Lessons in Samadhi

GROUNDWORK July 30, 1956

If, when you’re sitting, you aren’t yet able to observe the breath, tell yourself, ‘Now I’m going to breathe in. Now I’m going to breathe out.’ In other words, at this stage you’re the one doing the breathing. You’re not letting the breath come in and out as it naturally would. If you can keep this in mind each time you breathe, you’ll soon be able to catch hold of the breath.

Mudita, sympathetic happiness. It will come.....

"When you see other people progressing, becoming happier, if your mind is not pure, you will generate jealousy towards these people. "Why did they get this, and not I? I’m a more deserving person. Why are they given such a position of power, or status? Why not I? Why have they earned so much money? Why not I?" This kind of jealousy is the manifestation of an impure mind.

As your mind gets pure by Vipassana and your metta gets stronger, you will feel happy when seeing others happy. "All around there is misery. Look, at least one person is happy. May he be happy and contented. May he progress in Dhamma, progress in worldly ways". This is mudita, sympathetic happiness. It will come." ~ S N Goenka

Story of Buddhism (3)

Why Former Pixar CFO Lawrence Levy Walked Away from It All

In his new book, the author details his long and winding road to Buddhism—and Steve Jobs’s reaction to his career change.

By Lakshmi Gandhi  

NOV 01, 2016

Because movies like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Monsters, Inc., are now considered modern-day classics, it’s hard to remember just how turbulent Pixar’s first years were. But when Lawrence Levy was recruited by Pixar chief Steve Jobs in 1994, the animation studio was bleeding cash. Unique structural challenges seemed to block any easy avenue to taking the company public, and a skeptical staff eyed their enigmatic boss with mistrust and resentment. In what reads like an IPO thriller, Levy, who served as the struggling company’s chief financial officer, details both his professional and personal journey in To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History.

Don't give in to cravings

'In the moment of mindfulness, there is no suffering'

by Ajahn Sumedho Courtesy of buddhismnow.com

'.. This is about this moment here and now. It’s not about whether suffering exists as a kind of metaphysic or abstraction or theory of suffering. We’re not talking about suffering as a theory or an idea, but as an actual experience, here and now. There might be physical pain, but if we’re mindful, we reflect on this as: There is pain. It’s like this. But then we don’t create aversion around it; so there’s no suffering. If we have a fever or cancer or anything that people think is suffering, and then we’re mindful, there is no suffering in that moment. When there is heedlessness, we might worry or be caught in despair and negative states towards it. But at any moment of mindfulness and understanding, there is no suffering.

Story of Buddhism