bodhi tree swaying

I’ve long advocated the usefulness of “creative daydreaming.” In fact I wrote a piece on Wildmind several years ago that touched on the subject, which I suspects is a bit taboo with some meditation teachers who are stuck with the idea that we should let go of all thinking.

Anyway, there was an interesting article recently in the New York Times, called Discovering the Virtues of a Wandering Mind, confirming the notion that daydreaming can be a creative act. Fortunately research is being done on the topic, and there are some interesting results:

During waking hours, people’s minds seem to wander about 30 percent of the time, according to estimates by psychologists who have interrupted people throughout the day to ask what they’re thinking. If you’re driving down a straight, empty highway, your mind might be wandering three-quarters of the time…

From one third to three quarters of our time being …

A recent discussion on the mechanisms by which the Medicine Buddha mantra might actually promote health reminded me of an article I read a few years ago in New Scientist, comparing the effects of “spiritual meditation” and “secular meditation.” Here’s an extract:

College students who volunteered for the study were randomly assigned to one of three groups regardless of their spiritual beliefs. The 25 students in the spiritual meditation group were told to concentrate on a phrase such as “God is love” or “God is peace” during their meditation periods. Those in the secular meditation group used a phrase such as “I am happy” or “I am joyful” while the third group were simply told to relax.

Subjects were asked to practise their technique for 20 minutes each day for two weeks, at the beginning and end of which the researchers

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This image from an EIZO medical imaging “pinup” calendar reminds me of an ancient Buddhist deconstructive technique that aims to remind us of impermanence and to lessen sexual craving.

Here’s a late example from Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara:

She … on embracing whom you experienced the highest bliss;
She is nothing but bones … why do you not willingly cuddle them and feel bliss?

This next one’s older. It’s by Rajadatta, who was a monk at the time of the Buddha. This is him describing how he became Enlightened:

I, a monk, gone to the charnel ground, saw a woman cast away, discarded there in the cemetery. Though some were disgusted, seeing her — dead, evil — lust appeared, as if I were blind to the oozings. In less time than it takes for rice to cook, I got out of that place. Mindful, alert, I sat down to one

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"Forthcoming" in this case means you might be able to get it as a Christmas present in 2010! However, I’m hard at work on my book on the Six Elements, to be published by Sounds True, and I’m most of the way through the sixth element, consciousness. Here’s what one advance reader, Steve Bell, had to say in his blog:

Bodhipaksa is working on a book developed out of reflections on the 6 Element practice, and he’s allowed me to read 4 of the chapters so far. It’s an amazing book, I can’t wait till it comes out.In the 6 Element Practice you contemplate how the elements of earth, water, air, fire (energy), space and consciousness are inside of us, outside of us, then you say, "they are not me, they are not mine."It leads to a kind of spiritual death,

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There’s a nice article (or was) in Psychology Today on the topic of mindfulness. It contains a lot of useful tips for bringing your awareness back into your present-moment experience.

Here are some practical tips to help you get mindful now.

• Meditate. Meditating is nothing more than focusing on the present moment. The easiest way to meditate is to simply focus on your breath—not because your breath has some magical quality, but because it’s always there with you. The challenge is to keep your attention on your breathing. Inevitably, your mind will wander and thoughts will arise—and that’s fine. When it happens, just let go of the thought and bring your attention back to the present by focusing once again on your breath.

• Use a reminder of the string-around-your-finger variety. Wear your watch upside-down, put a quarter in your shoe, or put a smudge on one of the lenses of

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Sujatin has a lovely post on self-metta:

The practice of metta (lovingkindness), uncovering the force of love that can uproot fear, anger, and guilt, begins with befriending ourselves. The foundation of metta practice is to know how to be our own friend. According to the Buddha,

“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

How few of us embrace ourselves in this way! With metta practice we uncover the possibility of truly respecting ourselves. We discover, as Walt Whitman put it,

“I am larger and better than I thought. I did

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In the morning we went to the funky home of the ever-generous Danakamala, where we socialized and ate delicious food. There were a couple of other girls there, so Maia had a great time. So did I, for that matter. The smoky night club look is an artifact of the very snowy weather — there was light streaming in the windows.

In the afternoon I went to Aryaloka and led a guided meditation for about 20 people, towards the end of the Meditate for Peace Day. The morning apparently was busier, with 45 people in the shrine-room. This picture was actually taken in order to show someone how to use a scarf in order to take the weight off of the shoulders when meditating. I wasn’t really meditating at the time, hence the “pole up …

The wonderful people at Sounds True are bringing out a double-CD set of my teachings on the Mindfulness of Breathing practice tomorrow (Jan 1, 2009). It’s called “Still the Mind” and it’s a step-by-step guide to the four stages of the practice, illuminating the principles underlying each stage and explaining the various ways that our awareness of the breath can be used to cultivate calmness, energy, mental integration, and one-pointed concentration.

Here’s a bit of the blurb.

The average person has 12,000 thoughts per day—most of them a recurring handful of unwelcome distractions. On Still the Mind, master meditation teacher Bodhipaksa offers an essential program for anyone looking to move beyond the chatter of a too-busy mind, while laying the foundation for a daily meditation practice. Two CDs of instruction and guided sitting sessions will help you discover the breath as an untapped

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I’ll be doing a little teaching (or meditation-leading, to be more accurate) at Aryaloka’s “Meditate For Peace Day” on January 1, 2009, here in Newmarket, New Hampshire

Here are the details for the whole day:

MEDITATE FOR PEACE DAY

JANUARY 1, 2009
6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sending wishes out to the world for peace for the coming year!

Meditation on the hour (6 a.m., 7 a.m., etc.)
Guided meditations at 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m.
Come for one session or stay as long as you like
Lunch break from 12-1 p.m. (please bring your own food)
Light snacks and beverages throughout the day
End at 6 p.m.

More information is available from Aryaloka.

When I was teaching meditation at the University of Montana I had a student called Connie who was very concerned about her smoking habit. In my youth I sometimes used to smoke roll-ups at parties and I sometimes even bought tobacco so I could make my own and not be cadging from other people all the time, but I never got addicted and so I had no experience I could share about giving up the evil weed. But I do encourage people to be mindful, and so I suggested that she really pay attention to the sensations and mental patterns that arose each time she was smoking a cigarette. It seemed like a long-shot, but it was all I had.

She reported that after taking up this suggestion she was smoking a lot less. It took her longer to smoke each cigarette, and she was …

Time for some shameless self-publicity!

This summer I was over in Boulder, Colorado, doing some recording for Sounds True, who are a fantastic outfit staffed by a very friendly and astonishingly competent bunch of people. The first fruits of that work are approaching ripeness in the form of a two-CD set called “Still the Mind,” which is a step-by-step guide to a samatha (calm abiding) approach to the mindfulness of breathing that helps to develop calmness and one-pointed concentration.

Sounds True have done their usual excellent job with the packaging:

and the blurb:

I’m not sure of the exact launch date yet.

There’s a second CD set coming out later in 2009. It’s called “The Wisdom of the Breath.” More about that in due course.

And as if that wasn’t enough, One Spirit took an interest in both …

We had a good class in prison today. Rich was talking about how much the practice of metta bhavana and an awareness of Buddhanature had changed his life. I shared how I’ve become substantially less critical through the practice of metta, and said that although an awareness had had a profound effect at times on how I’ve seen myself, I don’t think it’s penetrated very deeply (he thought the same about himself). I find that sometimes I still get frustrated by people’s actions and judge them not on their potential but on how they behave.

I contrasted this with how I view my daughter. She may sometimes have tantrums or in an attempt to play she’ll throw food or utensils around the kitchen, but I don’t get angry with her. I take the view that she’s still growing up, and that this is just how she is at the moment. …