Comfort - OR - Authenticity?

"There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction."                  John F. Kennedy  


"and the day came
when the risk to remain
tight in a bud
was more painful than the risk
it took to blossom"                                                           anais nin


"Waking up to who you are
requires letting go of who
you imagine yourself to be."                                            Alan Watts

Meditation is Powerful

     “As you go deeper into your practice, there will be times of great inner tension followed by release to the point of weeping. If you have not experienced this at least several times, you have not yet really practiced.”
        Kornfield J, Breiter P. A still forest pool. The insight meditation of Achaan Chah. Quest Books, Wheaton IL, 1985.

     Meditation practice does bring about de-repression of psychological material, where repressed, often emotionally-charged material, comes to the surface. This tends to happen gradually, so the meditator accommodates to his/her gradually increasing awareness & acceptance. However, it can occur suddenly, which can be traumatic.
       Willoughby Britton PhD studies the Adverse Effects in Meditation:
         http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/the-dark-knight-of-the-souls/372766/


     Our task is to discover a freedom that's independent of all circumstances & times.
       Kornfield J, Breiter P. A still forest pool. The insight meditation of Achaan Chah. Quest Books, Wheaton IL, 1985.
 

Curtis Steele   www.cheerfuleye.com

Mindfulness & Research?

     The "point of view that some things should not be subjected to dissection, analysis, and the empirical methods of science has a long history. Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893), the great 19th-century Plato scholar, theologian, and master of Balliol College at Oxford, felt this way. He grumbled, 'Research! Research! A mere excuse for idleness; it has never achieved, and will never achieve any results of the slightest value.'”

       Dossey L. Healing research: what we know and don't know. Explore (NY) 2008; Nov-Dec;4(6):341-52. doi: 10.1016/j.explore.2008.09.009.

     Also, how does one who meditates best invest his/her limited time and energy?

Richard Kirsten Daiensai    http://www.kirstengallery.com