enlightenment

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”. […]

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intro – 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

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1- 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

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3- 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.

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4- 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

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5- 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

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6- 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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The Start of 2020

Our business was doing great, but we still couldn’t afford to buy a house or a condo. Renting in Maui for another 30 years was not an option we wanted to take. Then, Bobbie Jo suggested we buy a sailboat that is comfortable to cruise and live in. By the end of January, we started looking for our new home.

After a long search, we found our dream boat in Mazatlan, Mexico. COVID-19 was not yet a concern when our boat hunt began, but masks were starting to appear at airports by the time we flew to Mazatlan. Originally, we had planned to get the boat ready as fast as possible to cover a full calendar for the busy wedding season. However, it was apparent our business was going to tank amid the pandemic, and the struggle went on until the end of the year.

Luckily, we scored an awesome condo for only $19 a day at Mazatlan. On the 10th day of our stay, we received the news that all harbors will be closed the next Monday morning. We thought we’d be stuck in Mexico longer, but another sailor advised us to leave before sunrise.

We felt the adrenalin of escaping the Mexican harbor master just before the sun rose that faithful day. The seas were rough as waves were building up in the tight channel that led us to the open ocean. We ended up anchored off an adorable little isle just a mile offshore. We enjoyed cruising to many spectacular anchorages and cute villages on our way to Puerto Vallarta, where we would depart for Maui on May 7. On May 30, 2020, we completed our 24-day passage from Mexico to Maui.