My Story and the Origin of Buddhaimonia

My Story and the Origin of Buddhaimonia

For as long as I can remember, I had the idea in my mind that I was supposed to do something special. Even as a young child I have a few faint memories of thinking, “I’m special. I’m going to do something significant.” 

Years later, I’d realize that there wasn’t really anything special at all about that thought because we all have it at one point or another. We all believe we’re supposed to do something “big” with our life...that we’re special. Little did I know at the time, but that initial idea which was sparked in my mind would lead me down the path I travel today. 

For the past eight years, I’ve studied feverishly with one goal in mind. Everything from books like Think & Grow Rich, The Millionaire Mind, and The Secret to John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, all books very popular in sales and commission-based business environments due to the focus around self-actualization, or realizing one’s potential, and money (a part of self-actualization, to most).

I’ve read just about every major self-development book you can name, from Tony Robbins' Unlimited Power to The Magic of Thinking Big. Later, I’d dive into Positive Psychology and the study of happiness and our overall well-being by reading the likes of Martin Seligman, Shawn Achor, Sonja Lyubomirsky, and others.

Lastly, I moved on to everything spirituality and worldly wisdom, eventually landing on Buddhism, most specifically Zen and the likes of Thich Nhat Hanh, Alan Watts, D.T. Suzuki, Shunryu Suzuki, and other teachers from The Dalai Lama and Pema Chodron to Chogyam Trungpa, and of course, the Buddha. 

Each new book I read, each new talk I listened to, and each new person I studied, from the self-actualization arena to pure “self-development”, “well-being”, and “spirituality”, I got a little bit closer. But a little bit closer to what? It was always about fulfilling the need, filling the hole I felt inside of myself.

11 Ways to Make Meditation a Daily Habit

11 Ways to Make Meditation a Daily Habit

While not quite "mainstream", over the past 30 years in the West, meditation has quickly begun to shift from being perceived as some “woowoo” practice for hippies by most to a useful tool which holds valuable benefits towards cultivating greater well-being.

Nowadays, people of all different backgrounds meditate from executives to employees, doctors to patients, teachers to students, parents to children, and people of all walks of life in between.

It’s no secret that the benefits of meditation aren’t permanent. Meditation is a practice, something which needs to be practiced regularly, if not daily, to gain consistent or continuous benefits from the practice.

And yet I’ve found that, in both my research and personal practice and teaching experience, very few meditators are able to stick to a consistent meditation practice. In fact, most drop off altogether because of their challenge with sticking to a consistent practice.

For years, I struggled to stick to a consistent meditation practice. I had experienced the beauty and benefit of the practice early on and knew what it did for me, and yet, I just couldn’t bring myself to stick to this thing which I knew was good for me (forget "good", let me speak truthfully: life changing). Something always got in the way, but rarely could I pinpoint it.

It took years before I was able to really deconstruct the central challenges that stood in the way of us and sticking to a consistent meditation practice and create a daily practice of my own.

101 Inspiring Mindfulness Quotes to Live By

101 Inspiring Mindfulness Quotes to Live By

Mindfulness practice, at its foundation, is simple and straightforward (at least, the how, actually doing the practice can be another story).

However, the practice of mindfulness is really our whole life. It's mindfulness practice which allows us to become more awake to our life as a whole and uncover countless insights that have a real and significant impact on the quality of our day-to-day life.

For this reason, mindfulness practice touches every aspect of our life. It includes what goes on within us, from the story we tell ourselves in our day-to-day life with thoughts and imaginations and the myriad of feelings we experience such as fear, anger, and sadness to the sensations we feel in the body and how the mind and body are really interconnected as one whole, sensations affecting the mind and thoughts and feelings affecting the body.

However, it goes much further than that. It can change our relationship with loved ones for the positive, improving our patience and priming us for greater understanding, compassion, and loving-kindness.

Years ago, mindfulness and meditation practice changed my life in real and significant ways and it continues to do so today (some of which are associated with what I mentioned above).

The words below might seem like simply enjoyable blurbs either confirming your life's experiences or beliefs or insightful reading which can open your mind to a new idea. And they are exactly that.

10 Easy Ways to Start Being Mindful Today

10 Easy Ways to Start Being Mindful Today

Over the past 30 years, the practice of mindfulness meditation (mostly a secularized version originating from Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program) has spread throughout the West.

Today millions of people all around the world are discovering the power of mindfulness through the practice of formal meditation. However, mindfulness practice extends beyond just sitting on the meditation cushion.

Mindfulness practice doesn't stop at being mindful of the breath. In just the same way that we are mindful of physical sensations in the body along with thoughts and emotions in the mind while we meditate, we can become mindful of feelings, thoughts, and emotions throughout our everyday life.

Activities such as walking, cleaning, and driving can be transformed from mundane autopilot activities to moments in our day where we stop the habitual rushing around (even if only for a moment) and come alive to the beauty and peace of that moment.

All it takes to begin living a more mindful life is to do a few minor activities mindfully more often. The result starts out small, but quickly these little moments of mindfulness practice can spread into the rest of your life in the same way that the effects of a consistent sitting meditation practice spread into the rest of your life (provided it's with a consistent effort) and positively affect everything you do.

Below are 10 easy ways to start being more mindful in your daily life. My suggestion? Pick 1-2 of these to work on at first. By focusing in on a few small moments each day you'll be more likely to follow through and develop mindfulness into a daily practice throughout your life.

How to Reaffirm Your Meditation Practice and Get Back Up When You Fail

How to Reaffirm Your Meditation Practice and Get Back Up When You Fail

When you commit to meditation practice, you begin on the path towards self-discovery.

And along this path you'll experience dozens of "little defeats" or adversities. Anyone that's ever worked to do something (anything) has encountered them. It's simply part of the process towards personal and spiritual growth.

Those little defeats don't point to your own inability, though. In fact, they serve as guideposts indicating that you're about to push beyond your current state to something "greater".

Your meditation practice, as well as your goals in the practice, will be unique to you. However, everyone encounters essentially the same types of adversities, or little defeats, along the way that threaten to undermine your efforts: the psychological barrier that convinces us we're being unproductive if we choose to meditate instead of work, the constant busyness that clouds our mind and leaves us asking, "what happened?" at the end of each day, and the fear that we're not practicing properly.

No matter which applies to you, eventually, you're going to lose focus. These adversities and the resulting loss of focus are a natural part of the process (of doing anything, really), so you'll need to know how to get passed them to be able to maintain a consistent practice that brings you calm and clarity.

A loss of focus could last a few hours, days, even months or worst of all if left untreated could lead you to quit on your meditation practice altogether. It's because of this that when these little defeats occur, it's important to treat them with a great sense of urgency.

 

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