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We all want happiness, but much joy do you experience in your life? And I mean real "heart welling up," "spring in the step," "full of the joys of spring joy," "happy for no reason" joy, rather than the dull sense of pleasure that we often experience. Most people, when they're asked this question, will say "not much." Many may go entire days, or even weeks, without any significant joy. Life can often seem like an endless round of chasing deadlines and striving to stay on top of an ever-growing to-do list, and so be imbued with a sense of stress. Do we even expect to be happy? It strikes me that many of us have low expectations for how happy we will be. We don't expect our lives to produce much joy. How do we look for happiness? By vegging out in front of the TV, or by eating, or shopping, or Facebook, or through alcohol? But these pursuits often lead, at best, to that sense of dull pleasure I mentioned earlier, rather t...

Yesterday I achieved one of my lifelong goals: I became a newspaper columnist. Sure, the paper is Salem Weekly -- which actually is published every two weeks, but since this is Salem's alternative newspaper, likely most of the readers are too stoned to notice. And Salem Weekly is free. So I'm a columnist in a paper which gets grabbed out of boxes, sometimes by people who need a foundation layer for their kitty litter. But like I said in a post on my other blog: Still, hey, I'm a columnist! Along with Paul Krugman and Thomas Friedman. I'm just one (freaking gigantic) step from being read regularly by readers of this country's most respected newspaper. Since I have my permission to do so, I'll share another quote from that post about why I'm so enthused about being able to ponder the ins and outs of strangeness bi-weekly. At the age of 64, it's all becoming  very clear  to me now. Very clear indeed. I'm homing in on the Secret of the Cosm...

"True love always brings joy to ourselves and to the one we love. If our love does not bring joy to both of us, it is not true love."   ~Thich Nhat Hanh Technorati Tags: Buddha Buddhist Buddhism Meditation Dharma Read More @ Source

Do women wear red to advertise their fertility? CREDIT: Woman in red photo via Shutterstock WASHINGTON D.C. — That little red dress or pink sweater may be sending more of a message than you think: it could be an overt sign of a woman's fertility, a new study suggests. In the study, 124 women ages 18 to 47 were asked what color shirt they were wearing, and when they had their last period. From the latter question, researchers calculated which women in the study were currently at the peak of fertility in their cycles (about six to 14 days after the last period). Those who were wearing red or pink were about three times more likely to be at peak fertility than those who wore other colors, the study found. Previous research showed that some animals put on displays during their fertile periods to attract mates, but no such displays were known to exist in humans, the researchers said. The new study provides some evidence to suggest there may be a way to directl...

WASHINGTON — People tend to get happier as they age, and a new study could explain why: Older adults may be better able to deal with negative emotions like anger and anxiety. In the study, older adults were less likely than younger adults to feel angry and anxious in their everyday lives, as well as when they were asked to perform a stressful task. In addition, older adults scored higher on a test designed to measure how well participants accept their negative emotions. The researchers call this trait "acceptance," or a tendency to be in touch with rather than avoid negative emotions. The results may explain a paradox that's been seen in many other studies: Despite declines in physical and mental health, older adults are happier than young or middle-age adults. [5 Reasons Aging Is Awesome] Younger people could take advantage of the findings to experience more happiness well before they grow old, said study researcher Iris Mauss, a psychologist ...

Do you ever feel like you're stuck on autopilot and not tapping into your creative side? You're so entrenched in your daily routine that hours and hours can pass without ever fully engaging your brain in a more expanded way. Being stuck on autopilot can be helpful and gets the job done - when the job is boring and repetitive, but what happens when you need to be creative? Getting those creative juices flowing when you're stuck in a repetitive rut can be difficult. You need to create a looser environment with no distractions to allow yourself to slip into creative flow. Yep, if you want to get your creative juices flowing you need to loosen the tight grip of your schedule and your thinking by shaking up your routine. Here are 5 playfully crazy tips to get your creative juices flowing. Read more » Read More @ Source

By Leo Babauta Are you up for a 30-day challenge that will make your days simpler, more focused, less stressful? Starting tomorrow (June 1), my Sea Change Program members are tackling the Simplify Your Day Challenge , and I'm inviting you to join us. The challenge will be tracked through with Lift, the excellent habit-tracking app on the iPhone … and Lift is now offering early access to the new web version of the app, for Sea Change members. The Simplify Your Day Challenge is to say "No" to one thing per day . What kinds of things should you say "No" to? Well, not to the important stuff! Instead, say "No" to: Commitments you can let go Appointments that aren't absolutely essential Non-essential to-do items Multi-tasking Distractions Moving quickly Doing smaller tasks instead of important tasks You don't have to say "No" to all of those every day. In fact, during the challenge, I'l...

A couple of times people have contacted me saying that self-compassion is not possible. Both times they've quoted dictionary definitions that present compassion as something that's inherently directed toward others. For example: com·pas·sion n. Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. [Emphasis added] And the etymology of compassion — "[to be] with suffering" — has also been cited as a reason for rejecting the notion of self-compassion, because that's taken to suggest that we be with the suffering of others. But it can be misleading to insist that the etymology of a word defines or exhausts its present meaning. Sure, com- means with and passion means suffering. But we can be with (our own) suffering . And in any event dictionaries are necessarily a simplification of how language is actually used, and it's not always the case that definitions correspond to reality. Having said that, though, the Oxford Englis...

Nurse.com: Practicing a form of meditation and stretching can help relieve symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and normalize stress hormone levels, according to a study of nurses. More than 7 million adults nationwide are diagnosed with PTSD in a typical year, according to background information for the study, which is scheduled for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. PTSD patients have high levels of corticotrophin-releasing hormone and unusually low levels of cortisol, both of which regulate the body's response to stress. Although levels of cortisol typically rise in response to pressure, PTSD patients have abnormally low levels of cortisol… Read the original article » Read More @ Source

I never really believed that it was possible to play, and still make money until I started playing. I played really hard for one year, but for some reason, I didn't go broke! Many people told me to get serious with my life and get a job. But being stubborn as I was, I played harder! Even my dog started to wonder who between the two of us was the real dog. That's what happens when you do what you love. Read more » Read More @ Source

"Whenever anger comes up, take out a mirror and look at yourself. When you are angry, you are not very beautiful." ~Thich Nhat Hanh Technorati Tags: Buddha Buddhist Buddhism Meditation Dharma Read More @ Source

Jeff Strickler, Star Tribune: When the Rev. Ron Moor began meditating 30 years ago, he did so in secret. "When I started, meditation was a dirty word," said Moor, pastor of Spirit United Church in Minneapolis. "[Evangelist] Jimmy Swaggart called it 'the work of the devil.' Because of its basis in Eastern religions, fundamentalists considered it satanic. Now those same fundamentalists are embracing it. And every class I teach includes at least a brief meditation." The faith community isn't alone in changing its attitude. Businesses, schools and hospitals not only have become more accepting of meditation, but many offer classes on it. Meditating has… Read the original article » Read More @ Source

Reuse. Recycle.  Good advice for handling material stuff. Also practices that can be used with religious stuff. Recently someone emailed me, asking whether I still repeated the mantra I was taught after being initiated into a guru-based meditation practice. Part of my reply was: Usually I don't repeat the RSSB mantra. But sometimes I do, sort of for old time's sake. I figure that I repeated it so many times over the many years, it must have formed some sort of concentrative relaxed groove in my brain. It's kind of comforting to repeat the Five Names. Sometimes I do it while falling asleep. Or just a few of the names. There's no harm in continuing to engage in a religious practice, even though you no longer believe in the religion. Many lapsed Christians still go to church. They enjoy the atmosphere, the hymns, the stained glass, socializing afterward, whatever .  Me, I still meditate every day. I rarely use the mantra mentioned above during my meditation. Ho...

An interesting discourse, the Aggañña Sutta ( A. ii. 80 ) is about the beginning ( agg ) knowledge ( añña ) of the castes.  It also happens to be a somewhat humorous putdown of the Brahmin caste who claim that their lineage goes back to the god Brahmâ which makes them always superior to others.  But according to the Buddha, all castes are the same when it comes to doing good and bad things.  The Buddha says, "Both dark and bright qualities ... are scattered indiscriminately among all four castes." The Buddha then goes on to tell a story (which is more myth like) which shows how beings de-evolve from the Abhassara Brahma world; who gradually become more coarse and degenerate except for those who are restrained in body, speech and thought; who will attain nirvana in this very life.  (Brackets are mine.)  10. 'There comes a time, Vasettha, when, sooner or later after a long period, this world contracts [dissolves]. At a time of contraction, beings are mostly born i...

"…an individual keeps pervading the first direction — as well as the second direction, the third, and the fourth — with an awareness imbued with compassion. Thus he keeps pervading above, below, and all around, everywhere and in every respect the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness imbued with compassion: abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will." I want to focus on the phrase, of the Buddha's, "an awareness imbued with compassion," because I think it's rather important. Here's something you can try in your meditation. When I'm teaching, often at the beginning of a period of practice I'll suggest that people become aware of the light, and space, and sound around them. It's the space that's particularly important to notice. I encourage them to feel the space in front, behind, to the sides — even above and below. We have this sense of space as one of our senses, although we tend to neglect i...

When I talk to people about how much they experience joy, most say, "Not so much." Joy is not a frequent visitor, and when it does appear, it's fleeting. Joy arises when we are open to both the beauty and suffering inherent in living. Like a great sky that includes all different types of weather, joy is an expansive quality of presence. It says "Yes to life, no matter what!" Yet it's infrequency lets us know our more habitual posture: resisting what's happening, saying "No" to the life that is here and now. We tend to override our innate capacity for joy with our incessant inner dialogue, our chronic attempts to avoid unpleasantness and to hold on to pleasure. Rather than joy in the present moment, we are trying to get somewhere else, to experience something that is better, different. The great French writer, André Gide, said: "Know that joy is rarer, more difficult and more beautiful than sadness. Once you make this all-importan...

By Leo Babauta Our days fill up so fast, and are so rushed and filled with distractions, that they seem to be bursting. It's a huge source of stress for most people, and stress is perhaps the most important factor determining whether we're healthy or sick. So how can we simplify our days? It's not incredibly hard, but I've found it's best done in steps. These are the steps I followed, though of course calling them "rules" means we should test them and break them as needed. No rules should be followed blindly. I've found these to work really well, though. See below for my June Challenge to help you implement a simpler day. 9 Rules for a Simpler Day These are the rules I suggest: Know What's Important . The simple version of simplifying is "Identify what's important, and eliminate the rest." So take time to identify the most important things in your life (4-5 things), and then see what activities, tas...

The universal June numerology forecast indicates that this month you will have more vitality than in May and will have strong creative urges… Read the rest for the #3 below. The number information in italics is for the current month's universal forecast. To find your own personal month: add your month and day of birth and the current month and year together like in the example below. Example: Feb 3, June 2013 2+3 +6 +2+0+1+3=17=1+7= 8 #1 – New Beginning Are you ready for a new beginning in your work or family life? You are busy planning and have a lot of things to do. This is a great month for a wedding, the birth of a child or the start of a new business. Be disciplined and use your head. You take pride in your accomplishments, but also know that you still have much to do. #2 – Slow Month This is a going to be a slow month with strong romantic possibilities. This is a time of integrations and changes in friendship. Small details will make a big differen...

"We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive."   ~Thich Nhat Hanh Technorati Tags: Buddha Buddhist Buddhism Meditation Dharma Read More @ Source