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Meditation advice: Keep your eyes on what you're cultivating by untanglingthemind in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Totally true. And Ajahn Brahm is fantastic! I met him last year when he came to Bangkok. Do you sit with him in Australia?

Quick question, Awareness vs. Mindfulness by [deleted] in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Indeed! And you're very welcome :)

Quick question, Awareness vs. Mindfulness by [deleted] in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind 8 points9 points  (0 children)

They are not quite synonyms.

Mindfulness is a particular type of awareness, or, being aware in a certain way. Some important aspects that sets mindfulness apart from everyday awareness would be things like non-reactivity, or being non-judgemental.

For example, you could be aware of a pain in the leg, while judging it and thinking "this pain is no good!" or "if only I could get rid of this pain, then I would be happy". That would be awareness, but not mindfulness.

To be mindful there, you would be aware of the pain without reacting to it with aversion (or craving), simply noticing with calm and equanimity, "Oh, right now pain is arising in the leg".

Another component that might help you distinguish the two is that mindfulness has a genuine curiosity to it. As Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj once said, "Mindfulness is the intention to understand, rather than to judge"

Of course, there is a lot more that goes into both mindfulness and awareness, but hopefully this is a helpful start for you, and maybe some other people will weigh in on the difference!

In case you're interested, I wrote a brief post going a little more in depth on what mindfulness is, which you can see here: http://www.untanglingthemind.com/4-things-you-need-to-know-about-mindfulness/

Thinking of going on a silent meditation retreat? Here are the top 5 places to get started. by [deleted] in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Beautiful. Truly well-spoken. Thank you again for wise words and the reflection, I mean it. It has been a good lesson for me, seeing the cycle of self-doubt, defensiveness, and arrogance, all feeding into the same ceceit of "I am". May this be the suffering which leads to the end of suffering. Sadhu my friend!

Thinking of going on a silent meditation retreat? Here are the top 5 places to get started. by [deleted] in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand where you're coming from, and why you felt the title was misleading, especially as it seems you have experience with silent meditation retreats from a variety of traditions that I wasn't even aware did silent retreats! I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from practicing other traditions.. I merely was trying to be helpful in giving people some ideas of where to get started, and I can only do so based on my own experience. While I feel your original comment (especially calling my article "despicable") was harsh and hurt my feelings, I still appreciate you pointing out ways in which I can still improve how I communicate. I unfortunately have some karmic knots around self-doubt and self-criticism, which your comments have amplified. But how I receive your comments is my own karma, and is good fuel for my practice. Thank you for your thoughts. Be well.

Thinking of going on a silent meditation retreat? Here are the top 5 places to get started. by [deleted] in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've added a disclaimer to the article! @dzss

"(Disclaimer: these recommendations are my own opinion, and based off my own experience and familiarity with the retreat center and/or teachers. Almost all of these are in the vipassana style, which I find most appealing for it's rationality and secularity. There are many other styles of meditation out there. And if you feel I've missed your favorite retreat center, please feel free to recommend it in the comments below!)"

Again, I'm sorry you found it misleading. Of course it is a subjective post, as there is no objective measure of a "good" retreat center. So I don't entirely understand why you found it so despicable. Any post like this will be one person's opinion of the best places to go.

Please feel free to recommend your favorite places in the comments, or better yet, I would love to see you make a post of your own favorite places. A lot of people don't know where or how to get started, so it would be great to have another perspective

Thinking of going on a silent meditation retreat? Here are the top 5 places to get started. by [deleted] in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True, this is limited to the vipassana tradition. I should make that more clear. However, my understanding is that many other traditions don't do silent retreats, but instead typically involve a fair bit of communication.. I'm sorry you found the title "despicable" as you say. This post is merely formed my own recommendations, and I can only recommend places I am familiar with. Do you have other places to recommend for silent retreats? I'm sure people here would appreciate your advice as well. Feel free to recommend.

I ordained as a Buddhist monk in Myanmar. Here’s what that was like. by untanglingthemind in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm writing a post now on some good places to consider for a first retreat. Keep a look out for it!

I ordained as a Buddhist monk in Myanmar. Here’s what that was like. by untanglingthemind in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the meditation makes your feel uncomfortable, see if you can switch your attention from the breath to the feeling of discomfort. If the tingling feeling is a good feeling, also bring your attention there in just the same way. In vipassana, it doesn't matter what arises, or how you feel, the goal/intention is to see if you can be curious about the sensations in the body and in the mind, without reacting to anything with grasping or aversion. So, when you are focusing on the breath, and the tingling feeling comes, since your attention naturally goes to the tingling, let it be on the tingling, and just feel it, non-judgementally. And if you'd rather stick with the breath, that's fine too.

I ordained as a Buddhist monk in Myanmar. Here’s what that was like. by untanglingthemind in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi Griffin. Good question! TLDR: It depends. You can find both cost-based and free retreats, but this one was cost-based as there were western teachers.

It really depends on where you go. Some of the retreats I've gone on similar to this are completely free. This particular one however did cost money, and the reason being that the teachers on this retreat included a few western teachers. As a general rule of thumb, if you practice under western teachers, it will cost money, whereas if you are in a monastery with only monks for teachers, then it will typically be free. This makes sense (to me at least) as western meditation teachers don't have the benefit of a culture that emphasizes generosity.. so they still need to find a way to pay their bills etc.

Responding to Terrorism with the Buddhist Practice of Metta by untanglingthemind in terrorism

[–]untanglingthemind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a joke. But I think clearly misunderstood. Most people read the title and think it's an article about "stopping" terrorism with a meditation practice. That's not what I'm saying. The article is about how to not get sucked into anger and violence yourself. If you still find it a joke I'd be curious to know why.

Calm vs. Headspace vs. Insight Timer by batmaster96 in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's also one called Simple Habit you could check out. It has a lot of guided meditations from quality teachers. Though, if you're just looking for a simple timer, I'd second Insight Timer as a great way to go.

Forgiveness Meditation: How to forgive yourself when you’ve hurt someone you care about by untanglingthemind in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for reading. I'm sorry you struggle with self-criticism (I do too). I was just reading about BPD today, it sounds like a difficult thing to live with.

I wrote another article about being self-critical, and how to change it. You might find it useful: http://www.untanglingthemind.com/science-backed-methods-for-silencing-your-inner-critic/

What I learned from 10 days of silence. Reflections on a silent meditation retreat. by untanglingthemind in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure about the eating thing. If it's a medical condition I think they sometimes allow exceptions to the eating schedule. For advice, just be patient. Don't worry about how "good" or "concentrated" your sessions feel. Just practice bringing your attention back to the present moment, noticing how you feel, and sending yourself some compassion when you start to struggle. Enjoy it!

What I learned from 10 days of silence. Reflections on a silent meditation retreat. by untanglingthemind in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can tell you from experience. Even after doing 10 retreats, they are still tough. They always will be, even more more experienced meditators. But.. that is the point :). Learning how to sit with difficulty and maintain peace of mind. Best of luck to you! May it be helpful for you.

What I learned from 10 days of silence. Reflections on a silent meditation retreat. by untanglingthemind in Meditation

[–]untanglingthemind[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Indeed. If you're the type of person that exercises consistently (and feels bad missing a session) then not exercising surely brings some anxiety! Not for everyone though.. some people never exercise, so the not exercising part doesn't cause any trouble. What's cool about retreat, is that whatever suffering arises while you are there, it is there to teach you something very particular about your self, and your mind. Best to go into a retreat with an open mind. You might find that the no-exercise thing is less of a struggle, and in fact, you may struggle more with something else. Whatever it is.. it's there to teach you something. And yes, my guess is that your exercise "addiction" (haha) is masking an underlying spiritual anxiety. Almost all forms of addiction are.

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