Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery found itself near the worst of the 2017 wildfire catastrophe. The fires tore through the region causing severe damage to many communities. Despite a very close call, the thriving Monastery was spared by the latest fires.
Wildfires in California are increasingly causing destruction.
Check out the surreal visuals in this trailer for ‘California on Fire’ from 2016.
California On Fire trailer from Jeff Frost on Vimeo.
The Jilling Terraces are set on the South Gola mountain range of the Himalayas in North India. It’s popular with eco minded travelers and groups. It’s so off the beaten path they send a guide to take you from the local town. After about a 45 minute hike through the forest you’ll find the historic Chestnut House.
Built in 1933 it’s now updated with a traditional style that is warm and welcoming. You can rely on hot showers and clean bathrooms in any of their four suites. It’s a perfect setting for long stay guests seeking a peaceful and inspiring place for inner exploration such as meditation, Yoga or artistic disciplines.
Often perched above the clouds with magnificent views of the Himalayas. The surrounding forest is filled with large conifers, thick oaks, luscious rhododendrons, chestnut, peaches, plums and apple trees. There are great trails to explore, seasonal waterfalls and chances to capture a rare glimpse of wildlife such as Leopards.
Visit their website to learn more at https://www.jillingterraces.com/
If you enjoyed the article please share the love and like, comment or share.
As always, thank you for reading!
If you want to quit smoking for good and enjoy it then take these simple steps:
Sit at least 15 minutes in the next 24 hours. For the first week up to 60 minutes a day if it feels right but it’s crucial to set a time and sit completely still through to the end. Be determined to sit through discomfort in meditation and then you can immediately apply the experience to cigarette cravings. Each time you beat the craving there will be positive rush and before long no more cravings. Learn the skill from a good instructor. Body sweeping and anapanasati are great techniques that will allow you to release the burden of a smoking habit.
You can stop meditating once you feel the cravings have stopped for a few months at least. Chances are you wont want to.
Instructions on breath meditation
Enjoy!
I enjoyed this short clip from evolutionary psychologist Robert Wright explaining what happens inside your brain when you sit to meditate and how it can change your perception of the outside world. Wright is the author of “Why Buddhism is True.”
Many studies have been completed and more are in the works. After reading through some of these studies I’m pleased to see they are recognizing that the skill level of the meditator has a large effect.
Check out this study titled, Cognitive-Affective Neural Plasticity following Active-Controlled Mindfulness Intervention.
A primary finding of the present investigation is our observation of differential improvements depending on individual differences in practice adherence. Here we observed that while a brief (6 week) mindfulness intervention provides overall benefits for cognitive control and executive neural processing, alterations at the level of affective processing occurred only in those participants with the greatest level of mindfulness practice. This has possible implications for the understanding and optimal application of MT in clinical settings. Given our finding that alterations in frontoinsular response to emotional stimuli occurred only in those participants with the most practice, application of MT in contexts where training bottom-up affective-somatic processes are a central aim (for example, in sexual affective disorder) may require a more extensive application of MT, perhaps centered on explicit compassion practice (Silverstein et al., 2011). In contrast, treatment effects on DLPFC activity observed here may support the role of brief MT interventions targeting focused attention in, for example, posttraumatic stress disorder, where hypoactivation of DLPFC during the AS task processing has been reported previously (Blair et al., 2012). A one-size-fits-all approach is therefore not likely to lead to the optimal application of MT.
Our results show that MT is an effective attention-training regime with cascading benefits in cognitive control and affective processing. By controlling for motivation and social support, we found evidence that the constellation of mindfulness practices have particular roles to play in neuroplasticity and mental training. These findings suggest that applications of MT aimed at training attention may benefit from brief intervention, whereas alterations in affective processes require a more substantial commitment of time and motivation.
Cognitive-Affective Neural Plasticity following Active-Controlled Mindfulness Intervention
J. Neurosci. 2012 32 (44) 15601-15610
Well that has me motivated to go sit! Thank you for reading and make it a great moment.
Please Like, Comment and Share!
The Longquan temple in China has welcomed a brand new monk: robot Xian’er. He can answer questions on Buddhism and sense his surroundings.
The Trump administration has recently decided to allow hunters to bring trophies of elephants killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia back to the United States. This decision overturns a ban put in place by the Obama administration in 2014. Unfortunately for elephants, the US President loves undoing wildlife and environmental protections put in place by Obama. Is it a coincidence his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are known big game hunters?
Outcry related to this decision has been loud and clear on social media. Celebrities are also lending their voice to this issue. Comedian Ricky Gervais, actress Ellen Pompeo, musician Moby and supermodel Behati Prinsloo are just some of the big names who have spoken out on this highly controversial decision.
“Elephants show compassion, sympathy, social intelligence, self awareness. They’re excellent at learning abilities. All the things I have yet to see in this president.”
The presenter and comedian posted an illustration of an elephant’s head on her Twitter and Instagram pages, saying for every like and retweet she received she would make a donation to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
More information regarding the intelligence and emotional capacity of elephants can be found here
Learn more about the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust .
UPDATE: Nov 18, 2017 President Trump has put a hold on implementing this policy reversal.
This Buddha carving was found in the Zuixian Lake in Nancheng County, China. Villagers saw its head emerge as the lake lowered by more than 30 meters due to a hydro-electric project. The ancient Buddha was carved on a cliff face and could date back to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) 14th century, according to state media Xinhua News Agency.
In a recent episode of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Larry David takes heat from his hot yoga teacher when he doesn’t “Namaste” with the other Yogis at the end of class.
When people challenge the mystical language around yoga, meditation and religion it’s cool. Words like karma, nirvana, zen, nibbana, enlightenment, Jesus. These words are great sometimes, depends who’s saying them. I love the word Zen because its nice to say, nice to hear, it looks nice. Lots of reasons. That’s probably why we see it so much in advertising.
I don’t like saying Namaste very much. I associate it with young Canadian women leading Yoga classes who are not all that different from the character in this clip. The prayer hands (Anjali) not as annoying. Lets face it though it’s often nothing more than spiritual hooha in a glorified fitness class. Have you ever witnessed a teacher pressure someone one to Namaste like she does in this clip?
I’m a certified yoga teacher which I am qualified to tell you means F**k all.
I’ll do the Anjali hands at the end of class but don’t usually say Namaste. Well done Larry!
In an article by the Theravada Bhikkhu Ven. Jayasaro for Lions Roar titled “Just Do It”, he talks about a core value of the Buddha’s path; intelligent desire and motivation. A quality often referred to as Chanda. In the article, Ajahn Jayasaro describes the atmosphere he was trained in and recollects some words from his teacher, “As I recall, in those days after evening chanting, Ajahn Chah would often say, “Now is the time to go back to your kutis and put forth effort.” He didn’t say, “Go back and meditate.” So our practice was conceived in terms of effort, and it was the putting forth of effort that was important. The willingness and interest to do…”
In Nike’s slogan “Just Do It” they tap into something similar that is at the core of humanity. The need to develop the proper desire and motivation to do, to push and excel in our activities. It’s a good thing.
“The Buddha spoke of two kinds of desire: desire that arises from ignorance and delusion, which is called tanha, craving, and desire that arises from wisdom and intelligence, which is called kusala-chanda, or dhamma-chanda, or most simply chanda. Chanda has a range of meanings, but in this case I’m using it to mean wise and intelligent desire and motivation, which the Buddha stressed as being absolutely fundamental to any progress on the eightfold path.”
Ven. Ajahn Jayasaro has some great talks out here on the internet. I was happy to see this article he wrote recently. Check it out if you want to read the full article https://www.lionsroar.com/just-do-it/.
If you are just beginning and want to learn a great and simple meditation technique try mindfulness of breathing (Anapanasati) from the Buddha’s teaching in the Anapanasati Sutta.
Thank you for reading Zen Panda. Please like, follow and comment. Give us your feedback or ask any questions.
Zen Panda 