Meditation Archive

Check Out Jay Allen’s Blog

June 28, 2006 · Category: Buddhism, Integral, Intellectual, Meditation, Mindfulness, Objectivism

I recently discovered the bloggings of another Rand-influenced meditator, Jay Andrew Allen. Yes -- for those of you who remember -- this is the same Jay Allen that was a spirited defender of Leonard Peikoff from back in the day on alt.philosophy.objectivism. Jay tells me that he doesn't consider himself an Objectivist anymore, and I'm hoping to hear more of his thoughts on that subject at some point soon. In the interim, I've been greatly enjoying the diversity and incisiveness of his writings. You can find his old blog at jayandrewallen.com, but today he's blogging much more actively on his Zaadz blog, the ...

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Meditation and Chronic Pain

June 2, 2006 · Category: Buddhism, Eckhart Tolle, Health, Meditation, Mindfulness

A new friend has pointed me to a conversation on his blog about meditation and chronic pain. He invited me to comment since he knows I've got some experience with the topic. The original questioner asks: How do you deal with Chronic Severe Pain? It takes energy to have patience, and long term agonizing pain disrupts the spirit, makes meditation impossible, sends shock waves through the whole body constantly, relaxation cannot happen. Enlighten me. For help in this area, I highly recommend the book Break Through Pain by Shinzen Young. It is the best book I've read on the subject. I can relate ...

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Maybe PT-141 Will Take Me Into the Now

April 23, 2006 · Category: Eckhart Tolle, Health, Meditation

The Guardian has an fascinating article about a new drug, an inhaler called PT-141, that stimulates sexual desire in women as well as men. The article explores some interesting dynamics at the intersection of sex, health, and pharmacology. Here's one apropos bit: 'I see a lot of couples in my practice who don't know how to relax,' says Leonore Tiefer, a professor of psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine. 'That's fine - it's a big asset to them in their corporate lifestyle, where they can work 80 hours a week. They're trained to multi-task. Well, it doesn't seem that that is ...

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Meditation Associated with Increased Grey Matter in the Brain

November 10, 2005 · Category: Health, Meditation

Here's a fascinating new press release from Yale University: New Haven, Conn.-Meditation is known to alter resting brain patterns, suggesting long lasting brain changes, but a new study by researchers from Yale, Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows meditation also is associated with increased cortical thickness. The structural changes were found in areas of the brain that are important for sensory, cognitive and emotional processing, the researchers report in the November issue of NeuroReport. Although the study included only 20 participants, all with extensive training in Buddhist Insight meditation, the results are significant, said Jeremy Gray, assistant professor ...

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On Lovingkindness and Happiness

July 5, 2005 · Category: Buddhism, Meditation, Mindfulness, Mudita Forum, Personal

Mudita Forum has begun a chapter-by-chapter discussion of Sharon Salzberg's book Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, which discusses the Buddhist practice of lovingkindness (or metta, in Pali). Below is a posting I wrote on the subject, in response to Damian's question "Has anyone else had experience with metta meditation that they'd care to share?" I should mention that I'm somewhat reluctant to post this topic on my blog. I expect that some Objectivists will be repulsed. And that's a downright shame, in my mind, as lovingkindness meditation one of the most concrete examples I've found of a technology for ...

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More on the Health Benefits of Mindfulness

September 29, 2004 · Category: Health, Meditation, Mindfulness

I've been pointing people to Ruth Baer's (2003) meta-analysis of the benefits of mindfulness (available in crystal-clear PDF format on David Fresco's web site) for some time, as an excellent introduction to and overview of the current mindfulness research. Today, via Marshall (via Drew), I learned about a new meta-analysis that is in publication in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, exploring the health benefits of mindfulness: J Psychosom Res. 2004 Jul;57(1):35-43. Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits. A meta-analysis. Grossman P, Niemann L, Schmidt S, Walach H. Freiburg Institute for Mindfulness Research, Konradstr. 32, 79100 Freiburg, Germany. OBJECTIVE: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a structured group ...

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Does Meditation Change Your Philosophy?

April 9, 2004 · Category: Buddhism, Meditation, Mindfulness

Just posted this to Mudita Forum.... In response to Mike Enright: When I started my interest in buddhism I was told that if I meditated regularly I would eventually take on the buddhist philosophical positions. This came about because I was very interested in debating and understanding buddhist ideas say on the self and karma. My basic state of mind was that there was a lot to be said for some of these ideas (i.e. they desirved attention), but also that many of the statements of buddhists were too bizarre to really understand. The response was that the guy could go ...

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Meditation for High School Students

April 2, 2004 · Category: Meditation, Mindfulness

I've long been interested in the prospect of teaching meditation to high school students, so I especially appreciate that Marshall forwarded this article: A study by the Medical College of Georgia found that two 15-minute meditation sessions each day - once at home, the other at school - helped teenage students lower their blood pressure over four months. Their blood pressure even continued to drop for four months after the meditation sessions ended, researchers said Friday. One high school senior who benefited from the study was Nick Fitts. Fitts had a lot on his mind going into the research - two jobs, ...

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Developing Concentration During Meditation

March 26, 2004 · Category: Buddhism, Meditation

Below is what I regard as one of my best postings to Mudita Forum, from May of last year. Thanks to Marshall for prompting me to post it here.... Andrew's question, below, about giving up control in exchange for awareness, really gets at the heart of how to develop concentration during meditation. This is a topic that I struggled with for years, and it is only in recent months that I discovered a different way to skin the proverbial cat. Below I do my best to explain what I know on the subject. I had written the following about ...

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On the Motivation to Meditate

January 27, 2004 · Category: Eckhart Tolle, Meditation, Mindfulness

Kirez posts some interesting comments on his experiences with attempting to adopt a more regular meditation practice. Enjoyable reading. My meditation practice is aided greatly by the fact that, when I don't meditate, I feel lousy inside. That, and having discovered the joys of listening to Eckhart Tolle (or simply enjoying, and matching, the presence of his voice) in the car.

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