Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche featured in new documentary

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche featured in new documentary
How to Define a Bulletproof Work-at-Home Mindset
Sleep Like a Baby
Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/17/2012
Self knowledge vs empirical verification
Sam Harris' recommended reading: good list of books

Posted: 17 Sep 2012 01:00 PM PDT

Stephen Pedersen, Chronicle Herald: What is uncommon about Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the king who is the subject of Johanna J. Lunn's 72-minute documentary, An Uncommon King, is that he is a chogyal, an earth protector, a king of the dharma, a lineage holder, protector of the Shambhala teachings, which focus on secular meditation fostering enlightened society.

Those teachings and that story are part of Nova Scotia history, ever since the Sakyong's father, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, moved his international headquarters from Colorado to Halifax.

It took Lunn three years to tell the story.

"About five years ago," Lunn said in a recent interview, "a …

Read the original article »

Read More @ Source

How to Define a Bulletproof Work-at-Home Mindset

Posted: 17 Sep 2012 12:00 PM PDT

Working from home isn't all it's cracked up to be.

You are sitting at a kitchen table and you are staring outside the window with your eyes glazed over. You keep thinking about all of those exciting promises that you learned by reading sales letters, e-books and other things from "work-at-home" gurus: you could be working on your pajamas only two hours per day while collecting big checks, one after another.

Then the reality struck.

You didn't realize how much different the work-from-home experience would be and in fact, you don't think that you can handle it any longer: procrastination is now your "friend" and the environment full of distraction is not motivating you to do your work either.

All these things make you disappointed and frustrated, sometimes even angry, because working from home was completely different than what you thought it would be.

Collision between dreams and reality
When you experience symptoms like this, it is a clear sign of misunderstanding about what working from home is really like: it's real work and without any effort, you are not going to get any results. The discipline is on a different level than in a regular job. Since there isn't anyone telling you what to do, nor is there anyone looking over your shoulder, you are accountable towards yourself. If the self-accountability is missing, then there is a high risk for procrastination. And, as we all know, procrastination is a "killer" when it comes to your home office career.

There is also the planning aspect - or especially the lack of ! it. If you don't set any goals and you haven't defined a structure for your day (what you do and when you do it); then clearly, you are just wandering around and then you are not going to be very effective in what you are doing. Eventually you get frustrated because of the lack of progress and you keep doing a lot of unnecessary work which burns you out.

Finally, working from home provides flexibility, but it also means that you should be flexible too. Especially if you are working from home with a family, then this aspect plays a big role in how successful you are or aren't.

For instance, you may have to change your working plans because of the family matters, sometimes even in the middle of the day. How you handle these unexpected changes is really up-to-you, but one thing is certain: if you aren't flexible in these situations, the more stress it'll generate.

Are you making things harder than what they need to be?
You shouldn't jump ahead and start working from home without any additional research. This research refers to the fact that you should know in advance what it is like to work from home and whether or not you are suitable for working in an environment like this in the first place.

Without any preparation, you are not giving your mind enough time to prepare for the change in your working conditions, thus the reality could be much rockier than what you had believed. Also, failing to understand what working from home is really like, that it is another job, is another point for confusion.

Sure, there is the flexibility part that working like this provides, but still, working from home is like any other job and if you aren't slacking in a "regular" day job, so why are you slacking now?

Without any work, there isn't going to be any cash flow in your business and if you fail to understand this, then you should apply for a "regular" job again.

It's time to become bulletproof
To fix the issues I have talked earlier, I'll introduce the Work-at-Home Bulletproof Mindset. This mindset consists of different areas, which address the different aspects of working from home:

Interest: Don't jump into your work-at-home job without preparation. Instead, learn more about what is coming in advance.
Flexibility: How to get work done even if your schedules may change in the middle of the working day and how to handle these changes
Appreciation: Appreciate the fact that you can work from home.
Planning and structure: Set your goals and define a daily structure for your work.
Organizing: Keep your workplace organized.
Outsourcing: Let go of work you shouldn't be doing by outsourcing it.
Boundaries and balance: Define boundaries between your work and family and balance the work time and family time
Systems: Systematize everything, so that you are not wasting your time on unessential work

With these components, you daily work-at-home life will be much different than before and you'll feel proud of yourself for getting the work done.

Conclusion
As you can now understand, working from home is much more than working in your pajamas an hour here or an hour there. It's real work and the same principles apply to it as to any other work. However, as soon you develop a bulletproof work at home mindset, you working days become easier and more productive. In fact, you enjoy your daily work even more this way.

Over to you: Do you think that working from home requires a certain mindset? What things make your working from home successful?

Written on 9/17/2012 by Timo Kian! der. Tim! o, a.k.a. Productive Superdad, teaches WAHD superdad productivity for work at home dads. If you want to get more productive in your own life, grab 222 of his best Tips for Becoming a Productivity Superstar.

Photo Credit: Plutor

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!

Read More @ Source

Sleep Like a Baby

Posted: 17 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Problems sleeping can be a major drag on happiness — if you can't sleep well, you can't function as well during the day.

Today a reader asked, "I want to spend less time rolling in the bed, and more time sleeping. I wanna be a baby again. Help!"

I love the image of being a baby again — in my head, it conjures up not only sleeping peacefully (though in reality many babies don't), but growing magically young again, care-free, without the worries that normally plague us and keep us up at night.

I don't have the magical pill that will make you young again, but I can offer some help with sleep. I've changed my sleeping patterns a number of times, and know that it can be difficult. Sleep is a deep part of the body's rhythms, and it's one of the harder habits to change. That said, it's changeable.

Sleep Problems

Let's take a quick look at some of the problems that keep people rolling around in bed (not in the good way, pervert):

Not tired yet — your sleeping pattern is set so that you usually sleep later, so if you go to bed earlier, you're not tired enough to fall asleep.
Too tired — it's possible to be so exhausted that sleep is difficult. This tends to be a problem less often than "not tired enough" though.
Worries — you've got something spinning around in your head, so the sleep doesn't come. Sometimes it's replaying something that's happened, or things that someone said, and other times it's worrying about something coming up, or planning.
Computers — if you're on your computer (often in bed), you might be tired but have a hard time sleeping because your mind isn't unwinding.

There are other issues, but I've found these to be the most common. Let's look at how to help with them.

Formula for Becoming a Baby

So how do we solve the problems above and become baby-like in our sleep? I don't have all the answers, but here are some of the things that have worked for me:

Exercise. A good hard workout or run, bike or swim will get you nice and tired. A good yoga workout is a wonderful way to do that, as you learn mindfulness at the same time. Even if the workout is early in the day, I often go to bed with a tired body, and look forward to the rest. Don't workout right before bed though.
Get up early. You can get your body to shift its sleeping schedule by slowly getting up earlier. Try 15 minutes earlier than normal for a week, then another 15 minutes. If you get up earlier, you'll be a bit tired during the day, and when it comes time to go to sleep, you'll enjoy the rest.
Establish a bedtime ritual. It takes time to unwind the body and mind. At least an hour before bedtime, start slowing down. Turn off the computer. Floss & brush your teeth. Put away things you were using in the evening. Lay down and read a book (not on your laptop). This kind of ritual helps establish in your mind that it's time to sleep, and your body takes this cue and begins to prepare itself.
Keep your room only for sleeping. Don't eat, watch TV, use your computer, or do other kinds of activities in your room (OK, perv, just one other activity is OK). Keep those activities in the living and dining rooms, so that when you go to bed, there's just one thing to do. Be sure to make the room dark when you go to sleep too — your body reacts to light.
Focus your attention. Once you've done your bedtime ritual and unwound, and your body is nice and tired, you need to quiet the mind. My trick for doing that: close your eyes, and visualize what you did first thing today. That might be opening your eyes and getting out of bed. Then visualize the second thing you did — let's say you peed and washed your face, or drank a glass of water. Then you started the coffee but first had to grind the beans. Visualize these tiny steps in detail. I never get past the first hour before I'm asleep.
Change slowly. Be patient with sleeping changes — they are difficult, because when we are tired, our mind doesn't have the discipline to stick to changes. Our body and mind want to do what they're used to doing. But if you change a little at a time, and forgive yourself for "messing up" (there's no messing up, actually), then you can make changes.

I hope this helps. I will admit that I don't always sleep soundly — sometimes I have trouble sleeping, but when I use these methods, I can usually cure the sleeping problems.

Sleep is a blessing that I wish on all my friends, all of you included. It's a much-needed rest that helps us to be truly awake once the glorious new day has come.

Read More @ Source

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/17/2012

Posted: 17 Sep 2012 07:00 AM PDT

"In the end it is nothing other than the loving kindness with which the woman cares for her child that makes the difference. Her concern concentrates on one thing just like the Buddhist practice of concentration. She thinks of nothing but her child, which is similar to Buddhist compassion. That must be why, although she created no other causes to bring about it, she was reborn in the Brahma heaven."

~The Buddha

Technorati Tags: Buddha Buddhist Buddhism Meditation Dharma

Read More @ Source

Self knowledge vs empirical verification

Posted: 17 Sep 2012 06:00 AM PDT

Whatever the Buddha taught came from self knowledge (attanâ va jâneyyâtha) or personal higher knowledge (sâmam yea dhammam abhiññâya). In this regard, we are not asked to believe in a special creed. We are invited by the Buddha to share in his experience. The Buddha said:

"Well explained has been the Dhamma by the Blessed One, the Dhamma that bears fruit here and now, not subject to time [for results], that invites every man to come and see for himself, leading to the highest good, to be experienced by the wise in their very self (paccattam veditabbo viññûhi)" (M. i. 265).

Western Zen Buddhism can't help but see the above as an ancient species of modern empirical verification or the same, verificationism. But nowhere does the Buddha say that his knowledge is based upon sensory evidence which is at the heart of modern empirical verification. In fact, the modern principle of verification excludes personal knowledge or personal higher knowledge.

"According to the 'Verification Principle' we must exclude from language all propositions which cannot, at any rate in principle, be verified by sense experience--by what is seen, heard, touched, tasted and smelt. Restrict ourselves to propositions of sense experience and all will be well" (Ian T. Ramsey, Religious Language: An Empirical Placing of Theological Phrases, ed. Alasdair MacIntyre and Ronald Gregor Smith, 12).

When we look into the canon of Buddhism, the words of the Buddha resist being empirically verified as to their truth or falsity. This is because the knowledge the Buddha attained went beyond the nets of the sensory.

When we read the following from the Sutta-Nipata, we have to keep in mind that the Buddha is coming from his own personal knowledge—not empirical verification.

"The old is destroyed, the new is not arising. [Those whose minds are disgusted with future existence, their seeds (of rebirth) have been destroyed (and) they have no desire for growth.] The wise are quenched like this lamp. This outstanding jewel too is in the Order; by this truth may there be well-being" (235).

If we wish to know this for ourselves, the Buddha invites us "to come and see" (ehipassika) and experience the knowledge he experienced in our very self. This is not a call to a belief or a dogma; nor is it a call to empirical verification.

It is regrettable that Western Zen Buddhisms are skeptical about rebirth (punarbhava). We might conclude from this that they do not understand rebirth from personal knowledge but are skeptical of it based on empirical verification. Ironically, the instrument of their verification are the Five Aggregates from which no self knowledge can possibly come.

Read More @ Source

Sam Harris' recommended reading: good list of books

Posted: 16 Sep 2012 07:00 PM PDT

Amazon is happy. So is VISA. Having recently subscribed to Sam Harris' email list, today I got a message plugging his recommended reading list -- which includes suggestions from readers of his books.

Harris often is billed as a "new atheist." However, I see him more as a "spiritual but not religious" sort of guy, where spiritual doesn't mean anything supernatural. More like mindfulness, or making best use of human potential.

Along that line, I just ordered a few books in his Eastern Philosophy and Meditation category that appealed to me: "Mindfulness in Plain English" and "Introduction to Emptiness."

Have a look yourself. These are books for people who aren't attracted to traditional religions, yet seek something more... with the something diffusely defined.

Read More @ Source