As we head into 2010, I’ve contemplated my past, and consider my intentions for the New Year. Notice I say intentions, not resolutions. I don’t need to resolve with finality, but instead I have some firm intentions that I hope lead to discovery. After all, seeing is knowing, and I aim to avoid believing. Continue reading “Seeing is Knowing” »
I am surprised, sometimes shocked, at how many people call themselves Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, or whatever without having read the scriptures or main writings of that particular religion. So many people simply believe what their parents had told them, or what the church minister said. But you can’t truly be Christian or Buddhist unless you understand the tenets and teachings, and the best way to do that is to go to the source, or as close to the source as that religion allows. Continue reading “Don't Be Lazy: Go to the Source” »
As humans we apply labels to everything. It’s a nifty little language tool that helps us identify objects in our world, and to communicate about them with others. Obviously we need labels for communication sake.
But when people start living through labeling, of themselves and others, problems arise. Continue reading “Living Through Labeling” »
I am surprised by the number of people I meet in person and online who have never stopped to consider the nature of their thoughts or beliefs. What seems to be much more common is that people’s minds are dragging them around, back and forth through life experiences, and they assume that all those thoughts and beliefs that arise are correct, important, and worth defending. Continue reading “Exploring the Mental Experience” »
I was a very small child when my curiosity about self started. I found my inner voice fascinating, how I could visualize scenes in my mind, all the while looking out into the world, seeing outside and inside almost simultaneously. Continue reading “Synaptic Self & Mind” »
I was a very small child when my curiosity about self started. I found my inner voice fascinating, how I could visualize scenes in my mind, all the while looking out into the world, seeing outside and inside almost simultaneously. Continue reading “Synaptic Self & Mind” »
Cannon
One of the teachings in Buddhism that used to leave me scratching my head was that labels are concepts that limit us. What?
As I got deeper into my studies and mindfulness practice, understanding began to emerge through continuous interaction with my dog Cannon. He was really not the one who I expected would clarify this matter for me, but he has. Continue reading “Everything I Learned About Labels, I Learned from My Dog” »
Me as Arlyn Pleides
Lately in my practice, I have been mindful of the many roles I play in life, and how conceptual they are. I see where I have identified through them, and how this has lead to my own suffering, how easy it is to take them as solid and real. Continue reading “Roles We Play” »
2008 was full of surprises! Many of those events or situations were not exactly welcome or wished for and some were. And in all of that was a lot of learning and growth, and thankfully I made some interesting discoveries: Continue reading “Sitting Comfortably with Uncertainty” »
With Thanksgiving coming up, many of us are considering the many areas of our lives or people we are thankful for. It’s easy for me to be grateful for my wonderful posse of peeps, who continually support my interests and struggles in life, my ever loyal pooch, who never rejects me and showers me with affection, my children and family, my health for the most part, the water and food I have a plenty. A person would have to have a brick for a heart not to be thankful for those things. Continue reading “Gratitude for Life’s Difficulties” »
