Wild Mind

One of the most vivid images of the relationship between our conscious mind and the enlightened mind came to me in a book about writing by Natalie Goldberg. She studied Zen with Katagiri Roshi and views writing as a spiritual activity. She says to look at the vastness of the blue sky and then imagine a small black dot in the middle of the vastness. The small black dot is the conscious mind. I have the feeling that metaphor has become a sleeper for me and I will'get it' when the time is right.

Byron Katie

Some of the people I respect greatly, Steve Chandler for example, consider Byron Katie's 'Work' to be a really valuable way of making changes. Out of respect for those who have helped me I am researching and trying out this process. I came across it years ago and gave it short shrift, yet perhaps in doing something different there is something new to learn.

Feedback as a relationship builder

How to Give Feedback So that People Use It http://bit.ly/3BqEFD This is yet another great research based piece from the positive psychology movement.

Thirty years and still learning

I have been practising, teaching and been taught meditation for more than thirty years, and I am glad to write that I am still learning.

Recently I have been experimenting with incorporating another filter in to my mindfulness practice. When we practice mindfulness we may just notice what comes along as what comes along. Another way to practice is to notice what comes along as impermanent, subject to change and ‘not self’; these are traditional Buddhist filters for experience.

A filter I am playing with at the moment is, ‘does this thought/feeling take me away from or towards my goals? If it takes me away from my goals then I practice making the choice to change that thought/feeling immediately.

This is an experiment in mindfulness meditation as a whole life practice for people living in the secular world. That sounds a bit too grand, really. This is an experiment I am making as part of my interest in owning my practice of meditation and keeping it alive, rather than an unconscious part of my daily routine. In my opinion this is one of the ways mindfulness will develop as it becomes ‘owned’ by practitioners who live outside a monastic system.

There is no judgment here, simply that different contexts require different responses.

So, consider your own context of practice. If you are a beginner, stick with the teachings you have been given. If a bit more experienced why not investigate your own practice and notice, through experimentation, what works for you.

Flying behind the plane

Interesting distinction by Gary Klein in his book Sources of Power. The further up the organisational ladder you are the more you need to look ahead. I f we are too wrapped up in ourselves and our dramas rather than responding to available feedback we are more likely to make mistakes.

Richard

www.lifechoicemeditation.com

Heart Bytes 3

Here is the link for the latest heart bytes, 'feel good' story...take a tissue.

http://tinyurl.com/7bms4x

enjoy!

Richard

www.lifechoicemeditation.c

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I really enjoyed watching the Secret when it came out a few years ago. The idea was not new, of course, I first came across these ideas in those wonderful books by Richard Bach.

Recently we have a deluge of material that reworks the so called Law of Attraction. There are different school of thought from people like Bill Harris, who acknowledges the role of action, to the 'Cosmic Ordering,sit on the sofa and visualise' school of thought.

Being from Yorkshire (where according to the local saying, 'the laziest man thinks of the easiest way'), I have researched much of the Law of Attraction material, and worked my way through various courses.

Here is a sweeping statement, so prepare to be swept...

They don't work.

I don't care about the glowing testimonials.

They don't work.

The magical thinking (Bill Harris's expression) that I can visualise abundance and it will just happen, doesn't work. It makes you feel wonderful, for sure, but it does not mean you will win the lottery.

All the magic we need is in our ability to ponder, take action and build habits.

We ponder. This is where the Law of Attraction does work. Thoughts potentially can become things. We take care to consider what is important to us, and what will take us towards what is important.

We take action . Action is magic on this level. If you sit on the sofa and wait, you will just wait. Expecting abundance to just manifest is a confusion of levels. At the mental level, thoughts just happen, on the physiac level, we work to manifest.

We build habits. Actions repeated take us in the direction we wish. They do much more than that. As we build habits, we also build are ability to make distinctions within our area of interest. The better distinctions I can make the more effective my actions will be.

Jim Rohn summed it up. He said that to have more we must become more.

That is all the magic I need.

best wishes,

Richard

www.lifechoicemeditation.com

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All the magic we need.

I really enjoyed watching the Secret when it came out a few years ago. The idea was not new, of course, I first came across these ideas in those wonderful books by Richard Bach.

Recently we have a deluge of material that reworks the so called Law of Attraction. There are different school of thought from people like Bill Harris, who acknowledges the role of action, to the 'Cosmic Ordering,sit on the sofa and visualise' school of thought.

Being from Yorkshire (where according to the local saying, 'the laziest man thinks of the easiest way'), I have researched much of the Law of Attraction material, and worked my way through various courses.

Here is a sweeping statement, so prepare to be swept...

They don't work.

I don't care about the glowing testimonials.

They don't work.

The magical thinking (Bill Harris's expression) that I can visualise abundance and it will just happen, doesn't work. It makes you feel wonderful, for sure, but it does not mean you will win the lottery.

All the magic we need is in our ability to ponder, take action and build habits.

We ponder. This is where the Law of Attraction does work. Thoughts potentially can become things. We take care to consider what is important to us, and what will take us towards what is important.

We take action . Action is magic on this level. If you sit on the sofa and wait, you will just wait. Expecting abundance to just manifest is a confusion of levels. At the mental level, thoughts just happen, on the physiac level, we work to manifest.

We build habits. Actions repeated take us in the direction we wish. They do much more than that. As we build habits, we also build are ability to make distinctions within our area of interest. The better distinctions I can make the more effective my actions will be.

Jim Rohn summed it up. He said that to have more we must become more.

That is all the magic I need.

best wishes,

Richard

www.lifechoicemeditation.com