Category Archives: meditation

garbage

Posted on 4/6/2009 by Tim

Biking home in the wind, I decided to be more mindful and concentrate on details. The wind pushing against my face was the overbearing sensation, but I concentrated on what I could notice about the wind and besides the wind. … Continue reading →

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insane wind

Posted on 3/23/2009 by Tim

The wind was whipping shitty bits this morning. I hated it for a while. While pedaling along, I remembered something that was said at the meditation lecture last night: “Try forcing yourself to think the thought that you are suffering … Continue reading →

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bicycle rehab

Posted on 3/16/2009 by Tim

I’ve been fixing a severely disabled bicycle. It needed several parts including a seat, chain, brake cables, bottom bracket, and repacked hubs. I inherited a seat from a friend (thanks Mark!) and splurged on a new sealed cartridge bottom bracket … Continue reading →

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Albert Ellis

Posted on 12/19/2008 by Tim

My new hero: Ellis started out as a psychoanalyst, in 1947, but soon decided that exploring his patients’ childhood traumas had “nothing to do with the price of spinach.” By the mid-fifties, he had devised his own method, based on … Continue reading →

Posted in meditation | 11 Comments

right mindfulness

Posted on 11/25/2008 by Tim

this might be the most important thing I’ve ever read: It might be assumed that we are always aware of the present, but this is a mirage. Only seldom do we become aware of the present in the precise way … Continue reading →

Posted in meditation | 14 Comments

The Mind Makes The World

Posted on 11/17/2008 by Tim

I wrote last week about helpful tools for getting rid of unwholesome mind states. The tools require some practice, of course, but they work… except when they don’t. When I wrote those down last week, I didn’t fully understand the … Continue reading →

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Buddhism = a lot of hard work.

Posted on 11/11/2008 by Tim

The lecture last night at common ground was about Right Effort. Buddhist teaching comes suspiciously well suited for bulleted lists in a blog. It was passed on orally for many generations and lists were easier to remember. They didn’t write … Continue reading →

Posted in General, meditation | 4 Comments

a bit of a sit.

Posted on 10/30/2008 by Tim

I stopped by for the weekly talk/sit at Common Ground for the first time in about a year. It was well worth it. A good meditation session followed by a great lecture. There were about 80 people crammed into that … Continue reading →

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A tempting shortcut.

Posted on 6/1/2008 by Tim

Revelation from the New York Times: Left-brain injuries don’t necessarily lead to blissful enlightenment; That is from a fascinating article about Jill Taylor, a woman who had a stroke that blew away her ego. and left her, after a long … Continue reading →

Posted in health, meditation, religion, science | 8 Comments

Time Travel Blues

Posted on 2/15/2008 by Tim

If I concentrate really hard, I can travel back to some pivotal time in the past when a different word or action would have changed history. If it is dark and if I am half asleep, I can establish two … Continue reading →

Posted in film, meditation, sci-fi, time travel | 10 Comments

dispensers of quirk

Posted on 10/14/2007 by Tim

I could take or leave the greater part of Stranger than Fiction. I enjoyed him playing the guitar for Maggie G. I always enjoy Emma Thompson. One scene really stands out in my memory, though. It is the central scene … Continue reading →

Posted in General, film, meditation | 7 Comments

trail of packed snow

Posted on 2/20/2007 by Tim

I wanted to ride on some trails this weekend. On Saturday morning I biked over to Roseville’s Reservoir Woods. That park is criss-crossed with foot trails of hard packed snow. There were some great thrills on the downhills. My bike … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Minnesota, cycling, meditation, outdoors | 4 Comments

morning of health

Posted on 2/14/2007 by Tim

morning meditation. I woke up super-early and meditated. It went well, for the first time in about a month. I think it was because I stopped trying to apply “rules” to everything and instead just sat there and watched. Too … Continue reading →

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a laugh at the expense of buddhism.

Posted on 1/30/2007 by Tim

Big Red Buddha made me laugh… several times. It’s kinda like the Onion, except devoted to making fun of Buddhism. I get the impression they are Buddhists themselves. The idea of a Filipino Dalai Lama is exciting to Magdalena Ruíz, … Continue reading →

Posted in General, meditation | 2 Comments

Is Buddhism a scheme for harvesting Christian souls?

Posted on 12/23/2006 by Tim

Before deciding on the diner pictured below, the Common Ground Meditation Center also tried to buy a church in the neighborhood that was being vacated by an evangelical Vietnamese Christian church. The pastor said that under no circumstances would he … Continue reading →

Posted in General, meditation | 8 Comments

Meditation center finds new home

Posted on 12/23/2006 by Tim

What if someone told you that this was the new home of a Buddhist Meditation Center: Well, it is a fact. The Common Ground Meditation center is moving into a hamburger joint. There is reported to be a great deal … Continue reading →

Posted in General, meditation, religion | 6 Comments

Cauliflower Brain

Posted on 12/5/2006 by Tim

I went to the common ground meditation center on Sunday. I learned tonight that they started the Sunday night talks 5 years ago when the war began and it has become so popular that it is now a regular feature … Continue reading →

Posted in General, meditation | 2 Comments

that went by fast

Posted on 11/22/2006 by Tim

I had a great nap in my chair at the meditation center the other night. As soon as I sat down, it was lights out. Even though I slept through the sitting, the visit was made worth while by a … Continue reading →

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4 hours

Posted on 11/6/2006 by Tim

I went on a half-day meditation retreat yesterday. It served to drive home the idea that the whole practice of meditation/Buddhism is really about mindfulness. The other parts, such as relaxation, concentration, speaking and acting “rightly” and not killin’ stuff, … Continue reading →

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static

Posted on 11/3/2006 by Tim

The last two meditation sessions were mostly ruined by restlessness. To be more specific, I was plagued by zillions of tiny, buzzing half-thoughts. In a way, it is good to have this challenge. Instead of striving for that triple-fisted mystical … Continue reading →

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