Meditation is a state where the made goes into a deeper level of thinking or awareness. Through meditation you gain a better hold of your emotions and reactions towards things and situations. It helps you become more patient and allows you to easily let go of negative attitudes such as anger.

The first thing you should do is to make time to meditate. Set a certain time of day, preferably in the morning to meditate. Making it part of your daily routine will yield better results. A friend once told me that meditation is spiritual hygiene –a way to let go of negative feelings.

Next, find a quiet and relaxing environment that is free from noise or other distractions. It will help you calm your mind and clear your thoughts. If you have a strong sense of focus and you can meditate amidst the hustle and bustle then feel free to do so.

Sit on level ground preferably on a cushion with your back straight so that you can breathe easier. Let your arms fall freely on your sides or put them on your lap. Make sure every part  of your body is relaxed. Find a better posture or position if needed.

Focus on how you breathe. Get into the rhythm and recite a mantra such as “uhm” repetitively if needed. You may say it out loud or in your mind. Visualize a relaxing place and allow yourself to be there. Calming thoughts and images make meditation easier.

Lastly silence your mind. Let thoughts and feelings flow without judgment. Send off the negative things and keep the good thoughts and feelings. Let it envelope you. Maintain the fuzzy and warm feeling from the positive energies and allow them to flow.

Image from  lisadragon

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the entire world, and has been around since 6th century BC. There is no doubt that you have seen the statues of chubby-bellied Buddha. They are everywhere, from cheap shopping mall gift stores to sacred temples, and many people have Buddha statues in their homes, “for good luck.” But is that what Buddha is all about? And just what is Buddhism, anyway? It’s likely that there is much you don’t know about Buddhism, and that much of what you do think you know is an inaccurate spin based on Westernized ideals. Here are five things you didn’t know about Buddhism:

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Meditation is one of the most commonly used forms of natural stress relief. The process of emptying your mind and simply focusing on your breathing can can help you rationalize whether or not the stress is justified. In other words, it can open your mind to how little things don’t have to affect you so negatively. If you’ve never tried meditating, the following are just a few of the basics to help get you started. Below you’ll find information on the benefits of meditation, different types and techniques you can try to make your experience more beneficial.

The Benefits of Meditation

Meditation has a number of great health benefits. Not only can meditation help lower your blood pressure and heart rate, but it can also enhance your immune system and reduce PMS symptoms. Of course, health isn’t the only beneficial reason to use meditation. Meditation is also used for psychological and spiritual reasons. Continue reading »

Philosophy is a complex subject. As a matter of fact, even those who are well-acquainted with philosophy can sometimes be hard-pressed to articulate an exact way of defining philosophy. Perhaps the broadest and most general way to describe philosophy would be to say that it is the art of thinking. Of course, there is much more to thinking and thought than can be described in only one book, and those new to philosophy may feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of philosophy texts available. If you are interested in learning about philosophy and wondering where to begin, then this list of five awesome books about philosophy for beginners should get you on the right track.

The Beginner’s History of Philosophy by Herbert Ernest Cushman. This book starts at the birth of philosophy and takes the reader through all of the three major periods of philosophy: ancient philosophy, medieval philosophy, and modern philosophy. It’s a great starting point for understanding how the collective mindset of man has changed over the ages, and how deeply philosophy is ingrained in culture and society.

A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. As the title suggests, this book provides a basic overview of Western philosophy’s growth and evolution over history. It contains a thorough analysis of must-know Western philosophical views, such as those of Kant, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Dewey and Nietzsche. Russell was an extremely educated man, with a well-rounded knowledge of everything related to philosophy, and his writing is clear, easy to follow, and never obscure. Continue reading »

Many people who have heard of modern philosophical movements like “The Secret” scoff at the idea that just changing your thinking can change your whole life. What they don’t understand is that the way you think DOES affect your life journey, and in a major way. It’s not a matter of just magically making things happen because you think and believe them to be true; rather, it’s a matter of using your thinking to CREATE positive changes and accomplish the things that are most important to you. How does this work? Here is a guide to changing your mindset to achieve success.

Block out societal pressures. This doesn’t mean you have to go live in a cave somewhere. However, you must learn to focus in on what your inner voice is telling you, and discard societal pressures to live up to material definitions of what is expected of you. YOU know best what is best for you, and you are not a cookie-cutter creation. You are an individual with unique strengths, talents, and potential. Discover them by listening to YOU.
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By now, most everyone has at least some reference point for the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon. This post is not intended to decipher whether the protesters are right or wrong. That’s a different blog. That being said, there is an interesting ethical dilemma involving these events that have spread to many cities and towns throughout the United States and a few other countries.

The growing movement started at a small park off Wall Street in New York City when a number of protesters peacefully took over Zuccotti Park and vowed not to leave. There cause seems to run a gauntlet of ideas and covers a litany of concerns although it appears to be rooted in anger with corporate greed and government corruption. The two-month-old protest in New York City’s financial district has grown to include thousands of participants. Continue reading »

Alice came to a fork in the road.  “Which road do I take?” she asked.
“Where do you want to go?” responded the Cheshire cat.
“I don’t know,” Alice answered.
“Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”

~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

At one point in our lives, there comes a time when we are confused and we do not know what to do. We rethink our past and have “what ifs”, after we move forward aimlessly, just moving with no final destination. Seasons change and time pass and yet we still feel that we are in the exact same place where we started.

One thing we have to accept about life is that it is full of choices. Roadblocks are part of the package. They are there so we can pause and think about what we really want. Worse, they will appear again and again until we learn our lesson. We must continue to move forward and become better.

We must be open to change.  It may seem as if we have no direction, but in reality we are learning. Each day and experience is full of new things to see or do. We just have to be open.  Options will always be there. We must accept that we cannot take both roads at the same time. There are things we can and cannot do in a personal capacity, but either way it contributes to our well-being if we allow it to.

So if you don’t know where you are heading, just live. Take it easy and enjoy the ride. In the end the road you took will not matter and most likely there will be no regrets because you have probably gained so much more than what you have asked for.

Photo Courtesy Of:  whale05

These days, we all share a little more in common with Albert Camus and Franz Kafka than we may realize.

World events of the past decade have wrought considerable pain and discomfort on people the world over. There have been terrorist attacks, wars, financial turmoil, shootings, robberies, one natural disaster after another and outbreaks of disease.

No wonder we’re all a bit wracked. Philosophers call it an existential crisis.

From this calamity develops a sense of doubt; where the logic of our very existence is challenged. The pain we feel makes us wonder, “Why am I even here?” The existential crisis is a deep introspection of self-worth that is driven by a traumatic event or some other similar causal factor. Continue reading »

I have never really thought of work in a strictly philosophical light. Neither have I associated the philosophy of work with being an American. I suppose I am no different from my neighbor or my colleague. I go to work because it is part of life. It is necessary. Without working, I would not be able to live the life that I have now.

Yet those thoughts in themselves are already the start of some philosophical analysis. Why do Americans work? Why is work so much part of our lives? These things – and more – were brought to my attention when I ran across Jason J. Campbell’s article titled Americana and the Philosophy of Work. In it, he highlights how the “American culture is intrinsically tied to labor.” He states:

We are a culture of laborers and Americana habituates its citizens to the necessity of work. We are a culture of workers and therefore any attempt to understand Americana must be met by an equal attempt to understand how Americans work.

In discussing Americana, the vast majority of the population has to work because of an acute sense of economic necessity, that is, they work because they have to. Generally speaking, only the very wealthy or those who have retired have the “luxury” of working for its sheer satisfaction.

True enough. I myself believe that I am part of the former group described in the preceding paragraph. Why do you work?