation, the ACC is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v9/n7/abs/nn1724.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">associated with learning from past experience</span></a> to support optimal decision-making. Scientists point out that the ACC may be particularly important in the face of uncertain and fast-changing conditions.</span></p>
<p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Guardian','serif'; color: #ffff99;"><br> The second brain region we want to highlight is the hippocampus, a region that showed increased amounts of gray matter in the brains of our 2011 mindfulness program participants. This seahorse-shaped area is buried inside the temple on each side of the brain and is part of the limbic system, a set of inner structures associated with emotion and memory. It is covered in receptors for the stress hormone cortisol, and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-med-052209-100430" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">studies have shown</span></a> that it can be damaged by chronic stress, contributing to a harmful spiral in the body. Indeed, people with stress-related disorders like<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12893109" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">depresssion</span></a> and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2910907/" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-position-x: 0px; background-position-y: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">PTSD</span></a> tend to have a smaller hippocampus. All of this points to the importance of this brain area in resilience—another key skill in the current high-demand business world.</span></p>
<p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Guardian','serif'; color: #ffff99;">These findings are just the beginning of the story. Neuroscientists have also shown that practicing mindfulness affects brain areas related to perception, body awareness, pain tolerance, emotion regulation, introspection, complex thinking, and sense of self. While more research is needed to document these changes over time and to understand underlying mechanisms, the converging evidence is compelling.</span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2rem; text-rendering: optimizeSpeed; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Guardian','serif'; color: #ffff99;">Mindfulness should no longer be considered a “nice-to-have” for executives. It’s a “must-have”: a way to keep our brains healthy, to support self-regulation and effective decision-making capabilities, and to protect ourselves from toxic stress. It can be integrated into one’s religious or spiritual life, or practiced as a form of secular mental training. When we take a seat, take a breath, and commit to being mindful, particularly when we gather with others who are doing the same, we have the potential to be changed.</span></p>
<p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Guardian','serif'; color: #ffff99;">https://hbr.org/2015/01/mindfulness-can-literally-change-your-brain</span></p></div>
RELIGIOUS, SPIRITUAL, AND “NONE OF THE ABOVE”: HOW DID MINDFULNESS GET SO BIG?
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/religious-spiritual-and-none-of-the-above-how-did-mindfulness-get
2016-02-01T12:10:56.000Z
2016-02-01T12:10:56.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><img src="http://religiondispatches.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/modernmeditator-690x460.jpg" alt="Marguerite Agniel in a Buddha position with her legs crossed Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Photograph by J. de Mirjian, ca.1929. Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span data-mce-mark="1" style="color: #ffff99;">The</span> <span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">ever-growing popularity of mindfulness—from corporate boardrooms to inner-city schools—has finally made my academic interest a</span>  <span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">conversation starter</span></span><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">at dinner parties. “Ah, the Buddha was talking about cognitive science 2,500 years ago!” as someone exclaimed after learning about what I do as an anthropologist.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">The success of mindfulness in the marketplace is largely an outcome of its emergence as a kind of self-help psychology that has allowed the practice—a derivation of Theravada Buddhist meditation—to operate in non-Buddhist therapeutic settings for</span> <span style="color: #ffff99;">not</span> <span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">particularly Buddhist goals. Its adoption by people who describe themselves as “<a href="http://crcc.usc.edu/whats-in-a-name-religious-nones-and-the-american-religious-landscape/" style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">spiritual but not religious</span></a>” has prompted much popular and scholarly debate about what is “real Buddhism” versus “mere spirituality.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Do the contradictions between self-help psychology and the transcendent goals of the Buddhist path render the mindfulness movement inauthentic?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">As a</span> <span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">researcherI </span></span><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">find mindfulness most significantly propagated and practiced at Buddhist meditation centers, among people who identify as converts to Western Buddhism. From learning Buddhist Pali scriptures and taking the five precepts, to participating in long Vipassana meditation retreats and learning under the tutelage of Buddhist monks, Zen priests and lay Buddhist teachers, these individuals have deep and abiding commitments to Buddhism.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Yet, a theme that repeatedly emerges in my interviews and<a href="http://crcc.usc.edu/rcci/" style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"> fieldwork</span></a> among these groups is the notion that what they do is distinct and different from what they recognize as “religion.” For many</span> it<span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"><em>is</em> </span>part <span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">of a spiritual experience and practice, where Buddhism is at heart a rational philosophy consistent with scientific knowledge. Practitioners find evidence for this in the proliferation of cutting-edge neuroplasticity studies that legitimize the uses of mindfulness within the broader secular “integrative health” scene. Moreover, the depth of Buddhist philosophy is recognized as emerging not through dogma or religious moral prescription, but rather through personal investigation and direct transformative experience.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Many Western convert Buddhists, for instance, keep a friendly distance between their own conceptions of the core features of Buddhism and the mystical ideas of karma and rebirth that are so earnestly held by more traditional Buddhist communities.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">“I don’t think Buddhism is very useful to people as a belief system,” Pablo Das, a senior teacher at the LA-based Buddhist meditation society Against the Stream, told me in the upstairs lounge of the meditation studio where he teaches in Hollywood. “It’s a philosophy. I mean there are ethical teachings; there are heart-based teachings. There are philosophical frameworks through which we’re to look. There’s a rational system of practices, mindfulness-based practices, and those transform you because you have experiences. You have direct experiences.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">In Pablo’s understanding, the “heart-based” teachings are the “truth” of Buddhism and go beyond the history of Buddhism as a “belief” system. His comments are aligned with the notion of spirituality defined as an “authentic” profoundly individual experience that comes from the heart, contrasting sharply with ideas of religion as institutionalized and formalized—and thus inauthentic and superficial.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Although my respondents imagine Buddhism to be an authentic Eastern philosophical tradition transformed into the American context through the interactions of Asian teachers and Western novices of the 60’s counterculture, its history in the West as a rational “heart-based philosophy” and not a religion are somewhat more varied and complex.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">As many Buddhist studies <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Making-Buddhist-Modernism-David-McMahan/dp/0195183274" style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">scholars have pointed out,</span></a> early Asian Buddhist reformers of the 19<span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">th</span>century strategically employed a scientific language to translate Buddhist ideas into Western contexts. They did so to challenge European impressions of Buddhism as nihilistic, passive, superstitious and ritualistic. In embracing <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo6040538.html" style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">science, they positioned Buddhism</span></a> as rational and centered on the individual. Moreover, the inviolable truths of Dharma embraced and surpassed Western science, making Buddhism superior to the colonial religion of Christianity.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">The popularity that mindfulness enjoys today</span> is <span style="color: #ffff99;">therefore, in part, a testament to the success of these early Asian Buddhist reformers—from places as disparate as Sri Lanka,</span> Burma <span style="color: #ffff99;">and Japan. Their innovative efforts positioned the Dharma as consistent with “reason” rather than superstition, “empiricism” rather than divine revelation and ultimately the “spiritual” rather than the “religious.” It is also in part due to the parallel efforts of Indian gurus, such as Vivekananda, who presented yoga as an ancient wisdom tradition to help Americans cope with the stresses of western modernity.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">When contemporary mindfulness proponents claim that what they do is <a href="http://crcc.usc.edu/mindfulness-and-science-whos-winning-the-game-of-samsara/" style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">“scientific”</span></a> rather than religious or cultural, they are tapping into a complex history of colonial encounters and adaptive appropriation that goes back at least 150 years. Moreover, while the adaptability of the Dharma to the needs of practitioners in various times and places threads through this history, some contemporary scholars have nonetheless remarked on ways that these appropriations are problematic.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;"><a href="http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/sharf/documents/Sharf1995,%20Buddhist%20Modernism.pdf" style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Robert Sharf</span></a> of Berkeley has argued, for example, that seeing meditation as the defining feature of Buddhism is a recent (and mainly Western) development. And <a href="http://jaar.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/03/18/jaarel.lfv008" style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">C.W Huntington</span></a> of Hartwick College notes that the ego-based process of “self-help” seems to contradict the fundamental Buddhist tenet of “no-self.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">These arguments certainly offer critical insights on what might be lost in the translations that produced contemporary mindfulness meditation. But it is hard to ignore the fact that these processes—these mistranslations and conflations—still profoundly shape my interlocutors’ understandings of the “spiritual” and have very real felt effects on their mental wellbeing. Anthropologists must determine not if a particular translation is accurate, but rather how it forms and produces people’s sense of spirituality.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">How does Buddhist mindfulness, as a hybrid discourse, part homegrown, part foreign, enable contemporary practitioners to claim spirituality and reject institutionalized religion?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">These contemporary interpretations that construe the Dharma as the “science of mind” offer special tools for people to explore the mind, emotions and personal experience. I believe that Western converts to Buddhism are finding in these narratives about scientific Buddhism what<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Promise-Foreign-Nationalism-Translation/dp/0822336642" style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Vincent Rafael</span></a> called the “promise of the foreign,” a means for translating Buddhism and the mindfulness movement into a properly rationalized world-affirming “spirituality.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 18px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;"><font color="#444444" face="Lato"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">http://religiondispatches.org/religious-spiritual-and-none-of-the-above-how-did-mindfulness-get-so-big/</span></font></span></p>
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Can't Sleep? Try Meditation
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/can-t-sleep-try-meditation
2016-01-27T13:14:01.000Z
2016-01-27T13:14:01.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
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<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 27px;"><span style="color: #FFFF99;">Throughout my years as a meditation teacher, I've encountered many students who come to meditation from a place of acute anxiety. Meditation, and mindfulness practices in general, are <a href="http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-may-ease-anxiety-mental-stress-201401086967" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":0}}" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #2e7061;">scientifically proven</a> antidotes to anxiety and stress, as they are about focusing the mind on what is rather than allowing the anxiety or stress itself to take over, and lead the mind into labyrinths of self-judgment, comparison, regret and other rumination.</span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 27px;"><span style="color: #FFFF99;">Contrary to popular belief, meditation doesn't always feel relaxing in real time. When I first came to meditation when I was 18, I was experiencing a lot of suffering, and I was seeking a spiritual practice to "fix" my life. I imagined becoming an instantaneously skilled meditator, and becoming filled with white light and bliss during my formal sittings. Of course, what ended up happening was quite different: my meditation practice gave me the space to see the extent to which my mind was causing my suffering, and I began to practice letting go. Thoughts, self-critiques, comparisons to others and so on would still arise--but rather than "inviting the thoughts in for tea," I acknowledged them, ushered them out of my mind, and returned to my breath. Negotiating this relationship with the mind is one of the central pillars of meditation.</span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 27px;"><span style="color: #FFFF99;">When we meditate, we are strengthening our "letting go" muscles, which we are not frequently conditioned to train in our competitive, work-focused culture. That's why I believe meditation is one of the most powerful sleep-aids. (And, in fact, <a href="http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2110998" target="_hplink" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":1}}" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #2e7061;">recent studies</a> prove this to be true!) One of my students speaks frequently about her insomnia, which, she tells me, often feels related to obsessional thinking and ritualistic habits of checking and re-checking her phone and email, feeling like the night hours meant for sleeping could be work hours, and therefore are being wasted. Needless to say, this student tells me that she feels tremendous gratitude for her meditation practice, and the space it has created for her to learn to rest, even when it feels difficult.</span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 27px;"><span style="color: #FFFF99;">Sleep troubles often become a vicious cycle. First, we can't sleep, which is often the result of anxiety or stress--having endured a tough conversation that day, anticipating a big meeting coming up at work, enumerating your to-do list. Then, the mind tends to fixate on sleeplessness as the object of anxiety itself. I can't sleep. Why can't I sleep? What did I do wrong today to make me not be able to sleep? Rather than simply recognizing what is--the fact that we're awake in the present moment--the mind's stories, judgments, questions and worries enter the scene. Needless to say, rest doesn't usually emerge naturally from such a tight "grip."</span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 27px;"><span style="color: #FFFF99;">Another one of my students developed a particular lovingkindness meditation practice for sleeplessness. In traditional lovingkindness meditation, we silently state phrases of lovingkindness to ourselves first, then to another individual-- first a loved one, and then someone who we find difficult. Finally, we direct phrases of lovingkindness to all beings. (Examples of phrases include May I/you/all beings be happy, peaceful, healthy, strong.) When this student of mine has trouble sleeping, she likes to imagine "all beings" to whom she is directing phrases of lovingkindess in a state of rest. This helps her mind release its grip on the fact that she is alone, ostensibly the only person awake, and her anxieties around wakefulness dissipate as her focus becomes directed on a more positive, restful thought.</span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 27px;"><span style="color: #FFFF99;">Sure, meditation requires discipline, but the practice is more meaningful when we can find a sense of spaciousness in it. I often say that tuning into the breath, or phrases of lovingkindness, or whatever your object of mindfulness may be, is like noticing a friend in a crowd. Just because we are focusing on our friend doesn't mean the other individuals in the crowd must be eradicated. But we can still gently rest our attention on our friend, the breath. That way, we move into a place of restful attention rather than fixation. Focus may require energy, but it's an energy characterized by expansion, rather than constriction. Meditation creates space, and in that space we can rest. We are never alone in our search for peace. We just need to trust that it will come. So may you be happy, may you live with ease, and may you sleep restfully each night.</span></p>
</div>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sharon-salzberg/sleep-blog-post_b_8992680.html
</div>
How Humility Will Make You the Greatest Person Ever
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/how-humility-will-make-you-the-greatest-person-ever
2016-01-12T16:37:11.000Z
2016-01-12T16:37:11.000Z
Contemplative Life
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JeffGenung
<div><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">It's hard to be humble. Here are three tips for taming your ego.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">In light of the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/opinion/sunday/obnoxiousness-is-the-new-charisma.html?hpw&rref=sunday-review&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">upcoming presidential race</span></a> and the increase in <a href="http://psr.sagepub.com/content/15/2/180" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">narcissism amongst our youth</span></a>, I think it’s safe to say that, as a society, we could use a little more humility.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Our culture places so much value on external accomplishments, appearance, and self-aggrandizement—all things that are ephemeral at best—that even a small display of this quiet virtue can make one feel like a drowning man coming up for air.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Yet why can it be so challenging for us to express humility? Is it because we often misinterpret its active demonstration to be a sign <span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">of weakness</span></span>,<span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"> </span>when in actuality it is an indication of tremendous inner strength?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">The answers may be found in what scientists are discovering about this quality, so deeply revered by all the ancient wisdom and spiritual traditions, many of which consider it to be the mother of all virtues.</span></p>
<h4 style="clear: both; margin: 56px 0px 28px; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.4; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Why is humility good?</span></h4>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">When I meet someone who radiates humility, my shoulders relax, my heart beats a little more quietly, and something inside me lets go.</span></p>
<div class="image-holder fl" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;"><img src="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/images/application_uploads/elephant_and_girl.png" alt="" width="375" height="251" style="height: auto; max-width: 660px; vertical-align: middle;" /></span></div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Why? Because I know that I’m being fully seen, heard, and accepted for who I am, warts and all—a precious and rare gift that allows our protective walls to come down.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Truly humble people are able to offer this kind of gift to us because they see and accept their own strengths and limitations without <a href="http://sonjalyubomirsky.com/files/2012/09/Chancellor-Lyubomirsky-in-press.pdf" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">defensiveness or judgment</span></a>—a core dimension, according to researchers, of humility, and one that cultivates a powerful compassion for humanity.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">This kind of self-acceptance emerges from grounding one’s worth in our intrinsic value as human beings rather than things such as six-figure salaries or the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/opinion/sunday/when-can-women-stop-trying-to-look-perfect.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">body of a movie star</span></a> or climbing the corporate ladder or the number of friends on Facebook. Instead, humble people place <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Character-Strengths-Virtues-Handbook-Classification/dp/0195167015" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">high value on more meaningful things</span></a> that benefit others, such as noble qualities.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">They also see life as a school, recognizing that while none of us is perfect, we can, without negatively impacting our self-esteem, work on our limitations by being open to new ideas, advice, and criticism.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">This ability alone cultivates an awe-inspiring inner strength, the most powerful example of which is Gandhi, whose <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gandhi-Autobiography-Story-Experiments-Truth/dp/0807059099/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452535901&sr=1-1&keywords=ghandi+autobiography" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Autobiography</span></a></em> is a journey of humbling self-dissection. He once famously said, “I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">If Gandhi is an example of what a humble leader can accomplish, then society serves to benefit from this kind of governance. Consider what researchers of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Transcending-Self-Interest-Psychological-Explorations-Quiet/dp/1433803402/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452535861&sr=1-1&keywords=psychology+of+the+quiet+ego" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">“quiet ego”</span></a>—a construct similar to humility—suggest happens</span><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"> when we gain control of our ego: we become less likely to act aggressively, manipulate others, express dishonesty, and destroy resources. Instead, we take responsibility for and correct our mistakes, listen to others’ ideas, and keep our abilities in humble perspective.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Who wouldn’t want that kind of leadership for our country—and the world?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">But the benefits of humility do not extend to just our leaders. Nascent research suggests that this lovely quality is good for us individually and for our relationships. For example, humble people <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439760.2015.1127991" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">handle stress</span></a> more effectively and report higher levels of <a href="http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/abs/6626" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">physical</span></a> and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2013.820337" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">mental well-being</span></a>. They also show greater <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2012.671348" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">generosity</span></a>, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439760600885671" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">helpfulness</span></a>, and <a href="http://sonjalyubomirsky.com/files/2012/09/Kruse-Chancellor-Ruberton-Lyubomirsky-in-press1.pdf" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">gratitude</span></a> – all things that can only serve to draw us closer to others.</span></p>
<h4 style="clear: both; margin: 56px 0px 28px; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.4; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Three tips for cultivating humility</span></h4>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Given what scientists have discovered about humility, it’s evident that cultivating this quality is not for the faint-hearted, nor does it appear overnight. Yet it would seem that one of the great rewards of humility is an inner freedom from having to protect those parts that we try to hide from ourselves and others. In other words, we develop a quiet, understanding, and compassionate heart.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Here are some scientifically-based ways to start.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;"><strong>1. Embrace your humanness.</strong></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">For many, when we fail at something that is important to us—a job or a relationship, for example—our self-esteem plummets because we tied our self-worth to those things. All of a sudden, we become bad or unworthy people, and it can be a long road to recovery.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Not so for people with humility. As stated earlier, their ability to withstand failure or criticism comes from their sense of<span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"> intrinsic</span></span><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"> va</span>lue of being human rather than outer means. So when they fail at a task or don’t live up to expectations, it doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with them. It just means that they are human like the rest of us.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Scientists suggest that this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Character-Strengths-Virtues-Handbook-Classification/dp/0195167015" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">intrinsic value stems from secure attachment</span></a>, or the healthy emotional bond formed with close others, usually our childhood caregivers. Having the experience of unconditional acceptance and love, particularly when we’re young, can serve as a buffer against the effects of criticism or failure.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Unfortunately, many of us did not experience secure attachment when we were children. One study found that a whopping <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/baby-bonds-final.pdf" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">40 percent of adults are not securely attached</span></a>, but thankfully this does not mean we are doomed. We can heal through healthy adult relationships, such as friends, romantic partners, or even with a higher power. This recent <a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_stop_attachment_insecurity_from_ruining_your_love_life" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">GGSC article</span></a> suggests some ways.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;"><strong>2. Practice mindfulness and self-compassion.</strong></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">These days, mindfulness and self-compassion seem to be the antidote for many of our inner ailments. Yet I can’t imagine developing humility without them.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">According to scientists, humble people have an accurate picture of themselves—both their faults and their gifts—which helps them to see what might need changing within.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Mindfulness grows our self-awareness by giving us permission to stop and notice our thoughts and emotions without judgment (if we judge what’s going on inside us, we paint a distorted view of ourselves).</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">The more we become aware of our inner lives, the easier it is to see where unhealthy beliefs and actions might be limiting us. Noticing and then accepting those parts of ourselves that are wreaking havoc and that require us to change calls for self-compassion,</span><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"> or</span> <span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">t</span>reating oneself with kindness and understanding.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;" data-mce-mark="1">Once we accept what needs changing, then we can start the process of transformation. I love the saying by a wise sage, “If you are in a dark room, don’t beat the darkness with a stick. Rather, turn on the light.” In other words, just gently and patiently replace a negative thought or action with a positive one and over time, we may not even recognize the person we once were.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;"><strong>3. Express gratitude.</strong></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Saying “thank you” means that we recognize the gifts that come into our lives and, as a result, acknowledge the value of other people. Very simply, gratitude can make us less self-focused and more focused on those around us—a hallmark of humble people.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Indeed, a recent study found that <a href="http://drsonja.net/sonjalyubomirsky/files/2012/09/Kruse-Chancellor-Ruberton-Lyubomirsky-2014.pdf" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">gratitude and humility are mutually reinforcing</span></a>. Expressing gratitude can induce humility in us, and humble people have a greater capacity for conveying gratitude.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Both gratitude letters and gratitude diaries were used in this study – easy to perform practices that are described in greater detail on the GGSC’s <a href="http://ggia.berkeley.edu/" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Greater Good in Action website</span></a>.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Perhaps the key to humility is seeing life as a journey towards cultivating those qualities that bring out the best in ourselves and others and make this world a better place.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">And this journey is not just for the average person, but one that many of our greatest leaders have embarked upon. To close with the words of one who knew humility, Nelson Mandela:</span></p>
<blockquote style="border-left-width: 4px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: #707070; color: #707070; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.8182; margin: 0px 0px 35px -21px; padding-left: 17px; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif;">
<p style="margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself…Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, and humility.</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="margin-bottom: 28px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;"><em>This is the first in a series on humility. Subsequent articles will address humility and school leadership, cultural humility, and humility for students.</em></span></p>
<div class="story-header" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Noto Serif', serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.0007px;"><span style="color: #ffff99;"><small style="font-size: 12.75px;">By <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/author/vicki_zakrzewski" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #333333; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ffff99;">Vicki Zakrzewski</span></a> | January 12, 2016 </small>https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/5159</span></div>
</div>
Mindfulness is Transforming Leadership
https://community.contemplativelife.org/articles/mindfulness-is-transforming-leadership
2015-11-18T04:35:43.000Z
2015-11-18T04:35:43.000Z
Jordan Genung
https://community.contemplativelife.org/members/JordanGenung
<div><p>Last week my wife Penny and I had the opportunity to keynote the Mindful Leadership Summit. At the summit, 750 participants gathered to discuss how mindfulness practices could change global leadership for the better. As Charles Lief, president of Naropa University, said, "The opening of all sectors to talk about mindfulness, contemplation and compassion is a very powerful thing." The enthusiasm within the summit provided ample evidence that mindful leadership has indeed come of age.</p>
<p>How are leaders becoming mindful? One of the most popular ways to learn mindfulness is to attend a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn since the late 1970s, MBSR is built on ancient meditation practices. However, it wasn't until the last decade that the marriage of mindfulness and leadership became reality. In 2007 Chade-Meng Tan - Google employee #107 -- launched Google's meditation program. The program currently teaches 2,000 Googlers per year to meditate in order to become better leaders.</p>
<p>In January, 2010 I had the privilege of presenting my ideas for developing compassionate, authentic leaders to the Dalai Lama at the Mind &amp; Life Institute's conference in Zurich. The following year Janice Marturano formed the Institute for Mindful Leadership, based on the highly successful courses she created for General Mills. Today, leading companies like Blackrock, Aetna, Ford Motor and Goldman Sachs conduct mindfulness classes for thousands of their leaders.</p>
<p>What is causing this shift to mindful leadership? In the stress-filled 24/7 world in which we live, leaders of all organizations need the opportunity for a "time out" period. It is their opportunity to relax, breathe deeply, de-stress and gain clarity about their work and the decisions they are facing. As I stressed at last week's summit, mindfulness practices enable leaders to ensure the important issues are taking precedence over immediate pressures.</p>
<p>Business isn't the only sector practicing mindfulness. These practices are gaining widespread use in health care, non-profits, education, athletics and even government. Recent clinical studies are demonstrating that mindfulness not only reduces stress, it improves productivity and reduces health care costs. As Aetna learned in its 2011 controlled study of meditation and yoga, health care costs for participating employees could be reduced by $2000 a year. As a result, Aetna is currently offering mindfulness classes as a covered benefit to its enrollees.</p>
<p>My own mindfulness practice began with a course in Transcendental Meditation (TM) that my wife and I attended in 1974. For the past forty years I have meditated daily. It wasn't until the late 1990s that I felt comfortable sharing my practice publicly, as I feared people would find it strange or even weird. This practice is the best thing I have done to calm my mind and my emotions, focus on what is most important while releasing trivial worries and think clearly about important decisions. Perhaps even more importantly, my most creative ideas have come from meditation.</p>
<p>Of course, meditation is not for everyone. What is essential for all of us -- as I share in my classes and lectures -- is having a daily practice of taking twenty minutes to quiet your mind, reflect and be introspective. For you, it may come through prayer, journaling, reflecting in a beautiful place or taking a long walk or jog. The goal? To create more self-aware leaders who understand themselves, their motivations, their values and the purpose of their leadership.</p>
<p>Becoming a mindful leaders requires daily practice. It is easy to say, as I did back in 1974, that you don't have the time to fit this practice into your busy schedule. In fact, the opposite is true -- you don't have the time not to pursue it. A recent study by Aetna and Duke University proved that mindful practices can increase productivity by an hour a week. Just think what you could do with an extra hour: Play with your children? Take a walk with your spouse? Organize your life? However you use that extra time, mindfulness can help you accomplish it. More importantly, you will become more effective and satisfied in your work.</p>
<p>As I discuss in my new book, Discover Your True North, mindful leaders can help us begin to overcome the crisis in leadership we have experienced since 2001. Simply stated, mindfulness is a powerful practice that will help all of us become more authentic as leaders. If you haven't experienced it, give it a try, and you will find that you have a greater sense of well-being and become a better leader.</p>
<p> - Bill George, Senior Fellow, Harvard Business School</p>
<p>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-george/mindfulness-is-transformi_b_8539894.html</p>
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