xavoy

4 ms·

1.
by xavoy 15y ago
That article highlights the need for having a good teacher, and teaching meditation together with ethical guidelines. It also smells very much like someone has something to lose by meditations rising popularity (ie, drug companies pushing t
2.
by xavoy 15y ago
I use the iPhone app called 'Soto Timer' when I'm away. It's free and allows you to configure multiple periods (so you can sit, rest or kinhin, sit, rest or kinhin etc) Sitting every day is most important. There is no substitute for this. A
3.
by xavoy 15y ago
The ability to communicate as we humans do requires the ability to abstract, be removed from reality and ponder over it, so you can articulate your problems to others. The stories in your head are just that, except you haven't verbalized th
4.
by xavoy 15y ago
My pleasure :)
5.
by xavoy 15y ago
Indeed :) I do orientations for friends and occasionally newcomers to the Zendo. I tell them if they can honestly get past five in the first few months they are doing well :) Also, relaxing is good, but the practice is an attentive awarenes
6.
by xavoy 15y ago
Unfortunately (I'm a kindle lover too!) the best books on Zen are either out of print completely or not available digitally :( Here's a couple of good lists thought: http://www.sfzc.org/zc/display.asp?catid=1,5,168&pageid=... http://
7.
by xavoy 15y ago
Western Zen is very western/scientific/rational. Most of the teachers in the lineage I belong to are also psychologists, psychotherapists or counselors (but your teacher is NOT your therapist). Stephen Bachelor has been a Tibetan AND a Zen
8.
by xavoy 15y ago
Totally agree.
9.
by xavoy 15y ago
Not to dis BrainBot, but the only Zazen tracking tool you need is to sit Zazen every day. I can see how competition and seeing your hours tick over might be encouraging to some degree, and if the site encourages people to sit more then it i
10.
by xavoy 15y ago
If you're aiming for enlightenment, you've missed the mark :)
11.
by xavoy 15y ago
Alan Watts is great, but he talks too much. It's interesting, and encouraging for those with an already established practice, but people who are new to meditation need to just sit. It's _very_ tempting to read about Zen and think it is noth
12.
by xavoy 15y ago
I'd say we're half evolved. We have this facility and don't know how to properly control it. It's a byproduct of some other facility (the ability to communicate).
13.
by xavoy 15y ago
Sit in a comfortable position, if possible on a cushion, on the floor, with three solid points of contact (your butt and your knees). Relax. Pay special attention to your shoulders, neck and throat. Straighten your back, let your stomach an
14.
by xavoy 15y ago
Meditation isn't about tuning OUT, it's about tuning IN. Also, it's not 'suppressing' anything, it's just not paying the 'me' thoughts the attention you normally would.
15.
by xavoy 15y ago
Wow there is a lot of misinformation here, especially about Zen. If making beautiful things is encouraging attachment then I guess all of the Zen poets and painters weren't (and aren't) very Zen either. Nor are the architects, florists or w
16.
by xavoy 15y ago
Everyone is bias. Even if you are an Atheist you are bias. You have a cultural bias, a sexual bias, etc etc. Your everyday experiences condition you to react to particular situations in particular ways. Obviously sometimes people have a ves
17.
by xavoy 15y ago
I never said you should respect people's personal beliefs. I said you should respect people, irrespective of their beliefs, out of common decency. Simply for being another human being. And Dawkins carries on like a child when people won't a
18.
by xavoy 15y ago
I _never_ stated that Dawkins and someone who circumcises unwilling females should be compared. I never said all fundamentalists are equal. I used the word fundamentalist liberally, as I have explained elsewhere. The comparison was made bec
19.
by xavoy 15y ago
With compassion and respect. He is an evolutionary biologist, so he should make what he knows about evolutionary biology available. Tell people about it, write books, grant interviews, attend conferences and seminars and host talks about hi
20.
by xavoy 15y ago
The specifics of their views are irrelevant, at their core they are identical. They both believe they know best, and they both believe that it is in everyones best interest that they push their view onto others. The fact that Dawkins is 'ri
21.
by xavoy 15y ago
He is _right_ about evolution, there are no two ways about it and I never said otherwise. If someone tries to tell him that he is wrong about that, he has every right to put them straight. He is, after all, an evolutionary biologist. My pro
22.
by xavoy 15y ago
Earnest, educated, rational. Yes, these words might describe Dawkins, but well-meaning? I agree that indoctrination into a fundamentalist religion probably doesn't give a child the best chance at a happy, well balanced life. I think it is i
23.
by xavoy 15y ago
According to Wikipedia, Fundamentalism is the "strict adherence to specific theological doctrines". According to my dictionary, the definition of theological is "Of or relating to or concerning theology". Atheism, according to Wikipedia aga
24.
by xavoy 15y ago
I'm not a Christian, Muslim or Jew. I don't believe in God. I find it slightly unnerving that there's still religious fundamentalists out there that flatly refuse to accept scientific evidence of evolution and more, and yet... I can't stand
25.
by xavoy 15y ago
To bypass this filter, Google SSH Tunneling. Overseas servers are cheap. This is the beginning of the end. I'm seriously considering moving overseas.
26.
by xavoy 16y ago
For the most part I've actually gotten over this problem. Now I actually get stuff done!
27.
by xavoy 16y ago
If you're forcing anything in meditation, you're doing it wrong. And of course some people will 'react poorly'. For most people it's the first time in their lives they've actually sat down and looked at themselves. This can be shocking. Ign
28.
by xavoy 16y ago
They are called Makyo in Zen (check wiki). They are just another distraction, like any other thought but visual. Just let them go. The bigger a deal you make of them, the harder that will be. Acknowledge them and let them go. As you progres
29.
by xavoy 16y ago
A lot of what I'm selling is not given for free. And the point wasn't my lack of success, but the fact that you said you'd give your money to someone who asked for it. I'm just saying that even if this was true (which, based on what you jus
30.
by xavoy 16y ago
Believe me when I say that you are _by far_ the minority. _By Far_. I run a web site with over 16,000 registered users. They use the web site regularly and I get countless emails from people telling me how much the site has helped them. And

More ›