Picture the mind like a waterfall, they said: the water is the torrent of thoughts and emotions; mindfulness is the space behind the waterfall. Again, elegant theory – but, easier said than done.
RAIN. R: recognize A: allow I: investigate N: non-identification Recognize was self-explanatory. Using my David Westin example, in those moments after our—even in the best light—quite ambivalent meeti...
Serendipitously, on the very night of my meeting with Ben, I had scheduled a dinner with Mark Epstein. In the taxi on my way downtown I called Bianca and told her how it’d gone. He’s right, she said....
The Buddhists had a helpful analogy here. Picture the mind like a waterfall, they said: the water is the torrent of thoughts and emotions; mindfulness is the space behind the waterfall. Again, elegant...
They had a suggestion for me: I should go on a retreat. Recognizing the look of dread on my face, they acknowledged it could be a little tough, but assured me it would be worth it. They knew an amazin...
We live so much of our lives pushed forward by these if only thoughts, and yet the itch remains. The pursuit of happiness becomes the source of our unhappiness.
You have a quote that I love. You say, ‘Most of one’s own troubles, worries, and sadness come from self-cherishing, self-centeredness.’ But don’t we need to be somewhat self-centered in order to succe...
Patients saw their health improve if they did volunteer work.
On retreat, with nothing to look forward to, nowhere to be, nothing to do, we are forced to confront the wound of existence head-on, to stare into the abyss and realize that so much of what we do in l...
She nailed the method for applying mindfulness in acute situations, albeit with a somewhat dopey acronym: RAIN. R: recognize A: allow I: investigate N: non-identification Recognize
As best I could understand it, the Buddha’s main thesis was that in a world where everything is constantly changing, we suffer because we cling to things that won’t last. A central theme of the Buddha...
How often are we waiting for the next pleasant hit of... whatever? The next meal or the next relationship or the next latte or the next vacation, I don't know. We just live in anticipation of the next...
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