Posts by Maui Marrying Man
The Fallacy of Unconditional Love
Anyone inspired to take a Journey along a Spiritual Path, Will naturally want to express ‘Unconditional Love’. Years ago when learning Dzogchen it was recommended that one should always dedicate each meditation to the well-being of others. This sounded fine, as I don’t resonate with emotionally offering praise and adornments to a metaphorically created “Deity”.…
Read MoreThe Conundrums of Worship and Petitionary Prayer
In most religions, it is expected that one expresses their devotion by strongly and emotionally offering endless prayers of praise and admiration. In the Hindu, Buddhist and Tibetan Bon traditions, their form of devotional prayer is called Bhakti or Bhatti. While a bit of this is helpful to get the aspirant to get in the…
Read Moreintro – The Meaning of Spirituality
Spirituality is: The quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul, or what could be considered our True Nature as discovered through an in-depth practice of “Self-Realization” as opposed to the desire, clinging and attachment to material or physical things. Thus a Spiritual practice will lead to our True Nature of Happiness that…
Read More1- MEDITATION : THE SCIENCE AND ART OF LIVING
Meditation is a science, the systematic process of training the mind. It is the science of meditation that allows people from all walks of life to experience the same amazing benefits. A regular sitting practice has been shown to enhance concentration, lower blood pressure, and improve sleep. It is used to treat chronic pain, post…
Read More2- An Overview of the Ten Stages
With a more detailed focus on the first Thee stages along with the elements required to master them. At every Stage, all “ you ” really do is patiently and persistently hold intentions to respond in specific ways to whatever happens during your meditation. Setting and holding the right intentions is what’s essential. If your…
Read More3- Conscious Experience and the Objectives of Meditation
A MODEL OF CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE Consciousness consists of whatever we’re experiencing in the moment. It’s a lot like vision: just as the objects in our field of vision change from one moment to the next, objects in our field of conscious awareness, like sights, sounds, smells, and other external phenomena, also arise and pass away.…
Read More4- HOW TO BEGIN YOUR MEDITATION PRACTICE
Stage One: Establishing a Practice The basic practice used in this book is quite simple. Direct your attention toward a well – defined meditation object. Whenever your attentions slips, redirect it back to that object. Repeat this as often as needed. Rather than jump right in, though, you’ll start with two preliminary practices to help…
Read More5- The Hindrances and Problems
THE FIVE HINDRANCES We can trace almost every problem in meditation to one or more of five innate and universal psychological predispositions, known as the Five Hindrances: Worldly Desire, Aversion, Laziness and Lethargy, Agitation Due to Worry and Remorse, and Doubt. They’re called hindrances because they hinder efforts at meditating and create all kinds of…
Read MoreSpirituality Is An Inherent Part Of Our Human Nature
There is an inherent part of our human nature that feels a strong sense of wanting to belong to something that is bigger than life typically reveals to us. Also, it is hard wired into our DNA to always be mindful of our survival and the ever continued-ness of our species… so, being concerned with…
Read More6- Interrupted Attention and Overcoming Mind-Wandering
Stage Two: Interrupted Attention and Overcoming Mind-Wandering You will learn to work smart, not hard, using finesse, patience, and positive reinforcement rather than willpower. Keeping your attention on the breath may seem like a simple task, but you’ll quickly discover how challenging it can be. Most novice meditators are surprised by how unruly the mind…
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