#meditation

#meditation

In the sacred land of Rishikesh, where the Himalayas meet the Ganga, seekers have long journeyed to uncover the deeper truth of existence. Among the many paths to self-realization, Self-Enquiry Meditation, taught by the enlightened sage Sri Ramana Maharshi, stands out as the most direct and powerful method. This practice, known in Sanskrit as Ātma Vichāra, invites us to ask a single transformative question:

Many stressed-out people are attracted to eastern meditation, believing that it will give them relief from their "monkey mind" and lower their anxiety about life. Unfortunately, the monkey usually wins because people find the mental focus required for meditation devilishly hard. On a trip last year to India, I asked a Buddhist teacher why Westerners struggle so much with the practice. "You won't get the benefit from meditation," he said, "as long as you are meditating to get the benefit."

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta vividly remembers the day he impaled himself on a wrought iron fence. He had just turned 12, and he was running through the neighborhood when he spontaneously decided to vault over a fence that he usually ran around. Except he didn't quite make it. "One of the spikes caught me on my side and went in the back area of my side and out the front," Gupta says.

The moon is void-of-course until noon ET today, making this morning perfect for a late snooze, a lazy breakfast, or a chill sunrise meditation.

Sitting by the river in the morning light transformed the meditation experience, merging the inner world with nature and creating a profound sense of inner peace.

Adames sat out for the first time all year, took a mental respite, and retreated to the mountains with a close friend who guided him in meditation. This experience helped clean his mind of the pressure he was feeling and reminded him of his roots in the Dominican Republic.

The sense that we are a solid entity, an unchanging entity that exists someplace in our body and takes ownership of our body, and even ownership of our brain rather than being identical to our brain, that is where the illusion lies.

Ghost of Tsushima tells a complicated and deeply troubling narrative about revenge, possible avunculicide, and a warrior pushed to commit atrocities in order to protect the people he loves.

The meditation practices of sustainable compassion training help us access our innate capacities of love, care, and compassion by recalling moments of being held in such qualities.

Being part of a bachelorette party is akin to participating in the Olympics, requiring preparation, coordination, and stamina for a fun yet exhausting experience.

In the run-up to Christmas 2018, wobbly with delirium on a station platform packed with partygoers, I nearly fell under a train.

Though meant to provide an important oasis for rest and reflection within the dense urban landscape of New York City, the garden also creates a space for communal exchange, where our connection to the people and world around us can be celebrated.

Avoiding your triggers isn't healing. Healing happens when you're triggered and you're able to move through the pain, the pattern, and the story, and walk your way to a different ending.