Tibetan: How to Meditate (video)

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (tergar.org), 11/12/11; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How to Meditate

(1/2) Rinpoche talks about the essence of meditation. In this short video teaching, Tibetan Buddhist (Vajrayana) Meditation Master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche discusses the essence and how learning to meditate helped him overcome debilitating panic attacks and anxiety. To take a FREE, self-guided "introduction to meditation" course, visit learning.tergar.org. For more information about Mingyur Rinpoche and his teachings, visit tergar.org to find out about events, retreats, free online course.

• Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (born 1975) is a Tibetan teacher and meditation master of the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, author of two best-selling books, who  oversees the Tergar Meditation Community, an international network of Buddhist meditation centers.

Series on Tibetan Buddhism (wiki)

Mingyur Rinpoche was born in Nepal [Note 1], the youngest of four brothers. His mother is Sönam Chödrön, a descendant of two Tibetan kings, Songtsen Gampo and Trisong Deutsen.

His brothers are Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. And his nephews are Phakchok Rinpoche and the rebirth of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, known popularly as Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche.

From age 9 his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, taught him meditation, passing on to him the most essential instructions of the Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions.

At age 11 he began studies at Sherab Ling Monastery in northern India, the seat of Tai Situ Rinpoche. Two years later, he began a traditional three-year retreat at Sherab Ling.

At age 19 he enrolled at Dzongsar Institute where, under the tutelage of the renowned Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk, he studied the primary topics of the Buddhist academic tradition, including Middle Way philosophy and Buddhist logic.

At age 20 he became the functioning abbot of Sherab Ling.

At age 23 he received full monastic ordination. During this time he received important Dzogchen transmissions from Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche.

In 2007 Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche completed the construction of Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya ("Enlightenment Grove," site of the Buddha's Great Awakening) in India, which serves large numbers of people attending Buddhist events at this sacred pilgrimage site.

It also serves as an annual site for month-long Karma Kagyu scholastic debates, and serves as an international study institute for the monastic community (sangha) and laity. The institute also has a medical clinic for locals [2].

  

He has overseen the Kathmandu Tergar Osel Ling Monastery, founded by his father, since 2010. He also opened a shedra (monastic college) at the monastery [3].

In June 2011 he left his monastery in Bodhgaya to begin a period of extended retreat. Rinpoche left in the middle of the night, taking nothing with him, but leaving a farewell letter [4]. He spent four years as a wandering yogi [5 and 6]. More

How to sit Zen (video)

Yokoji Zen Mountain Center, 10/3/11; Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(ZMC.org) Postures: full-lotus, half-lotus, quarter-lotus, Burmese, kneeling, or sitting in a chair.

How to Meditate Zen style

This is Zen meditation instruction from Yokoji Zen Mountain Center (zmc.org), a Zen Buddhist training center located in the Southern California mountains near Idyllwild. Instruction is provided on how to sit zazen ("seated meditation") in various positions -- full lotus, cross legged, using a chair -- plus tips on breathing and how to go in to and out of meditation periods.

• Dharma Meditation Initiative: Learn Zen FREE, Nov. 14
• Zen Mountain Monastery (zmm.org) meditation instructions
  

What does Gaming teach us? (Skyrim)

Wisdom Quarterly

(Aniboom) A young Buddhist trainee-monk (novice, samanera) finds a portable video game, gets instantly addicted, then suffers greatly when its battery dies. This is Deborah Saez's story about how one Buddhist reacts to a first encounter with gaming technology. More from Aniboom: Facebook, Twitter, Blog

Skyrim P14: meeting, greeting, mauling "Buddhist" monks? (DMC2k10)

WARNING: MATURE CONTENT, EXTREME VIOLENCE (17+)! What do video games teach us? What are they training us for? Many popular titles seem to have one theme that mimics life in the American empire: "Kill 'em all." Tee shirts and bumper stickers read:

"Join the Army: Visit exotic places, meet interesting people, and then kill them."

It might be a lesson, a training, a suggestion one could easily dismiss IF it were not given again and again by a hypnotic device. Children grow up and have no trouble applying the lesson to a job in Las Vegas manning the CIA's killer drones by joystick.

Interestingly, even safe in a cubicle committing murder for the spying agency without military oversight or any of the ordinary traps of war, joystick pullers still suffer PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome) according to new studies.

The memory of warring titans lives on in violent video games.

The archetypal giants (titans, asuras, nephilim) who once ruled are remembered in the lore of video games. Police play a great deal of games. Could their behavior, giving free rein to their basest impulses to rape and be violent, be influenced? The next video suggests the answer (particularly at Minute 2:26 where one wields a club in New York like a giant on the battlefield).

(itzDeaMan) This video illustrates of the importance of videotaping police in public to provide transparency, accountability, and accuracy about what occurs. It is no secret that the US has a serious problem with police brutality and corruption against even law abiding citizen. According to Gramrastag "Freedom of press begins with you!"

Mental Karma
What is the karma of pretend-killing in video games? Karma is of three varieties -- by body, by communication (usually verbal), and by mind.

Exercising the mind to kill over and again changes something inside us. Whatever we frequently rehearse comes more naturally, becoming habit or second nature, which may be to our benefit or detriment.

Deepak Chopra and son try to harness it for the good. The White House wants more of it for bad from Constance Steinkuehler. And one prominent Buddhist from Stanford University, Dr. Jane McGonigal (gamification theory), may be at the center of the explosion in scientific research on its potential to save the world as seen at the 2011 Buddhist Geeks Conference.

• US politician wants videogames to carry warning label
• USA's secret drone operators suffer high stress risk
  
• Video game violence experts: money vs. science
• White House exploring benefits of gaming

Video game violence, porn, and cheap alcohol (gamespy.com)

How to Practice Loving-Kindness Meditation

Howcast — To complete this "How to Practice Buddhist Loving-Kindness Meditation" one will need:

1. understanding and acceptance of the task
2. a place where you will not be interrupted
3. a cushion

Get started with the first step: Find a position in which to sit comfortably for the meditation. Kneel using a meditation bench, sit cross-legged on the floor, or sit upright on a chair. For the complete guide, go to How-To-Practice-Buddhist-LovingKindness-Meditation.

Jhana: Guided Visualization (video)

(Freedombeyon) Help on the road to meditative absorption (jhana) with the voice of Jon Kabat-Zinn: a guided meditation corresponding to the first two stages of Ajahn Brahm's meditation technique:

1. Letting go of past and future, placing attention on the body
2. Letting go of inner-chatter, placing attention on sounds
3. Letting go of diversity, placing attention on the breath only

• meditation-technique.org

Buddhist Meditation (Google Talks)

(AtGoogleTalks) The book Focused and Fearless speaks to ordinary meditators who wish to attain non-ordinary states with ease. It offers a creative and contemporary slant to Buddhism's ancient path of happiness and wisdom. Blended with contemporary examples, pragmatic exercises, and how-to instructions anyone can try, this book provides a wealth of tools to cultivate non-distracted attention in daily life and retreat.

Author and speaker Shaila Catherine is the founder of Insight Meditation South Bay based in Mountain View, California. She has been practicing meditation since 1980, with seven years of accumulated silent retreat experience. She has been teaching since 1996 in the USA, India, Israel, England, and New Zealand.

Shaila studied at the Sharpham College for Buddhist Studies in England and dedicated six years to studying with masters in India, Nepal, and Thailand. Her current focus is the development of concentration and the deep states of absorption (jhana) with the world's foremost living meditation master, Pa Auk Sayadaw.

• Teen Mt. Everest climber having a great time
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• Scottish police believed in Loch Ness Monster

Yogaglo (L.A. and Beyond)

Click to enlarge. The concept of Yogaglo is to film classes and make them available online to extend the reach of yoga beyond the studio -- a new frontier in yoga instruction.

• VIDEO: Yogaglo.com
• BLOG: Yogaglo.com
• PARTNER: L.A. Yoga Magazine

Negative Feelings: Solution

Tapping.com

The "Emotional Freedom Technique" (EFT) is a simple acupressure technique for releasing negative feelings.

Negative feelings are felt in the body, so one must go to the body to work on or through them.

Negative feelings can be released right now with this video. Tapping can be used to easily clear the chakras (energy centers in the body). This is a very fast, reliable, and easy-to-learn method for clearing chakras inspired by Nicola Quinn.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: How hard should I tap?
A: Tap lightly, just enough to feel it. The purpose of tapping is to bring attention to different parts of the body. It actually works if one just imagines tapping -- as long as attention is drawn to the right points.

Q: How can I be sure I am finding the right points?
A: Use two fingers to make sure the points are covered. Sometimes the point will "feel" right, as if there were a slight indentation on the skin or the point is particularly sensitive. Since it's all connected, one needn't be 100% accurate.

Q: You've missed points Gary Craig teaches!
A: Yes. Feel free to tap those too. I left them out to keep the videos simple, and it seems to work fine without them. If you find this video doesn't work for you, try tapping the additional points -- around the top-middle of the head and just under the armpit.

Q: Is the sequence important?
A: No. The points can be tapped in any order. In fact, one need only tap one or two of the points for each particular feeling. It's just that one has no easy way of knowing which point that is. So one may as well tap them all.

Q: I am a skeptic! / You are a charlatan!
A: Thanks. Tapping is perfectly explainable scientifically. But it goes beyond most people's understanding. It really does work though. The best way to prove it to yourself is to try it and watch negative feelings disappear.

• For more information, see introductory video which explains a bit more.
• This video shows use of an electro-acupuncture pen to show that the tapping points have a different electrical resistance to other parts of the body.
• See Tapping.com for more Emotional Freedom Technique videos, EFT articles, and E-Book.

Job woes getting you down? See the Unemploymentality.com blog.