Tao of Light

teaching Jul 06, 2023 The Buddha saw a star and got enlightenment. That's the myth of the Buddha, that's the story that's been told for over 2,500 years. Buddha had this experience. Zen Master Man Gong said, "I saw a star too and I lost enlightenment." Everybody thinks "Got Enlightenment" is what we want. But Man Gong says he lost enlightenment. What does that mean? If you think about it, is enlightenment something you get? Or lose? How do you get it? How do you lose it? We don't know. So already, we're starting to wonder what is this thing we call enlightenment? There is this concept. There is this idea. It's been talked about for 2,500 years. In America, we've been practicing Buddhism for 50 or 60 years. Everybody wants enlightenment. I want enlightenment, so I'll do these difficult practices because I'll get something. But there's a big problem with that. Who gets it? And what is it you want? And if I want something, maybe that gets in the way of getting it. Because the Buddha's enl...

By Leo Babauta The feeling of being overwhelmed is extremely common in the people I talk to, and it’s becoming more and more clear to me that this is the default state for most of us. We’re overwhelmed by it all: all the things we have on our plates, all the interruptions and messages and emails, all the things online and on social media, all the news and chaos of the world, all the things going on in our relationships. It’s a lot! We can celebrate the abundance of our lives, but often we bemoan it. The problem isn’t the abundance, but our fear and anxiety about all of it. Actually, for most of us, the fear is that we’ll let people down. We’ll drop one of the many balls we have in the air and let people down … or worse yet, we’ll drop them all and we’ll be exposed as inadequate! So how do we deal with it? I suggest three practices of simplicity. And as you practice with simplicity, you might recite a kind of mantra: When you’re overwhelmed, simplify. Let’s talk about the fear and anxie...

In 2014, Caitlin Carlson of Women’s Health magazine wrote, “Far from the hippy dippy stigma it used to carry, meditation is starting to be viewed as hip—and healthy.” The field of meditation has come even further since then, but what has remained the same are the time-tested, scientifically-backed benefits of the TM technique. Here’s more on 6 particular benefits of Transcendental Meditation practice, from Carlson’s original article:   It can amp up your workoutNot only does a regular Transcendental Meditation practice increase energy, improve your focus, and help you sleep sounder every night, it also increases your pain tolerance, says a study in the journal NeuroReport. Higher tolerance for discomfort means higher tolerance for banging out another mile or another set of reps. It can slash your risk for heart disease and strokeA study published in the journal Circulation found that practicing Transcendental Meditation can lower blood pressure and your risk for heart attack and stroke...

Bob Roth is one of the most experienced and sought-after meditation teachers in America. Over the past 50 years, Bob has taught the Transcendental Meditation technique to many thousands of people and is the author of the definitive book on the subject, the New York Times bestseller “Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation” (Simon and Schuster, 2018). As the CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, Bob has helped provide TM scholarships for over one million urban youth, veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress, women and children who are survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and healthcare workers on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic. Original author: Admin

Most people think that if they’re struggling, that means something is wrong. If you’re struggling to write, to meditate, to eat healthily, to be focused and productive … or struggling in a relationship or job … that means something is wrong with you, or you need to change your circumstances, or this just isn’t right for you. If we think something is wrong with the struggle, we will usually try to fix it, get out of the struggle, change ourselves … so we don’t have to have this problem anymore. I’d like to propose a different view: that struggle is the place of growth, learning, curiosity, love, creativity. Struggle is an incredible opportunity for being creative. Let’s take a couple examples so you can see what I mean, then let’s talk about how to work with this. Let’s say I’m trying to write a book or a blog post … and I feel frozen by the unknown of it all. What to write about, how to approach the topic, how to be original or valuable, how to avoid people judging me. So I’m frozen up...

Share This is a book of spiritual practices, rituals, and personal stories that we might call “necessary” wisdom: wisdom that we would probably avoid, if we could. But everyone dies, and every person must face the death of someone they love sooner or later. For that reason, the book is unique and important. Anne-Marie Keppel is a death doula — a companion to those who are dying, just as the more common birth doula is a companion to someone about to give birth. Keppel cares for people through their dying process and teaches friends and community how to help their dying loved one through the dying, the post-mortem, and the final disposition (how remains are to be handled). The title of her book is a phrase she describes on the first page: “Death nesting is about preparing the nest for one who is dying, just as we might prepare a nest for one who is about to give birth.” Spiritual practices of compassion and hospitality are in abundance here. Part one describes how a death doula’s work mo...

jason quinn jdpsn teaching Nov 15, 2022 When we see the impermanence of this world and discover who we truly are, we can realize a truth that goes beyond impermanence. The truth is something every human being can perceive intrinsically and is already clear in every moment. It is acknowledging the difficulties and dissatisfaction in our own lives, which helps us to see the difficulties and dissatisfaction in the lives of others. We can see that many people are in a great need of help. When we perceive that need clearly, the meaning of life turns into a vow, a path to recognize our true self in every moment and respond to the world with love and compassion. This meaning never has an ending. It motivates us to get out of bed, to investigate our lives closely, to help us pay attention to our place in the world and how we influence it. Love and compassion can spread throughout our lives to our families, friends, the people we work with, giving meaning not only to our life, but great meaning...

The following is written by Karlie Everhart and originally published on her blog.  I started meditating ten years ago. At the time, I had suffered from intermittent bouts of anxiety and was looking for a way to calm the surmounting pressure I constantly applied to myself. The only new-agey person I was familiar with was Gabrielle Bernstein, so I bought her book and her companion meditation CD and that’s how I started. I listened to Gabby’s meditation tracks until I got bored of hearing the same voice over and over and then I switched to the Calm app and random youtube videos of Oprah and Deepak Chopra. In 2015, I was trained in Transcendental Meditation (TM) and that is what I’ve been doing ever since. Meditation has been a saving grace to me in many ways. It keeps me focused, grounded, and sane. Over the years, when I’ve felt nervous, anxious, and scared I’ve turned to meditation. I’ve meditated in my car before job interviews, before big events – my wedding, my bridal shower, speakin...