Food and Ethics
Yoga and Buddha tell us to do no harm. Gandhi and Martin Luther King spoke of non-violence. But how do we apply this in our daily lives? It can be tricky territory in practice. For …
Category: Practices
Breath Stopping
Breath stopping came up on Transcending so I thought it worth breaking the points out into an article. In a transcending meditation practice we quickly settle within. As we settle the mind, the body also …
Transcending – The Means
Regular readers know I frequently mention effortless meditation. This is because of the key role it plays in culturing the ground for enlightenment. Over time, I’ve come to see its value more and more deeply. …
Who Am I?
This is one of life’s big questions. Most people identify with things like their name, work, background, nationality, skin colour, tastes, and so forth. But these are stories about ourselves or roles we’ve adopted. They …
The Bull of Dharma
I’ve spoken before about dharma in the 4 areas of life. Also that dharma means that which sustains. In other words, dharma is actions (karma) in life that sustain it and the world in which …
What are the Perfections?
If you read the Yoga Sutra or about the siddhis, you often see them translated as powers or abilities. I’ve used variations on that myself. But siddhi actually means perfection. Often this is taken to …
The Source of Grace
There is a curious paradox in spiritual practice. On the one hand, awakening and progress in consciousness happens through grace, through the hand of the Divine. Awakening isn’t an experience or something a person does …
The Importance of Actual Yoga
In Yoga, the key is settling the mind. Then the Self “behind” the noisy mind can shine through. Yoga Sutra 1 v2-3: Yoga is the complete settling of the activity of the mind. Then the …
Managing Anxiety
We live in a world where the dials are gradually being turned up. This brings us great opportunities for growth but also the stress of almost constant change. Globalization has made our world smaller but …
Favouring the Positive
As I’ve mentioned before, it’s good to favour the positive, to give more of our attention to what brings enjoyment than pain. I don’t mean in the sense of faking it or resisting what is …
Using Awareness
I recommend an effortless meditation for that key experience of samadhi or pure consciousness. By taking you beyond the mind (which not all meditations do), you get tastes of your deeper nature and culture the …
Amount of Practice
I’ve been getting quite a few queries about “technique time” from readers. I recommend an effortless meditation like TM, normally done 2 x 20 minutes a day. Other things would of course be on top of …