If 2014 was the year of mindfulness, 2015 was the year of fruitlessly trying to debunk it

Brigid Delaney, The Guardian Monday 19 October 2015

Each week my group meditation class grows. New faces arrive, mostly young women in their 20s whose refrain is the same: they can’t sleep properly at night, frequently worry, find themselves constantly overthinking.

It’s standard low-level anxiety stuff for which a doctor might prescribe a mild sedative, or put you on a mental health plan. That’s if you see a doctor. Most people just muddle through, thinking that the feeling of always being slightly on edge is just part of the modern condition.

That is why many of us gather together in the house, meditating together. We hope that mastering this ancient thing and doing it twice a day will deliver that elusive feeling of peace. No need to take any drugs; just sit quietly, detach and let your thoughts drift across your mind like clouds.

Last year meditation hit its peak. It was Arianna Huffington and her book Thrive. It was Ted talks on mindfulness, clogging up Facebook feeds. It was meditation making the cover of Time magazine. It was the New Republic calling 2014 the Year of Mindfulness. It was meditation mantras on corporate retreats and Zen buddhists on the speakers’ circuit.

How to Mindfully Deal With Jerks

Give this loving-kindness practice a shot when dealing with difficult people and see what you notice.

By Elisha Goldstein | December 4, 2015

kantver/Dollar Photo Club

There’s a practice I’ve been doing for a while that is so simple and yet so impactful in working with difficult people and also bringing a sense of 
balance and perspective in the moment, it’s almost shocking to me. I live 
in Los Angeles, which is well known as a city with one of the highest degrees
of traffic. If we were to be able to peek into the average LA driver’s brain I 
think you’d see a hyperactive amygdala and most of the blood flow moving 
out of the prefrontal cortex. In other words, LA drivers can be a large group 
of difficult people with emotions and stress running high.

The Lost Factor in the Buddha's Path to Happiness

by Josh Korda, The Huffington Post, Nov 20, 2015 San Francisco, CA (USA) -- It would be easy to assume, given the ways Buddhist practice has been presented to its target market, that it revolves entirely around meditation: Health and well-being books, magazines and websites are lousy with images of smiling young women sitting blissfully on cushions, the sun dappling through their long blond hair, basking in blissful states of ease. The message is all too uniform and clear: Beyond being white and able-bodied, all we need to do to cultivate lasting ease and peace of mind, beyond eating healthy diets and practicing yoga, is maintain a meditation regime in which we develop present time, non-judgmental awareness towards our internal experience; a little poise and equanimity on the cushion and voila, you're cured. Now, before I pop the balloon, let me affirm that meditation does, to a degree, live up to some of its billing; in 2011 a team of Harvard researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital documented that a daily meditation practice produced substantial changes in the brain, including increased gray-matter density in the hippocampus, which is essential for learning and memory function, and in dorsolateral structures associated with self-awareness and compassion.

Great Opportunities.

A Manual of the Excellent Man.
"Uttamapurisa Dīpanī"- The Venerable Ledi Sayādaw.

1. The Great Opportunity of Human Rebirth.

Is it because as a human being one is free from the lower realms of misery?
Is it because human pleasures are really great? No, not at all.

If sensual pleasures are regarded as great opportunities, then human pleasures are nothing compared to the celestial pleasures of the heavenly realms.

If pleasure were to be the criterion here, the Buddha would have mentioned birth in the heavenly realms as great opportunities.

The Buddha did not do so. It should therefore be understood that by “a great opportunity” the Buddha did not mean an opportunity to enjoy pleasure, but one for doing skilful actions or meritorious deeds. Human birth is the ideal opportunity to gain real happiness.

The wise man, seeing clearly the benefits in maturing the perfections, and riding the high tide of fortune leading to innumerable glorious future existences, should forsake the meagre pleasures of the present.”

Thubten Chodron: Life is like sowing seeds, not in our control

by Sunitha Rao R,TNN | Dec 16, 2015 BENGALURU, India -- "Life is like sprinkling seeds. You don't know which ones will blossom into beautiful flowers, as their growth depends on factors like soil and water.That's beyond one's control." Succinct and profound, the words of Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron effectively summed up the dichotomy between human efforts and reality. A Chicago-born history teacher who got ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1975, Chodron is popular for her practical explanations on applying Buddhist teachings in daily life. In Bengaluru on Tuesday, she spoke on `dealing with situations when they fall apart'.

Ordain your mind

Michael Moriarty: Buddhist monk believed in social justice

by Jessica Inman, Orlando Sentinel, Dec 16, 2015 Orlando, FL (USA) -- Michael Moriarty was a Soto Zen Buddhist monk and a member of the Interfaith Council of Central Florida. At 74, he was deemed mature enough to become a senior monk and lead services. Michael Moriarty He was inducted into his new role at a Shuso Hossen ceremony led by the Brevard Zen Center temple's head monk Jim Gallagher, just months before he died, Dec. 2, of a brief illness. "He was a very spiritual and learned man," said Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, who knew Moriarty through his involvement in the Colonialtown neighborhood association. "… He was never afraid to share his opinion but he always did so in a very respectful and decent way, and I think that's why so many people will miss him.