Mindful Happiness

Anthony Quintiliani, Ph.D, LADC

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Meditation on Ecodharma and Buddhist Ecology

Meditation on Ecodharma and Buddhist Ecology  

  1. Sit calmly and begin to breathe in and out deeply and slowly.
  2. Open your eyes to see and appreciate the natural environment you are in.
  3. Close your eyes now if you wish to do so.
  4. Know that this nature – the sky, clouds, stars, father sun, mother moon, especially the trees – is your natural environment of being in this life.
  5. This biosphere is our sacred ground, from which we all arise and to which we all fall at our end.
  6. Mother earth and the surrounding universe deserve our deepest respect.
  7. In Asia, forest monks have ordained old, wise trees to spare them from the wrath of consumerism.
  8. Know that ecodharma is an activist Buddhist program aimed at protecting nature and the earth.
  9. We are living and dying in a vast ecological man made disaster, escape from which requires that our species survives AND that the earth survives as well.
  10. Our survival depends upon a healthy, breathing, cleansing earth and atmosphere.
  11. Now take a few minutes in your own silent solitude to contemplate deeply what has been noted above. Pause.
  12. Recall that The Buddha was confronted by the devil-like Mara. This was an attack on his hard-won enlightenment. The Buddha touched the ground with his fingers and hand to re-establish his connection to mother earth, and his enlightenment survived all challenges.
  13. So today, we should all touch the earth gently with respect – we can touch earth with our fingers, hands, feet, heart, soul, and self.  We may even wish to prostrate ourselves on mother earth to show our deep love and respect.
  14. The Buddha was born, lived, became enlightened , and died (parinibbana) in the gracious company of trees.
  15. Thich Nhat Hanh noted that our caring for and being with the earth is a way of reconnecting with interbeing of all living things.  This great teacher also advised us that to walk and live on Pure Land requires that we love the earth.
  16. Soto Zen founder Eihei Dogen noted that rivers, mountains, and “the great wide earth” as well as “the sun and the moon and the stars” are all part of our personal enlightenment in our minds.
  17. Take a few more minutes to contemplate these teaching. Pause.
  18. Today’s bodhisattva have become an ecosattva to help save the world and humankind – the greatest and most noble act of active compassion and love.
  19. We must be fearless as we confront the extremes of “conspicuous consumption” and its destruction of the earth and all living things. This deadly competition may kill all of us in the future.
  20. Contemplate on this: What will you do very soon to join this battle to save mother earth and the human race as we know it? Pause.

For more information refer to https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/growing-buddhist movement… https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/trees-meditation-teaching... https://tricycle.org/magazine/100-best-climate-solutions… https://tricycle.org/magazine/love-letter-earth… Retrieved 4-21-18

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

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New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

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The Great Mother of Gratitude Meditation

The Great Mother of Gratitude Meditation

  1. Sit in silence and take a few very slow, very deep breaths in and out.
  2. Relax within your personal comfort with eyes opened or closed. If you prefer your eyes to be open, hold you head level and gently gaze down a few feet in front of you. Continue to breathe slowly and deeply.
  3. Let go of tension in your jaw, in your neck, and in your shoulders.
  4. Do your best to rest your mind.
  5. When your mind wonders away, simply remind yourself that this gratitude meditation is FOR YOU.
  6. Begin each statement below with inner, loving speech – as “I have gratitude for…”
  7. Being alive today, experiencing my precious human life;
  8. My ever-beating heart;
  9. My lungs;
  10. All my functioning senses;
  11. My smile;
  12. Having clean running water;
  13. Having running hot water;
  14. Sleeping in my bed;
  15. Eating food today;
  16. My job with all its difficulties;
  17. My relative safety;
  18. My family;
  19. My friends;
  20. My pet/s if I own any;
  21. The unconditional love I have received;
  22. Having experienced love of some kind in my life;
  23. My relative good health;
  24. The people, places, and things that have helped me to experience joy and happiness;
  25. My relative personal happiness;
  26. My relative freedom from greater suffering;
  27. Not starving like so many children in this world;
  28. Being able to speak my truths in freedom;
  29. Not being bombed and shot at like in war zones;
  30. Not fleeing gigantic forrest fires;
  31. Not fleeing gigantic mud slides;
  32. Not fearing for my life in gigantic storms;
  33. Not living in the deep despair of utter poverty;
  34. Being “good enough” as I am;
  35. Being as I am – how and what I am;
  36. Mother nature and her wonders; and,
  37. Being able to repeat this gratitude meditation as often as I wish to do so.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

Mindful Happiness cover designs.indd

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

 

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Self-Care as Ritual

Self-Care as Ritual

Self-care for Americans is often considered a luxury.  Due to our technological demands and addictions (Demons as they are), and the slow slipping of our economic structures, we are often at the mercy of the bottom line at work. Over-paid CEOs and CFOs and their many assistants eat up so, so much of workplace finances. Rush! Rush! Rush! In the 2017 American Psychological Association survey on stress in America, workplace stress and financial worries were major causes of increased emotional reactivity for Americans. Add to this our enormous addiction problems (drugs of abuse, alcohol, nicotine, opioids, cell phones, and “conspicuous consumption” as anormal process).  So instead of healthy self-care many American take the path of least resistance and self-medicate.  To improve psychological and physical health, we need to ritualize self-care practices. We need to make them one of our most important priorities on a regular basis. You may want to note that you must care for your child within. The list below provides some starting points for you to consider. Try as many of these practices as you can, and adopt as ritual a few you really like. Remember effective self-care is bio-psycho-social-spiritual. Ritualize it!

  1. You are transforming at the cellular level – every second some part dies and some part is born, arising and falling
  2. Hot stone massage
  3. Early morning walks
  4. Daily mindfulness, meditation, and yoga
  5. Pray
  6. Mindful movement stretches
  7. A Reiki session
  8. Long warm baths with aroma therapy, oils, and candles
  9. Tea drinking ceremonies
  10. Hot oil foot massage, or whole body hot oil massage
  11. Practice Mindfulness-Based Stress Reductions
  12. Sit with your pet and pet it
  13. Plan for an enjoy one whole day of silence
  14. Un plug everything – TV, computer, cell phones (especially), etc.
  15. Take a break from the evening news
  16. Write brief entries in a happiness journal
  17. Locate a “wisdom mentor” and pay for your time with her/him
  18. Apologize to a person you harmed, make amends
  19. Do  your own personal spiritual practices
  20. Write or recite gratitude lists
  21. Hug a lot – with emotional meaning
  22. Walk in a labyrinth
  23. Recycle – reduce your personal carbon footprint
  24. Walk in nature
  25. Have a conversation with your inner self-helper, that part of you that tries to help you be well
  26. Use helpful mantras – “I an ok the way I am.” ” I have enough right now in my life.” ” All things change.”
  27. Practice deep, slow, calm abdominal breathing often during the day – take a breathing break
  28. Practice active kindness and compassion
  29. Practice self-compassion
  30. Love a lot – with emotional meaning
  31. Radically accept yourself, and stop being self-critical

For more information refer to The Little Book of Self-Care…(2017). New York: Adams Media/Simon and Schuster. See also Thich Nhat Hanh (2017). The Art of Living. New York: Harper Collins.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

Mindful Happiness cover designs.indd

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

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Common Barriers to Meditation Practice

Common Barriers to Meditation Practice

Dan Harris, an ABC news anchor, has just published a book on Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics. In his book Harris notes several common barriers to regular meditation practice, and what to do about them.  Since I have been meditating since the early 1980’s I have added additional suggestions. Here are the barriers and suggested solutions.

  1. Will I have Problems Finding Time and Space? – This concerns exist for all meditators until such time as regular practice becomes a highly reinforced, positive habit. Although it is best to have a regular time/place to sit (or do yoga, tai chi, qi gong, etc.), find time anywhere you can. Begin with just a few minutes -even five minutes. Slowly extend time over time. In your typical daily activities, practice bringing mindfulness and attention/concentration into the behaviors. Never try to clear your mind; instead simply allow thoughts to pass like clouds in the sky. Once you attach to thoughts and emotions, your meditation is probably over. Consider getting up a few minutes earlier in the morning for available practice time. Eventually find a “best” time and place for you too practice everyday. Stick with this routine as much as possible. The rewards will be many.
  2. What Will People Think of ME if I meditate? – Who cares? Unless you are addicted to your “smart” phone, crave higher number of make-believe “friends,” and are linked like a robot to the “cloud,”  you probably do not require a great deal of social/social media approval. Today in America meditation and yoga are common practices. Take the example of Congressperson Tim Ryan, who wrote Mindful Nation, and is a former football player. He practices Christian Centering Prayer as a norm, and uses MBSR to cope with the stress of being in American politics. Most people think in neutral of favorable ways about meditation practice. Commit to spending more time on your cushion and less time on your “hand-held-dopamine-delivery- device” (not my original terms). Practice more NOW!
  3. What if Painful Experiences Come Into Awareness? – Count of it! In the silence and inner stillness of meditation, a void may occur.  In this feeling/thinking void it is possible that unfinished business will come up.  Stay focused on the present moment, and DO NOT engage fully with the remnants of your own past suffering (loss, death, trauma, depression, anxiety, fear, addictions, etc.).  If you engage as an early meditators, you may never be fully engaged in meditation practice; you may not yet be ready to fully engage in such horrors and painful experiences.  It is OK to wait. If you do not now have effective emotional self-regulations skills to cope with painful suffering in your meditation, you may need the help of a professional mental health providers (not solely a medications-provider). It is inevitable that painful realities will enter the quietude of your meditation. This is a blessing, in that with more emotional regulation and experiences tranquility you will now most likely be able to overcome the emotional-traps of your past.  As a Doctoral level Clinical Health Psychologist for the past 33 years, I have provided psychotherapy to hundreds of my own clients as well as clinical supervision, training, and consultation to hundred of other therapists. Here is my hearty-felt advice: Find a licensed mental health professional to work with – but this professional must have training and experience in mental health counseling, additional counseling, and mindfulness-based clinical interventions.  Ideally, the helper you select should also have their own meditation/yoga practice. This is the winning combination! If your pain is too severe, STOP meditating until you obtain the above-recommended support.
  4. Will Meditation Slow Me Down of Make me Too Soft? – Yes and No! Regular meditation practice clearly reduces our stress reactivity, and it allows us to slow responses just enough to notice MORE and improve them.  Since it is used to train people in dangerous fields of work (police, first responders, soldiers, etc.), it improves their functioning. It may save your life! Some people learn “combat breathing” techniques, while others simply notice better attention, concentration, and response set. Regular practice of meditation is NOT about just relaxing.  It includes improved self-defense, greater compassion, much better cognitive awareness skills, and better equanimity in the chaos.
  5. What if I Already have a Form of Meditation? – No problem! Some people mediate in their normal activities: walking, hiking, writing, exercising, doing martial arts, etc. All pleasurable routinized behaviors have a dose of mindfulness in them. Becoming a regular meditator will simply add benefit to already existing contemplative skills. This is your chance to improve both your psychological and physical health. Do it! And, do it with qualified professional help as needed. Begin soon!

For more information refer to Quintiliani, A. R. (2014). Mindful Happiness…Shelburne, VT: Red Barn Books (now out of print). See also Harris, D. (2017). Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics…Noted in 5 Reasons You (and Everyone Else) Are Having a Hard Time Meditating. Retrieved 1-27-18.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

Mindful Happiness cover designs.indd

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

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Meditations and Mantra to Try Out in Practice

Meditations and Mantra: Try Them Out in Your Practice

There are many forms of meditation.  In most cases, the common meditation forms fall into one of two categories: Mindfulness and Insight.  There are also demanding concentration meditations, chakra meditations, and mantra meditations. Here we’ll deal only with the two forms noted above and the use of mantras.

Insight meditation (called Vipassana) is one of the the bedrocks of meditation practice. This ancient Indian meditation aims at seeing things as they REALLY are. It may become transformative through extensive self (mind, phenomena) observation. Powerful mind training here may result in you learning HOW you help to cause your own emotional suffering. It enhances the view that long-term happiness is internal, and comes about via extended acute observation of how the mind works. In today’s words, we may learn to live and act via our wise mind skills, thus be happier. It easily relates to core Buddhist views on The Four Noble Truths, The Eight-Fold Path, as well as samsaric suffering by incessant attachment, desire, and craving.  The main learnings are personally witnessed impermanence (arising and falling of all phenomena), dependent origination (nothing comes about by itself), and ultimately emptiness (Eastern not Western). This form of meditation has been used extensively all over the world for addictions and for people who have difficulty with action urges and emotion regulation (mainly in prisons).

Mindfulness meditation (today very common in the West) is based on vipassana roots, but emphasizes awareness and bare attention mainly in the present moment. The initiation and returning of attention to an object of awareness is the basic practice.  Awareness occurs in both inner and outer experiences.  Focused attention on the breath or movement of mind-thoughts (without grasping, responding, or following) are common practices. This form of meditation has moved strongly into clinical psychological interventions, where a person learns to focus on the present moment without judging. People may also learn to use very practical breathing skills. The past and future are de-emphasized, and people may experience a very relaxing side-effect from regular practice. There are now thousands of “good enough” clinical studies on the positive effects of mindfulness meditation.

There are many well-documented benefits of regular meditation practice. Some are possible DNA improvements, brain plasticity (better neural connectivity), clear and calm mind, bodily relaxation, improvements in chronic pain, depression, anxiety, emotional self-regulation (anger, addictions), and spirituality.

Use of a mantra in meditation is a common practice. A mantra is a phrase that is repeated many times with intention and inner energy. The practice may expand mental focus and energies. It may also lead to insights, creativity, even healing. The basic instruction is to select a meaningful mantra and repeat it many times. It sometimes helps to classically condition the mantra to time of day (to meditate), location, and the use of beads.  A very interesting reality of using beads is that the practice may improve mind training via finger-tip manipulations and resulting firing of brain cells in the somatosensory areas of the brain, thus perhaps increasing brain plasticity. Thus the mantra meditation becomes easier and more automatic over time.  Here are a few common mantra. Perhaps you will select and practice one of them, soon.

  • Universal Mantra: Baba Nam Kevalam  (Beloved Name Only, or Love is all there is)
  • Healing Mantra of the Medicine Buddha: Tayatha Om Bhaishajye, Bhaishajye Mahabhaisajye, Taja Samudgate Svaha
  • Mantra of Compassion and Protection: Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
  • Shakyamuni Buddha’s Mantra for Meditation and Wisdom: Om Muni Muni Mahaunaye Svaha
  • Mantra for Healing Relationships: Om Sharavana Bhavaya Namaha

For more details refer to Wiley, M. 5 Healing Mantras to Change Your Life. Easy Health Options, June 17, 2017. easyhealthoptions.com/5-healing-mantras-change-life… Retrieved 6-17-17.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

Mindful Happiness cover designs.indd

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!