Spiritual Experience Archives - Mindful Happiness

January 30, 2020 By Admin

A Tribute to Ram Dass (Richard Alpert)

Recently Ram Dass died at his home in Maui. He was 88 years old. He was born into a well-off Boston family, and enjoyed materialism in his early professional years. When completing a Ph.D. in Psychology at Stanford University he was still into material things. His spiritual awakening did not exist. He was once known for his psychedelic drug experimentation while teaching at Harvard University. This experimentation occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1963 he was fired from Harvard for related reasons. In 1967 he went to India to study under Hindu Sadhu Neem, Karoli Baba, also known as Maharaj-ji. Before his teacher died, Alpert was named Ram Dass (Servant of God). He practiced bhakti yoga – pure love on the spiritual path. In 1974 Ram Dass returned to the United States, where he developed his own style of meditation, a style that radically integrated various forms of spiritual traditions. In 1971 he published his first book, Be Here Now; this book helped open up higher consciousness to others without the use of drug and expounded a life role of service to others. In 2004 Ram Dass relocated to Maui, where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1997 he wrote Still Here. In some ways this book helped to clarify his deeper understanding of himself; the depth was the result of a serious stroke he suffered. His cerebral hemorrhage forced him to go deeper into self-understanding. In 2004 he survived a near-fatal infection. From his stroke on Ram Dass was mainly homebound. His last book (with Mirabai Bush) was Walking Each Other Home:Conversations on Living and Dying.

To the end he faced his death with great human grace, and he never gave up his view that to live must involve to love and serve others. Ram Dass, sometimes with the help of others, also established various organizations to provide teachings and service to others. Here is a short list: Hanuman Foundations (the teachings of Neen Karoli Baba); Love Serve Remember Foundation; Prison Ashram Project; Co-creating Living Dying Project and Doorway to Light; Seva Foundation (healthcare for underserved areas); and, Social Venture Network (for businesses). Yes, Ram Dass lived his talk – he walked the walk!

With the passing of Ram Dass, we have lost a great spiritual and meditation teacher. There are few and far between equivalent replacements. May he rest in great inner peace as he travels the bardo.

For more information refer to Duncan Oliver, J. (January, 2020). Ram Dass, beloved spiritual teacher, has died. In Tricycle. See tricycle.org/trikedaily/ram-dass-dies/.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

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

Author of Mindful Happiness

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon

January 16, 2017 By Admin

Significance of Beads in Spiritual & Religious Practices

Beads: Significance in Spiritual and Religious Practices

The significance of religious and spiritual practices in the world is enormous. Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist practitioners make up the overwhelming majority of the world’s population. The CIA estimates are that Christians (33%), Muslims (23%), Hindus (14%) and Buddhist (7%) make up the majority of religious followers. Atheists and non-religious believers make up only 12% of the world’s population. About 11% of the world’s population practices other spiritual and religious traditions. ALL of the major spiritual and religious traditions have used beads in their practices. Below I have listed some details about the nature of spiritual/religious beads used by major groups. As you will see the use of beads in spiritual and religious practices is very common.

Roman Catholics use rosary beads (from rose petal “beads” in the rose garden or rosarium) – usually 54 + 5 beads. When beads are used to recite 150 psalms, they are 150 beads long and called patermasters.
Muslims use their misbaha/masbaha, tasbih, subha beads – usually 99 or 33 beads.
Hindus (from 500 BCE) use mala beads – usually 108 (the cosmos) or 27 beads.
Buddhists (mala) for 108 worldly desires, and Sikhs have generally maintained the Hindu “counts.”
Baha’i uses beads – usually 19 or 99 + 5 beads.
Orthodox Jews, use tassels tallit or tzitzits (Moses – to remember the commandments of god).
Ortodox Greek and Russian Christians use knots as beads – Greek prayer ropes are called kombologian, and Russian prayer ropes are called chotki – Greek knots are 33, 50 and 100 while Russian knots are 33, 100, and 500.
African Masai, Native American, and Greek and Russian Orthodoxy also use beads.

So why use beads in spiritual and religious prayer practices? There are many, many reasons why beads are used in these spiritual traditions. However, I will note just a few. Here are some reasons. Beads are used:

To maintain your counting in prayers practices – in praising the object of your beliefs;
To confirm your level of dedicated practice by repetitions;
To deepen your personal belief by mantra-like or out loud speaking;
To enhance your level of faith by deeper and deeper contemplations about your beliefs; and,
To deepen practice by repeated, deeper contemplations (called lectio divina ) in Catholicism.

Here are some other reasons why beads are used. These reasons deal more with contemporary neuroscience research than with ancient and current religious practices. These are:

Enhanced learning in frontal and prefrontal areas by verbal/cognitive repetitions;
Temporal area strengthening by hearing the words you are saying either to yourself or out loud;
Multi-sensory applications to bead mantra work – using fingertips (huge representation in the brain) to touch beads as you repeat verbal statements over and over again;
Multi-sensory applications open up pathways for brain plasticity, so your brain changes over time to make your religious practices and beliefs stronger and stronger over time;
Possible multi-sensory brain coherence – lighting up neurons across various brain regions in your practices, which allows even more powerful plasticity to occur about your practices and beliefs; and,
Ritualize the spiritual or religious practices, thus making the objects of practice more sacred.

So, now you have some information about why beads are so, so common in spiritual and religious practices. This same information is the basis for use of beads in contemporary spiritual practices without religious connections.

For more information refer to Dorff, V. (2014). The Little Book About Big Things: World Religion. New York, NY: Fall River Press. See also www.dharmabeads.net for more information. Retrieved May 2, 2016.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont

Author of Mindful Happiness

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

September 22, 2016 By Admin

Honoring First Nation-Native American Spirited-Wisdom

Honoring First Nation – Native American Spirited-Wisdom

American First Nation or Native American People (according to how they wish to be named) have a strong spiritual traditions honoring life, the earth and the heavens. Naming these wise peoples is a problem; out of respect one would call them First Nations, Native American, or a specific tribal name. Since this is a post, and since my efforts to obtain preferences have ended in the three “namings” above, I shall use First Nations. I do this out of deep respect. If my choice offends, please accept my deeply felt apology.

In this post I hope to note just a few areas of rich spiritual traditions, especially around the circles of the camp fires. In philosophical terms, First Nation Peoples followed (and follow) certain sacred practices: conservation, preservation, taking/using only what is necessary, giving back/restoring, and forever giving thanks – deep gratitude for what the earth and the heavens have provided. In today’s so-called modern, technological world of greed, “me first,” and sometimes hatred – we all could learn MUCH from these wise-minded and collective practices.

These wise people also practiced special spiritual activities to deepen their understanding of “the way things are.” Such beliefs and practices of energy balancing, sacred healing locations, long-silence, four directions/winds, vision questing, passing the pipe, talking sticks, medicine bags, sweat lodging were all part of their very rich traditions. WE, so-called dominant white people from Europe almost annihilated them; however, now we seek and deeply value many of their spiritual traditions. As an old First Nation close friend once told me: “You white people tried to completely destroy us, but now you are quite interested in how our spiritual experiences conserved our spiritual powers and identity – and you WANT to take those traditions also!” Thank you my friend Dana Pictou for reminding me! Speaking for myself, I want to take nothing BUT I do want to experience what they offer spiritually. There is no question about WHO owns these traditions. They belong to First Nation peoples.

In the central areas of British Columbia there are “medicine ways gatherings.” There, certain Tibetan Buddhist and First Nation ceremonies have been integrated to pursue earth healing and world peace. Under the facilitation of Spirit Dance Center for Spiritual Ecology, people gather to participate in ceremony and ritual around open camp fires. In fire circles they meditate, chant, drum, pass the pipe, have dyadic discussions, and personal consultations – ALL in deep respect for authentic spiritual power, and to better understand “the way things are.” Others in different parts of North America participate in body awareness concentration, cleansing breath rituals, and feather meditations. Additionally, the sacred fours are active: four directions, four winds, four seasons, and four states of the self. This last focus includes our mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional experiences of the self. I find it so, so interesting that First Nation peoples – like the Buddhists of 2,500 years ago – developed a “psychology of self” as part of their forward progressions. In Buddhist beliefs there is no concrete, independently arising, enduring SELF. It is real in a sense of mind-time, but subject to impermanence, interdependent arising, and essential emptiness. All part of illusion and delusion as we strive to experience sensory pleasure and avoid pain and suffering. These understanding – both First Nation and Buddhist – are quire complex. Mastery of them may reduce personal suffering and increase personal happiness.

So sit quietly with others at camp fire circle and practice some of these powerful ceremonies. For authenticity, consider finding a First Nation person to lead you through some of these wonderfully powerful rituals. As Joseph Campbell said “Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid…”

For more information see Cohen, K. – “Bear Hawk” (2003, 2006). Honoring the Medicine: The Essential Guide to Native American Healing. New York: Ballantine Books.

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont

Author of Mindful Happiness

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

June 23, 2015 By Admin

Engaging Your Emotional Dragons

Making Boundless Space for Your Emotional Dragons

In the past I have offered posts about radical acceptance and ways of dealing with your personal dragons or demons. Here I will offer a more advanced perspective on how directly engaging your emotional dragons is a very important part of your spiritual path – your spiritual journey no matter what form it may take. Those of us on a formal spiritual path are seeking some form of ultimate truth. Reaching this goal, just part of the path itself, is hampered when we take evasive actions regarding our emotional dragons, our emotional suffering. The human tendency is to avoid, deny, suppress all forms of suffering; we do not not to feel pain in any form. Such habitual behavior hinders your enlightened self-development. When Buddhism moved to China as Chan Buddhism, there was a need to figure out what to do with the “good” and “bad” dragons the Chinese had believed in for many years. Consider this: ALL your emotional dragons are good dragons, because they make you whole (an unavoidable part of you) and they teach you much about becoming enlightened, about gaining wisdom. The dragons, or shadows (C. Jung) provide a serious learning opportunity; when we open up our soft and tender heart to our suffering, we enhance the true inner self – we make the true self stronger and more complete. Clear seeing in the present moment of dragon engagement integrates the disavowed parts of self, and thus opens up deep, inner space and peace. Like the cave-living Milarepa’s dispute with his dragons, you too will find that once you let go of fear and engage your emotional dragons with an open submitting heart the emotional impact of the dragon/s will be reduced.

So what is your most important emotional dragon – unhelpful early attachment experience, depression, loss, mourning, anxiety, fear, trauma, substance misuse, eating problems, anger, resentment, self-hate, self-harm…? What are you self-medicating MOST to enjoy brief joy and avoid immediate suffering, only to discover long-term suffering even from the self-medication process itself? Perhaps it is the experience of greed, hate, resentment, impulsivity, loneliness – not fitting in – whatever ails you is a form of an emotional dragon. Dragons may also be the biopsychosocial-spiritual outcomes of long-term physical and psychological illness. You will find ultimate truth ONLY by sharing real-time space and experience with them. Your journey to ultimate truth is not simply experiencing “spiritual materialism” (Chogyam Trungpa) and taking part in the huge menu of enlightenment training or “student hood.” Your path must be fully integrated within yourself – even if you believe in no-self. Courageous engagement with your emotional dragons helps you to better understand why they exist, and to realize your reactions are more in your mind and body than in ultimate reality. You need to slowly cultivate fearless awareness (Pema Chodron) of the permeating feeling of personal unworthiness. Yes, you can do this! You must apply a large dose of self-compassion so you dare to welcome into your being the unwanted guests of your inner suffering. Part of the journey is to allow the unwanted visitors of emotional challenge into the home of your heart, mind and body (Rumi). The Buddha noted that all that happens to us begins in the mind; he noted that thoughts, words, and actions are the end-effects of our process. With the current knowledge of 21st century neuroscience, I dare to add to this formula for human behavior. The absolute root is based on thoughts, words and actions. However, we cannot forget the major impact on behavior caused by feeling/sensations, emotions and rewarding or punishing consequences of our behaviors. We are attached to outcomes that are pleasant; we hope to avoid those that are unpleasant; and, we become trapped in the cycles of the samsara treadmill when we pursue such goals.

Trying to avoid, deny, suppress, or self-medicate your emotional dragons will do nothing to soften your suffering; your dragons know how to find you no matter where you hide. Their roots may rest in your “seed consciousness” (Thich Nhat Hanh), so they are always with you – just not always so active. He offers additional advice on handling difficult emotions: imagine holding them lovingly in your arms as if a newborn baby, and bring them close to you with love and caring. Your spiritual development will not be complete until you carefully and lovingly make space inside your awareness for all of your emotional dragons. Are you ready to engage with one of your dragons? Best to begin with one that is least scary and work your way up in emotional energies.

Here is a way to prepare yourself. STOP fleeing! Have a strong intention to gently encounter the emotional dragon. If you think having a loved one or good friend present to witness this process, do that also. Breathe calmly, slowly, deeply. Loosen your body muscles, tendons, and joints. Imagine yourself a “fearless warrior” (Vajrayana) and welcome the specific dragon into your mind’s eye. With ample self-compassion witness it. Use radical acceptance and open up your loving heart to welcome in this disowned part of self. Remember that Prajna wisdom transcends all things – there is only ultimate emptiness. You may also wish to follow the example of Marcus Aurelius (The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius). In the first few pages of his meditations, he give great gratitude to the many positive things he has received from his ancestors, family, friends, teachers, etc. Without these many strengths, he would be helpless in pursuing self-improvement. You may also wish to utilize a First Nations tradition of imagining a long line of ancestors (many never known by you personally) standing directly behind you and each supporting the other by placing their hands behind the shoulders of the person in front of them. You have thousands of years of ancestors standing behind you as you open up to the wholeness of allowing in your dragon. Yes, thoughts, words and actions are very important – but the EXPERIENCE of doing this is what really counts. You need mindful willingness to achieve this action. Allow the dragon’s emotional self to enter you, even if it rides on your tears to do so. Fully open up your heart, mind, soul, inner-self to this experience. May your path bring you experience in happiness, wholeness, and enlightenment.

CAUTION –Since I have no idea what your psychological health is like, you may wish to consult your healthcare provider about doing this meditation. Although I believe we all have strengths to allow in our emotional dragons – slowly, one by one – sometimes we are not ready to BE in this powerful experience. You may wish to consult Aura Glaser’s A Call to Compassion or The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius before you begin this process. There are many other self-compassion resources that may be helpful to you (refer to works by Germer, Goldstein, Salzburg, Brach, etc.).

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont

Author of Mindful Happiness

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January 7, 2015 By Admin

The Nine Bow Ritual

The Nine Bow Ritual for Those You Respect Deeply

The Nine Bow Ritual is a simple practice of deep respect. Think of a person, living or not, for whom you have very strong positive feelings. If you select a person no longer living, you may be surprised at the emotional impact of this ritual. If you have a concern about your emotions, please consider doing this ritual with another person present. Simply follow the steps noted below.

1) Sit quietly in a quasi-meditative state.

2) Initiate a period of deep personal reflection. Who will you select? Why? What has this person done for you? What is the nature of your positive emotions about this person?

3) Once you have made your selection, imagine their face as you best remember it. Best to recall their smiling face.

4) Now ring a ritualistic bell, chime, or singing bowl three times. Three long sounds! Wait until you no longer hear the vibrations between repetitions. Go slowly!

5) After the sound ends, bow to the person in your image three times – the deeper the better.

6) Thank them for their care, and say what you want to say to them. Speak from your soft heartedness, gratitude, and appreciation.

7) Repeat steps 4-6 at least two more times.

8) Sit and reflect on how you are feeling after completing the ritual.

9) If you keep a journal, you may want to journal about your experience.

10) Now practice self-compassion as you know it.

11) Realize how fortunate you are to have had this person in your life.

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont

Author of Mindful Happiness

CLICK HERE to Order!