2012

Early Morning Stress Reduction Inspiration - 9/30/2012
Transcending consciousness, the transmigrant
7 Effective Steps to Taking Action When You Don’t Know What to Do
Have I ever had a meaningful, valuable meditation experience?
Sleep, Anxiety Drugs Linked to Dementia

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 10:00 AM PDT

"Let yourself be open and life will be easier."

~The Buddha

Technorati Tags: Buddha Buddhist Buddhism Meditation Dharma

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Transcending consciousness, the transmigrant

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 08:00 AM PDT

The consciousness of my self, which I take to be this mind-body or psychophysical body (nâmarapa, pañca-skandha), is something that begins with conception.

Consciousness, the transmigrant, which is imbued with the habitual tendencies (samskâra) of its former existence, and is not enlightened (avidya), descends into the embryo (garbha) which then starts the development of the psychophysical body. The embryo, it needs to be added, encloses the whole of the existence that consciousness will face, from leaving its mother's birth canal to its inevitable death.

Incidentally, we learn from the canon (D. ii. 63) that if consciousness were not to descend (P. okkamissatha) into the mother's womb/embryo, the development of the embryo would not be successful.

In the course of many years, as a result of this descent, I come to believe, more and more, that this psychophysical body is mine; that I am this body; that it is my self or âtman. This is almost a vicious circle which then becomes almost impossible to break unless consciousness can become un-fixed from states or footholds (thiti), even including subtle ones like 'Neither-conception-nor-non-conception' which is not yet liberation or nirvana.

All in all, the variable nature of consciousness must be transcended (nirodha) otherwise the attainment of nirvana is not possible and, thus, transmigration of consciousness will continue. An aside about nirodha, in a footnote (164), Pande (Origins of Buddhism, p. 476), briefly gives his justification for translating nirodha with "transcendence." The idea behind it is that nirodha should not be mistaken for a kind of annihilation. We are not trying to annihilate consciousness—just supersede it. We get a clue of such transcendence with the following from the Udana:

"Monks, there is a not-born, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded. Monks, if that unborn, not-become, not-made, not-compounded were not, there would be apparent no escape from this here that is born, become, made, compounded. But since, nonks there is an unborn . . . therefore the escape from this here is born, become . . . is apparent."

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7 Effective Steps to Taking Action When You Don’t Know What to Do

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 07:00 AM PDT

What do you do when you feel like taking action, but don't know what you should do, how you should do it, or where you should start?

If you're like most people, you might just give up in frustration, while cursing some unknown entity.

That's a normal response to have when you're frustrated, but it isn't helpful if you want to create a life that fulfills you.

That's why, in this article, we'll take a look at how you can take action.

Even when you don't know what to do.

The process is quite simple. But it requires some internal inspection.

1. Your Destination

The first question you have to ask yourself is: What do you want to accomplish?

Where do you want to go? What is your ultimate goal?

It's easy to lose track of where you're going when you've been working on something for a long time.

For example, as I'm building my online business, it's still easy for me to lose track of the fact that what I truly enjoy doing is helping people dramatically increase the freedom in their lives.

And I do this by creating products, services, and writing articles online. It always helps when I remind myself where I'm going and what I want to accomplish.

2. Your Knowledge

The next question is: What do you know?

You may be surprised to find that most of the time you already know what you need to know in order to take action.

The only thing standing between you and results is your own mind. Most people are their own worst enemies. They analyze something until they start to doubt themselves.

Don't let this be you.

Look at where you want to go. And what you already know. If you don't n! eed to know more, you can jump to step #4 below.

3. Your Gaps

The next step is to look at where you have gaps in knowledge. In other words, what do you need to learn in order to take action?

Many people become overwhelmed with all the information out there. But what they don't realize is that this becomes much easier when you set a goal and focus on what you want to achieve.

For example, setting a goal of building an online business is very vague. It will cause you to feel overwhelmed when search for information.

On the other hand, if you start by looking at how you can get a WordPress blog up and running, you will have a much easier time finding actionable information.

So before you start looking for new information, make sure you know what you need and why you need it.

4. Your Obstacles

There will always be obstacles on your path. Expect them.

Every successful entrepreneur has faced many obstacles. And they've failed over and over again.

The problem isn't failure. It's how you perceive it. Most people think mistakes are bad, but the opposite is true.

Mistakes are stepping stones to success.

If you never made mistakes, and if you never failed, you would never learn and discover what truly works.

Identify the obstacles on your path to achieving your goal. And start brainstorming how you can overcome them even before they happen.

This will help you relax. You'll realize that you are capable of solving problems. You are capable of overcoming the biggest of obstacles on your path.

5. Your Next Small Step

What helps me is thinking about the next smallest step I can take.

For example, if you wanted to find your passion in life, the first step is to brainstorm what you're passionat! e about.
Constantly focus on what you can do next. The circumstances won't be perfect in most of the steps you take. The important part is to take action.

You have to be willing to move forward despite the excuses your mind throws at you.

Without forward momentum, you will never learn. You will never end up where you want to be.

6. Your Fears

A very common myth is that if you just find your passion, you will become fearless and everything will fall into place.

And that's wrong.

Once you find something you enjoy, you may become even more afraid, because now you're playing high-stakes.

Now you're doing something that actually matters to you.

However, fear shouldn't be avoided. It shows you where you have room to grow. Push yourself out of your comfort zone regularly and you will go far.

The most successful people have the biggest comfort zones. They constantly push themselves and embrace uncertainty.

The more willing you are to face your fears, the faster your progress will be. And the easier it will be to take action, even when you don't know what to do.

7. Your Determination

Last but definitely not least is your determination.

When you're determined to succeed or create the life of your dreams, nothing can stand in your way.

But you have to commit to it.

There will be times when you're feeling down. It's normal to take a break now and then. And it's normal to be confused, overwhelmed, and uncertain, especially when you're learning something new.

Become comfortable with stepping out of your comfort zone, because that is where real growth happens.

You see, you don't have to know what to do in order to take action.

You just have to have a general direction and take the next step.

It's not always going to be c! omfortabl! e, but it's going to be worth it.

Written on 9/30/2012 by Henri Junttila. Henri is a freelance writer and the founder of Wake Up Cloud, where he helps people turn their passion into a thriving lifestyle business. When you feel ready to take action, grab his free special report.

Photo Credit:
Ed Callow

Do you have a bucket list? Here are 101 things to do before you die. Includes a tutorial on how you can create your bucket list too!

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Have I ever had a meaningful, valuable meditation experience?

Posted: 29 Sep 2012 06:00 PM PDT

Yesterday Jesse left a comment on this post which asked me:

May I ask if you ever had a subjective experience in meditation that you found to be meaningful or that revealed something of value to you, personally? Not necessarily a RS [Radha Soami Satsang Beas] meditation or any specific lights or sounds but just something that left you in a state of deeper self reverence or lasting tranquility.

Good question. Not an easy question to answer. It's a question that got me thinking more about the question than a possible answer.

Meaning, after pondering for a bit how I might respond to Jesse, I realized that it wasn't as simple as that, because what he asked threw me into a frame of mind outside of straightforward question-response.

Mobius strip

I felt like his comment was a mobius strip which led somewhere -- yet also nowhere.

Thus all I can do is offer up some observations which are similar: ideas that strike me as lying on the mobius strip that is Jesse's question, but which, if laid end to end, don't point anywhere particular.

While perusing my Twitter feed a while ago I came across a link with an intriguing title: "8 Great Philosophical Problems That We'll Never Solve." Each of the eight bears some relevance (and also irrelevance) to my mobius strip answering.

This excerpt from Can you really experience anything objectively? appealed to me.

Another way of saying all this is that the universe can only be observed through a brain (or potentially a machine mind), and by virtue of that, can only be interpreted subjectively. But given that the universe appears to be coherent and (somewhat) knowable, should we continue to assume that its true objective quality can never be observed or known? It's worth noting that much of Buddhist philosophy is predicated on this fundamental limitation (what they call emptiness), and a complete antithesis to Plato's idealism.

Emptiness.

I've blogged about this notion in several recent posts. Emptiness, Buddhist variety, is all about how things exist, including experiences, not about what things exist. So what's truly meaningful, and this makes sense to me, isn't a particular thing, such as a particular experience, but an insight into the nature of how all things exist.

Interdependently. Through consciousness. Thoughts without a thinker. Actions without an actor. Creations without a creator.

Grokking that, wow.

I've had some wow's in my life. Don't know if they were/are genuine emptiness wow's. Since emptiness isn't more of a thing than anything else (emptiness is empty, say Buddhists), I suppose "genuine" doesn't apply here.

My wife and I don't travel far afield very much. We detest long airplane flights. Also, being away from our dogs for very long. So we've never been to Paris, Glacier National Park, the Caribbean, lots of places friends and relatives have been.

Thus we're short on seeing-the-world experiences. But we're always seeing something. Just like the folks who go on cruises, tour Europe, trek the Himalayas, and such do. We enjoy what we see. So do they, from what I've heard.

Each to his/her own, when it comes to experiences. Inner or outer. I've never had an experience, inner or outer, which has deeply changed me. I've never known anyone else who has been deeply changed by an experience.

But maybe I have my own understanding of "deeply changed."

I've become (and maybe always have been) a first there is a mountain, then there isn't, then there is sort of guy. I don't believe in deeply changed. I don't believe in enlightenment. I don't believe in supernatural divinity, in becoming god-realized, in changing into someone more than human.

I do believe, provisionally, vaguely, uncertainly, in the possibility of us Homo sapiens being capable of sapien'ing the world in a radically fresh fashion. My psychedelic experiences back in the '60s (decade, not my age) showed me that consciousness can have its channel changed, so to speak, with the flip of a neurological button.

Same world. Fresh way of looking upon it. My fascination with Buddhist/Taoist emptiness relates to this.

Some of my most meaningful experiences, the ones that stick in my mind as wow-like, have been seemingly utterly mundane. Much of Zen strikes me as bullshit. The emphasis upon simply chopping wood and carrying water, wisdom.

Jesse asked about "lasting tranquility."

Not sure if I'd recognize this if it hit me over the head (which admittedly doesn't sound very tranquil). After all, something lasting isn't very observable. If it is unchanging, like gravity, I just take it for granted, because it's always been with me, or part of me.

So the way it looks to me on the part of the mobius strip that I'm focused on now, it's the most unmemorable experiences I've had -- both in and out of "formal" sitting meditation -- which have meant the most to me.

Saying anymore probably takes me away from from what I'm trying to say. But hey, since we're on a mobius strip, taking a step anywhere leads back to the same place, so what the hell? Words are cheap. My laptop charges me nothing for every keystroke.

In my current churchless state I feel like nothing is important, and everything is. No experience is special, and every experience is. It all depends on how, not what. You know, that amorphous quality stuff talked about in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."

Which stimulated a Google search that led me to a not-bad You Tube video which seems to be a decent way to end this post. It's got some spelling errors, but who knows -- those could be the key to understanding quality.

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Sleep, Anxiety Drugs Linked to Dementia

Posted: 29 Sep 2012 02:00 PM PDT

CREDIT: Dreamstime

Older adults taking psychiatric medications, such as Valium or Xanax, may be at increased risk of dementia, a new French study suggests.

In the reports, adults older than 65 who took drugs known as benzodiazepines were 50 percent more likely to develop dementia over a 15-year period, compared with those who did not take the drugs.

Benzodiazepines are widely prescribed medications, used to treat symptoms of anxiety and sleep disorders.

The study findings held true even when taking into account other factors that may affect people's dementia risk, such as age, gender, diabetes and early signs of dementia. The researchers also accounted for some factors that lead people to start taking benzodiazepines in the first place.

Researchers caution that the study only found an association between the drugs and dementia, and not a direct cause-and-effect link.

However, the findings agree with those of several earlier studies looking at the link between benzodiazepines and dementia. Use of the medications has also been tied to other serious events in older adults, such as falls.

"Considering the extent to which benzodiazepines are prescribed and the number of potential adverse effects of this drug class in the general population, [their] indiscriminate, widespread use should be cautioned against," the researchers said.

Whenever possible, use of the drugs should be limited to just a few weeks, the researchers said. Currently, despite evidence that the drugs work only over short periods, many people take them for years.

The study followed about 1,000 older adults living in France who, at the study's start, did not have dementia and were not taking benzodiazepines. Over the first five years of the analysis, 95 participants started taking benzodiazepines.

Fifteen years later, 253 cases of dementia were confirmed — 30 in benzodiazepine users and 223 in non-users. That puts the yearly rate of dementia among those taking benzodiazepines at 4.8 cases per 100 people, compared with 3.2 cases per 100 people in those who did not take the drugs.

The researchers noted that, in determining dementia risk, they were able to account for the possible effects of depression, which is associated with the development of dementia. However they were not able to determine whether anxiety and or sleep disorders, which may be early signs of dementia, played a role a in the results.

Future research should examine whether use of the drugs is linked to dementia in younger people, and whether the drug dosage affects the risk, the researchers said.

The study is published today (Sept. 28) in the British Medical Journal.

Pass it on: Use of drugs called benzodiazepines is linked with an increased risk of dementia in older people.

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