The Art of Deep Listening | Urban Spiritual. On Monday, I gave an overview of 5 contemplative practices that I strongly advocate. However, I left one very important practice out because I felt it needed it’s own spotlight. That practice (you may have guessed) is called deep listening. Let’s start with the opposite of deep listening, which I call hasty listening. How often do you find yourself listening to someone else, or even your own thoughts and feelings, only to get to a point of action? You see humans have a voracious appetite for doing. We always need to be doing something.
Just as I said in my post on forgiveness being about you and not the other, so it is with listening. To clarify I will use myself as an example. Had I not taken that moment and tuned in, that argument could have lasted days. Practice The best part about deep listening is that you can practice! Assume your meditative postureClose your eyes.Begin with being mindful of your body. Wishing you clarity and peace. By Terence Stone. How to be Your Own Mind Mechanic | Urban Spiritual. “The Buddha’s last words instructed us to be heedful—to see our actions as important and to keep that importance in mind at all times.”
–Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Meditations The flickering mind Most people who are vaguely familiar with the teachings believe that Buddhism is simply a religious form of nihilism (what a contradiction that would be). Before I began studying the buddha-dharma, I remember hearing about the concept of nirvana (or nibbāna ) and thinking how dismal it sounded. Most westerners understand nirvana as nothingness. It is half true, but we must remember that even nothingness is something. Nirvana literally means ‘extinguished’ like a flame that has been blown out. It’s not about right or wrong So what’s the point? So you’re telling me that nothing actually matters because this life is a fabrication of the mind? We all have an inherent desire to be happy. Be the mechanic In this way, the actions we need to worry about most are those actions we take toward our minds.
7 Great Ways to Kick Bad Habits | Urban Spiritual. 8 habits You Should Cut Out of Your Life Now | Urban Spiritual. The Why I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why we humans do the things we do. It got me thinking, “How much of what we do is unnecessary, or even worse, detrimental to our well-being?” After speaking to a few friends, we came up with a list of over 50 items, which I quickly narrowed down to 8 as I found many that fit into similar categories. I’d also like to add that these things appear to stem from fear. In fact, my guess is that 98 percent of the negative/apathetic action or inaction we take is fear-based.
I’ll go even further to say that these items stem from one very specific and very universal fear: the fear of death. You see, the mind can be very tricky. If our habits tend to be mostly negative, then how does that make us feel about who we are? The List 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. You may be saying, “OK, but how do I do that?” By Terence Stone Featured Art: The Scream, by Edvard Munch. 5 Great Contemplative Practices: Meditation, Visualization, Yoga, Journaling, and Retreats. A friend recently asked me if there were other introspective practices one could undertake beside meditation. I plan to expound upon these topics in the coming weeks, but I thought why not give a brief overview/preview. As you know I’m a huge advocate and encourager of meditation, but it is not the only way (nor should it be) to cultivate one’s spiritual/ introspective presence.
I firmly believe in a well-rounded mind/body/ soul approach to spiritual awakening. We are not just mind or body or soul. These are all manifestations of the Spirit. That being said, meditation is just one of many contemplative practices. 1. 2. To learn more, check out the Wikipedia article or consider buying Shakti Gawain’s book, Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life . A cost effective alternative is to form your own stretching routine. . , by Bob and Jean Anderson. Any questions? By Terence Stone Featured Art: Here and Now, by Mario Duguay.