"In the garden of gentle sanity, May you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness". Daily meditation - All Welcome

[mangosTrickyrice]

Quote is from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, whoever he may be. I found it in Pema Chodron's Places that Scare You and it made me laugh.

This thread is for anyone at all who's interested in mindfulness and meditation. We had posters on the last thread from various Buddhist traditions, Christians lapsed and practising, plus your wishy-washy agnostics . Some of us aim for 10 minutes of meditation practice each day, others focus on mindfulness in daily living, and still others focus on naps horizontal meditation. So really anything goes. The original thread is here if you have a month or 2 spare to read, otherwise just jump in below.

swiss, I should confess that misguided wasn't the first word that sprang to mind!

justa - understand point 1) above, but there was a poor catholic on the thread about this, despairing at the possibilities of introducing sensible liberal reforms into the catholic church if they're going to take all the conservatives from the CofE. Did feel a bit sorry for her

pink -

I was brought up Catholic and one of the occasions when I had a severe set back in terms of wanting anything to do with the church any more was when Anglicans started ordaining women and the Roman Catholics accepted all the intolerant eejits who couldn't stay within Anglicanism any more. I had had problems with the Catholic church for a long time, but when it became a dustbin for bigots, it struck me as very unpalatable.

There are more problems than that though!

I talked about some of these issues with my mother. She said - reasonably, I think - that the Catholic church is critically running out of priests and will not be able to function indefinitely unless it can contemplate married priests, female priests, or both. She doesn't seem to see either being married or a woman as some great barrier to priesthood. Yet she is very obedient and talks a lot about the danger of unthinking reforms - following fashion not being a guarantee of accessing truth - etc. I think she is excellent at double think essentially - I am absolutely exhausted with it. Doublethink is directly causally related to depression, imo.

Mangostickyrice - thanks - i have the book, I think it is great and have the same impression of it that you do, it was CBT that I was questioning but I have no direct experience of it in fact - just a few simplistic patronising smiley counsellors. I suppose my problems are as much spiritual as psychological in fact and it is not necessarily easy to find a practitioner who gets that dimension - which is why I love the book.

sorry about rambling.

beautiful sunshine here, I hope you all have good weather wherever you are and are enjoying your day.

Justa, I for one would love to hear more. I have not come across Origen before. Please expand when you can! X

katiek - i'm sure it did but even from what little i've written anyone else who went there will recognise the place so you'll just have to let your curiosity run wild.

mango - so what was your first choice of words then???? meditation wasn't the only strange thing about the place.

justa - my DD1 (3) & DS (4) love waybuloo. not yet sure what i make of it, what's your pov.

Thanks Justa. Very interesting. Will look out for him. Just about to go to the wilds of West Wales for a few days, armed with books: 'Buddhism for mothers of school children', which I am loving, Pema C's 'When Things Fall Apart'; and a Jodi Picoult (about the Amish community) from the library for light relief
Have a good half-term everyone xxx

Hope youre all doing ok I just wanted to pop in and say that whilst Im not posting a lot lately I am reading here and looking forward to reading some books to learn more, will be a little while yet but I have a substantial amount in my amazon basket

Just finding things tough at the moment and trying to look after myself.

Youre all an important inspiration, and I hope you are all finding space for peace and clarity xxx

Hello all hope you are having a mindful half term. Unsurprisingly conference in Vegas and jet lag and half term has derailed me slightly although did manage to sit one morning and watch the sun rise behind the mountains from my hotel room over the parking lots, building sites and winking neon! Very odd place.
Did manage to do plenty of reading though in that 'I am wide awake it is only 4 am ' way and particularly 'What the Buddha taught' by Walpola Rahula. His 'take' on reincarnation which seems to be that of the earliest texts is that 'when the physical body is no longer...the energies do not die with it but continue to take some other shape or form'. Which is very different from the Tibetan concept of a particular soul (or lama) being reincarnated. (He is/ was a Theravada or 'small way' Buddhist monk). Not sure what I believe but certainly have problems with the Hindu concept of reincarnation that I was brought up with-though even with these if you go back to the original texts the ideas are less 'absolute' than commonly believed.
Sorry for the long post. Oh and wanted to say there is a nice thread under 'music' on music with a spiritual dimension-does anyone have any recommendations they would add either here or there?
Love and light to all xxxx

Hello everybody.... I just thought I'd pop in and say hello. haven't meditated v much the past couple of weeks due to a lot of RL going on here.
I've been dealing with a lot of attachment issues here, my parents are selling the family home and moving to a tiny flat (near to me). But one thing I've really benefitted from is the whole Buddhist perspective on attachment as my attachment to the house has definitely brought suffering! Also the idea of acceptance of change, nothing is permanent these are really helpful.

Hope you are all well.
Katie - how was wild west Wales?
Dillinger - hope you're getting on ok with your reading list!
Mango / Justa hope your bumps are growing nicely.
Oh by the way - I've name changed and hung up my Pink Fluffy Slippers.

Is everyone still on for a group meditate on the 18th ? (I think we have visitors staying that night so that'll be interesting as I disappear off to the attic ....)

Ok metta to all and back to Strictly

XXXX

hello comfy - i will try to lose any attachment i still harbour to your 'fluffy' moniker immediately, hard though this is for me to do - lovely to read you. glad you are coping with the parental house sale thing, well done. i have had a blustery but lovely wholesome cosy family time down at the caravan. i read loads. jodie picoult didn't get a look in. i finished sarah n's latest and found it riveting. i finished the pema book, and thought once again how much i would love to attend one of her retreats one day. i then started on 'the optimistic child' by martin seligman which is thought-provoking (but sadly, i can't quite face putting my children through the extensive 'pessimism prevention programme' advocated in it!)
while at the caravan i got DH meditating two nights running which he enjoyed - taking it slowly, obv, but short periods seem to work well for him. (he never did go on the course he'd expressed interest in, as it clashed with something else) - he's been feeling a bit unsettled with some work ishoos recently so i think he feels it's a good time to try it out.
better get back to RL ie dragging the kids away from 'tom and jerry' - one thing i love about the time we spend in wales is the absence of a TV - i so wish DH would agree to giving ours away - guess i need to work on my aversion there! X

Hello fellow coconut grove wanderers hope you are all well? November is a funny month isn't it? Just had a significant (horribly so) birthday and got lots of lovely presents including amazon vouchers so now reading peanut brittle's recommendations. Liking TNH 'peace is every step' very much but have failed completely to meditate for a couple of weeks now. Focusing on being lessgrumpy more mindful mainly right now. Am definitely up for Nov 18th group meditation comfyshoes/PFS.

hi LadyG!
my own significant birthday is 3 paltry months away. happy birthday!
my meditating isn't doing so well either at the moment. it's the cold dark mornings...how to get out of bed half an hour earlier...especially when both of our two come into bed with us in the morning...feels a bit rude and anti-family to stalk out into another room to (as they see it) 'just' sit! and i do like my cuddles...
back soon - have a good day everyone x

Hi,
Good to hear from you all. Lady G belated birthday congrats and Katie early bday greetings.
BTW what age is considered a significant birthday these days since 60 is the new 40? If your significant bday was 40 then as far as I'm concerned life definitely began at 40 for me: I had DD just before my 41st bday and got married at 44...

Also struggling with meditating these days. I managed to sit for 10 minutes this afternoon and felt so exhausted afterwards I had to have a snooze !!!

Katie how did you persuade DH to meditate ? Did you threaten to put him on half 'rations' unless he "sat".

Hope folks are still up for a group meditate on 18th at 10pm.

Must away and get ready for a bonfire party -- in the rain!
Take care all

XX

hi comfy xxx i am just back from a 'witches and wizards' skool disko - exhausted. at quarter to nine. i would blame my looming significant - yes - 40th, if it weren't for your words of cheer and encouragement! so it can't be my age, then
yes the 18th is in my diary, i think i have a choir concert that night but should be back by 10pm - surely that night i will be forced to meditate, then! back soon X

Hi everyone, hope you're all well, Baby Mango arrived in the early hours of last Monday! Much easier birth than last time, she's feeding well and no bother at all so far.

Dd1 says she wants milk, so I'm off - more when there's a minute!

!!!!!!!!!
WONDERFUL news - hurray. well done to all the mmmango family, but especially you (OBV)!
X

Great news. Many congratulations
XX

Congratulations Mango! What great news. I hope you are recovering well.

Very best to all on the mango tree, especially mama mango and the littlest fruit. x

Congratulations Mango! Enjoy (and practice horizontal meditation whenever possible) x

Good morning friends. Hope you're all keeping well. Mango hope little baby mango is thriving.
I received this from Tricycle this morning and thought it was worth sharing.. The talk of fruits and mangos seems strangely appropriate.

Buddhism is more of a way of life than a religion. It is like a fruit. You may like a number of fruits, like bananas, oranges, mandarins, and so on. You are committed to eating these fruits. But then someone tells you that there is a fruit called mango and it would be wonderful for you to try that fruit. It would be a pity if you don?t know what a mango is. But eating a mango does not require you to abandon your habit of eating oranges. Why not try it? You may like it a lot. Buddhism is a kind of mango, you see?a way of life, an experience that is worth trying. It is open for everyone. You can continue to be a Jew or a Catholic while enjoying Buddhism. I think that?s a wonderful thing.

• Thich Nhat Hanh, from ?Interbeing with Thich Nhat Hanh,? Tricycle, Summer 1995

Hello everyone

sorry have been away so long - have been thinking of you all but just not in a space to write.

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS MANGO!!!! brilliant news, hope all is going well.

Looking forward to the group meditation on 18th - remind me what time?

have been having trouble with sitting of late, just not in frame of mind, allowing myself not to have time etc etc etc...result (obviously not just of not sitting but of combination including that) has been deep drear moods and inevitable cycle of not being able to motivate self to sit or do any of the mindful stuff that helps so much in times like that.Unfortunately I can't get to my regular FWBO meetings any more as H working those nights, that hasn't helped either.

Anyway...

Was lucky enough to have the lovly Katie and her wonderful daughter up to visit me this weekend. We talked A LOT (as any of you can imagine) and as a result of some of our discussions I felt motivated enough to go and read my beloved TNH this afternoon after they had left and to sit for 30 mins aferwards. It made a great difference. Thank you for that Katie, and for the lovely days we spent together. Looking forward to the next time already

Am going to try to post on here a bit more again, just to keep myself in the virtual sangha even if can't be in RL one...

I hope you are all well and happy and send metta to one and all

much love

PB XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hello folks, first outing on mumsnet for a year and this sounds great. Just what I need, a bit of oomph to restart meditation practice. Missing the FWBO practice I had before we moved 5 years ago, pre kids. And needing it more than ever these days, waybuloo's the most mindful I get. Look forward to the 18th.

this evening I found out good friends brother committed suicide yesterday. I've known them both since I was 18. My friend is obviously devastated. I've had a good old fashioned bawl for much of the evening. Please include him and family in thoughts and meditations if you can...