Category: Uncategorized
Work in Progress (2) — Mental Silence
Over the past few years I have realized that self-observation is a tedious process. For most instances there is no magic involved. It is a painstakingly slow and repetitive endeavour. But if done constantly and with conviction it gradually brings about a whole new perspective to life. There is an innate sense of adventure… Read More »
Work in Progress!
Over the past few years, in almost all the Indian Psychology Workshops that we organize here in Pondicherry, there is one particular topic that remains quite a favourite! We call it the preparation of our personalized toolbox. Unlike the normal mechanical toolbox, this particular one contains psychological tools and techniques that we can apply on… Read More »
Presenting mindfulness in a secular society
Recently, on the online forum MIEN (Mindfulness in Education), there was a very interesting discussion about how to present mindfulness in an appropriate manner in secular classrooms. One of the suggestions was to simply offer it as attention training, and leave aside the frequent references to "compassion" and "loving-kindness meditation," and ultimately to leave aside… Read More »
Yoga Psychology in the Schools
Yoga Psychology In The Schools:
Some Insights from the Indian Tradition
By Don Salmon, PhD Introduction I am presently co-authoring, with Jan Maslow, a book entitled Through the Eyes of Infinity. In the book we will examine and integrate the theories and findings of psychology and other scientific disciplines within a larger yogic perspective. As an… Read More »
Integrating contemplative practices
ESSENCE OF ALL PRACTICE: The intention to open to the presence and action of God/The Dharmadatu/Allah/a well harmonized brain functioning intuitively beyond the small self (ie surrender of the small self to a greater functioning). As Krishna puts it at the end of the Gita, “Abandoning all Dharmas (practices, rules, guidelines) surrender to Me, and… Read More »
Neuroscience and Integral Yoga
John Yates, in his book, "The Mind Illuminated," presents a way of understanding the mind that many have found supportive of their efforts to concentrate in meditation. He’s describing two basic ways our brain has evolved to engage with the world. One is through “selective attention” (SA) – our brain selects out of an infinite… Read More »
Integral Yoga and the Buddhist Stages of the Path
I was just studying John Yates’ (also known as Culadasa) marvelous book on the “stages of the path” in traditional Buddhism (the book is ‘The Mind Illuminated”). Jan and I have been looking at it, as it has a number of suggestions we will be incorporating into our meditation e-course that we're developing. I suddenly… Read More »
Some reflections on mindfulness
(Jan and I just came back from a meditation retreat. On the retreat, someone we met asked for some links to websites that would provide information on scientific research on the benefits of mindfulness practice. I suppose, being on a retreat with a (relatively) clear mind, something was sparked in me and I ended up… Read More »
Detaching from a situation while in it
By Prema Sankar All of us have our issues or disagreements with certain people or situations, which we address as our “problems”. How much so ever we try to run away from these “problems”, they eventually hit us and hit us hard depending on how far we have tried to run away from them.Earlier I… Read More »