Wise Ways To Happiness

A Free Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Course

George Shears — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:20:25 +0000

As a result of the amazing generosity of Jay Uhdinger, I’m very happy to share with you a basic video course in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). I became aware of this impressive, high quality resource via an email from Mr. Uhdinger with this introduction:

Together with a friend who is an illustrator, I have created a 100% free (no catch, no email subscription or whatever) mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) course. . .

I have to stress this again… this is 100% free and my whole interest is that people learn about these essential concepts because they can rock their world (as they rocked mine).

The lessons are easy to understand, come as videos with illustrations and I also cite the Psychology studies that I used as sources. I have a bit of experience with giving online courses because that is what my for profit ventures are about.

MBCT has changed my life and that’s why I would be happy if more people would learn about it.

It is a pretty powerful combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness meditation. Right now it is used to prevent people from relapsing into depression BUT the concepts can also be used to simply take your life to the next level (and that’s what this course is meant for).

Nothing more, nothing less.

If you have any questions, comments or feedback just hit the reply button. If you don’t have time right now and want me to remind you about the course again just hit reply and write for example “2 days” and I will get back to you then.

Thanks for reading this and all the best.

Jay Uhdinger

You can access this course by clicking HERE

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

By clicking on the following link, you can get a FREE self-guided program in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, including 6 audios in mp3 format.

Mindful Eating As Food for Thought

George Shears — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:50:09 +0000

As I have posited repeatedly on this blog, mindfulness can be understood as a “master skill” in that it potentially enhances the performance of nearly all other human skills. Moreover, it also serves as a powerful corrective for a wide variety of unskillful human propensities–especially those that are compulsive or addictive in nature.

This very informative article in the 2/7/12 edition of the New York Times entitled, “Mindful Eating As Food for Thought,” provides an outstanding illustration of this fact and also demonstrates how mindfulness continues to gain mainstream prominence in the U.S.

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

By clicking on the following link, you can get a FREE self-guided program in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, including 6 audios in mp3 format.

Shortcuts To Inner Peace By Ashley Davis Bush

George Shears — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:31:22 +0000

Due to the prevailing “time poverty” of the modern world, many people are unlikely to free up the requisite time to engage in a formal practice of mindfulness meditation. As the following review by Bodhipaksa of Ashley Davis Bush’s book, Shortcuts to Inner Peace, emphasizes, however, nearly anyone can implement the simple, but powerful, methods of bringing mindfulness into everyday life.

Being Happy as a Profound Form of Altruism

George Shears — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:39:44 +0000

The following article by Bodhipaksa shows that we offer a great service to others and to humanity in general by cultivating the art of happiness:

“ Saddhamala wrote the other dayabout how we “catch” emotions from others. As she points out, this happens when you’re hanging around someone who is negative, and it brings you down, and that it even happens when we watch a movie!”

(Read the entire article HERE.)

Bodhipaksa Offers Five Ways to Increase Your Joy

George Shears — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:58:16 +0000

In the following article, Bodhipaksa offers an impressive array of skillful ways to increase our levels of joy and happiness:

“Joy (sukha in Pali) should be our natural state of being. Unfortunately, though, we’ve been brought up in a society that emphasizes wanting things and having things. Wanting things actually destroys joy, while having things brings only a short-term burst of pleasure that fades quickly.”
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Read the entire article HERE.

Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn Publishes a New Book on Mindfulness for Beginners

George Shears — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:57:09 +0000

Jon Kabat-Zinn, an MIT-trained molecular biologist, began meditating in 1966, when the practice was primarily the province of hippies and gurus, not scientists. Now, thanks in large part to his efforts, it has become mainstream medicine. Dozens of studies have since shown the benefits of what he termed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in treating cardiovascular disease, depression, addictions, chronic pain and many other conditions.

Kabat-Zinn has authored a new book, Mindfulness for Beginners that aims to introduce meditation to first-timers.

Read more here

New Facebook Page

George Shears — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:23:53 +0000

This is an invitation to my new Facebook page. Its title is “We’re All One” and its main aim is to promote full awakening from the pervasive illusion of separateness, which I regard as the single most important cause of suffering on Planet Earth.

Please check it out and “Like” it at:
http://www.facebook.com/WereAllOne?sk=app_351957104934

Do You Suffer From Tinnitus? Mindfulness May Help

George Shears — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:08:04 +0000

The list of potential benefits of mindfulness meditation is getting progressively longer as people with various physical, mental, or emotional afflictions experiment with it. Here’s a recent report of its effectiveness in helping people who are subject to chronic tinnitus:

“Silence is a beautiful thing. But Robert DeMong has accepted that he’ll likely never experience it again.

“He’s got a condition called tinnitus, which means a ringing sound travels with him everywhere he goes, including to bed at night.” (Click here to read the rest of the article.)

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

By clicking on the following link, you can get a FREE self-guided program in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, including 6 audios in mp3 format.

Craig Hamilton’s Reflections on Independence Day

George Shears — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 01:31:04 +0000

I just received the following message from Craig Hamilton. I resonate with it strongly and thus decided to share it here:

“It’s Independence Day here in the U.S., and I’ve been reflecting
all day on both the beauty and the limitations of the fierce
independence so deeply rooted in our culture.

The call to independence is, in its essence, a call to freedom, and
has been responsible for profound cultural advances from the ending
of publicly condoned slavery to the steady advancement of human
rights.

Where our spirituality is concerned, however, our attachment to
independence may be one of the greatest obstacles on our path.

“As a spiritual guide and teacher, I’ve worked with thousands of
people aspiring to realize their spiritual potential. And, if I’ve
learned anything in the process, it is that to evolve on the
spiritual path, we need each other.

“To truly realize our highest potentials, we need to engage in
transformative interactions with other people who share our
aspiration to evolve.

“It’s a simple idea. But it’s implications run deep.

“Notice the complexity of how it lands for you, and perhaps you’ll
see what I mean.

“For instance, this notion that we can’t walk the spiritual path
alone may resonate with the part of you that longs for connection
and support on your journey.

“But you might also notice that another part of you finds it
difficult to swallow.

“In our modern world, in which independence has become almost a
religion, the notion that we need other people for anything seems
like heresy. Indeed, if we were to embrace such an idea, wouldn’t
we be giving away our power, and our freedom?

“When we think about traditional depictions of the spiritual path,
the picture that often comes to mind is also of a solitary,
independent journey. The lone sage on the mountaintop. The yogi
alone in the cave. The hermit in a hut. The wandering pilgrim.

“Even if we attend church services or classes or meditation groups,
most of us still tend to think of our spiritual path as a private,
internal, solo quest in which we are the sole determining factor of
our own spiritual destiny.

“But how independent are we really?

“If you’ve ever attended a personal growth workshop or spiritual
retreat, you’ve probably noticed that in an environment where
everyone is focused on our higher evolutionary potentials, it’s
relatively easy to experience a spiritual “high” or to break
through to new ground within ourselves.

But what happens when you come home from such an event, and find
yourself again surrounded by people who don’t share your higher
values and aspirations?

“For most of us, in the absence of a supportive social container for
our awakening, we find ourselves quickly losing touch with the new
potentials that had seemed so accessible in the retreat or workshop
environment.

“Although we like to think of ourselves as independent, the reality
is that we are social creatures. Our ability to co-exist with one
another depends on our willingness to abide within a matrix of
shared values, assumptions and agreements about what is real, what
is important, and most importantly, what is acceptable behavior.

“So, unless we surround ourselves with others who share our highest
spiritual values and aspirations, we will almost inevitably find
ourselves fighting against a kind of invisible but powerful ‘social
gravity’ pulling us back into the unenlightened, unevolved 1world
mind’ we’re trying to break free from.

“It’s not impossible to generate 1escape velocity1 on one’s own.
But, for most of us, a sustained context of “evolutionary
partnership” with kindred spirits becomes essential.

“Where and how do we begin to create such an environment?

“Begin by asking yourself some important questions:

-Of everyone I know, who can I truly be my highest self with?

-Among my friends, family and colleagues, who truly shares my
deepest values and highest spiritual aspirations?

-Do I have any social structures in my life in which I feel free to
stretch myself–and my relationships–beyond my and our comfort
zones? To reach into new territory without being concerned that
I’ll “rock the boat” or scare others off in my efforts to awaken
and evolve?

“If a number of people come to mind, count yourself among the
fortunate, and then arrange a meeting with your newly identified
“evolutionary partners” to begin to create a conscious container
for ongoing evolutionary partnership.

“In that meeting, make your shared agreements and values explicit.
As a starting point, I invite you to discuss with them one of the
Principles of Evolutionary Relationship I teach in my courses:

Evolutionary Relationship Principle #5:

“We agree that the context for our relationship will be leaning into
our evolutionary edges. Rather than meeting in our limitations and
problems, fears anddoubts, we take a stand for meeting in the
expression of our highest potential. We take up the challenge of
showing up and engaging from that place, stretching to manifest
that potential now, and explore that potential with each other.

“This is one of seven Principles of Evolutionary Relationship we explore
in my online course, but even on its own, if engaged with
sincerity, it can serve as a powerful foundation for deepening into
evolutionary partnership.

“However, if your relationship inventory does not immediately reveal
a core group of potential evolutionary partners, you may need to
begin searching for a new group of kindred spirits with whom you
resonate at the deepest level.

“You can do that in your local area, and thanks to the
ever-expanding power of the internet, you can also now find
community online. More and more opportunities are emerging all the
time for us to not only find loosely knit spiritual community, but
to find true kindred souls whose aspiration and focus is deeply
aligned with our own.

“Indeed, if you feel a resonance with the Integral Enlightenment
principles I’ve been sharing lately, and want to get a strong and
immediate experience of the potential for evolutionary community
I’m describing here, you’re welcome to join us for our 9-week
Awakening to an Evolutionary Relationship to Life telecourse, which
is still in its first week. If you register now, you can listen to
the audio of the week one orientation session and join us live for
our first course content session tomorrow night.

“One of the most consistent forms of feedback we receive from course
graduates is gratitude for the profound supportive community that
forms on the course, and the deep spiritual friendships that get
forged and continue long after the program ends.

“You can learn more and register here.

“Wherever your spiritual journey takes you, remember: you’re not in
this alone. You never will be. So, seek a supportive context for
your higher development, and you may find your solitary spiritual
journey being replaced by a rich, and joyous relational
spirituality in which the fruits of the path begin to show up
immediately as love, trust and shared inspiration with your
newfound partners in evolution.

To our interdependence,

Craig”

Spiritual Development as an Evolutionary Imperative

George Shears — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:23:07 +0000

Much of the essence of Mahayana Buddhism is summed up in the noble “Bodhisattva Ideal” of achieving enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. Those who have followed this noble path down through the centuries have been centrally motivated by bodhicitta–i.e., the wish to become a Buddha for the benefit of all beings.

The following short essay, which I received as an email message from Craig Hamilton, offers a clear and inspiring modern rendering of this ancient Great Wisdom. I strongly share Craig’s conviction that this spiritual “Right View” is essential for successful personal transformation and for transforming the world. Accordingly, I invite you to partake mindfully in reading what Craig has to say on this topic:

“Why is it that so few of us get the results our spiritual practices are designed to deliver?

“As a spiritual teacher, I meet a lot of people on the path. And one of the most common refrains I hear from spiritual seekers these days goes something like this:

“‘I’ve been on the spiritual path for years. I’ve meditated, gone to therapy, and attended dozens of workshops, seminars, satsangs, and retreats. But, I’m still not fundamentally different from when I started on the path. Sure, I’m more centered, present and calm, but I’m still challenged by many of the same emotional patterns. I still don’t feel like I’m living on purpose. I’m still not deeply fulfilled.’

“How is it that after decades of earnest spiritual seeking, most of us ultimately settle for a transformation far less profound or dramatic than the one we were aiming for when we started on the path?

“Is it, as some ancient eastern traditions tell us, that enlightenment is such a lofty goal that we should not expect to experience any radical transformation in one lifetime, but should instead see our current incarnation as but one of millions of baby steps toward that supreme goal?

“Or is it, as many contemporary teachers are fond of saying, that the attempt to change ourselves in any way is in fact misguided, that we should simply “accept what is,” “call off the search,” and realize that ordinary life, in all of its neurotic frailty, is enough?

“With all due respect to those of differing opinion, I would like to propose another possibility.

“I would like to suggest that the supreme and lofty goal of profound, life transforming spiritual liberation is not only possible in this lifetime, but is in fact well within reach of anyone of reasonably sound mind and stable character.

“And that the reason it is not happening for the vast majority of those who are seeking it is that, for most of us, the context for our spiritual path is just too small. In a word, it’s still about us–our own fulfillment, our own happiness, even our own enlightenment.

“It’s not that we’re selfish people. Indeed, most spiritual seekers are among the most selfless people on the planet.

“The problem is that we’ve all been steeped in a contemporary spiritual subculture that tells us that the very reason we should follow a spiritual path is so that we can live happier, more fulfilled, more peaceful lives.

“And, as long as our own happiness is all we’re seeking, we’ll never awaken the depth of spiritual passion and conviction required to propel us into genuine transformation.

“That conviction can only arise when we realize that the spiritual path is not about us–but about participating in something far greater than ourselves.

“To paraphrase Andrew Cohen, imagine for a moment that the fate of the entire human race rested on your shoulders alone. That humanity’s evolution out of brute self-interest depended entirely on your willingness to transform your consciousness, to rise above your smallness, to evolve beyond your negative conditioning, and become an exemplar of humanity’s highest potential for the world.

“Imagine, in other words, that for you, evolving beyond ego became an evolutionary imperative.

“Would you approach your path any differently? Would the energy you brought to your spiritual practice intensify? Would the quality of awareness and care with which you approached your interactions with others become more profound?

“Would you find yourself reaching with inner muscles you didn’t even know you had to be awake to the depth you’ve tasted in your most profound spiritual moments?

“If you knew it all rested on you, would you have any choice but to change?

“The Indian sage Ramana Maharshi once said that the spiritual aspirant must want liberation like a drowning man wants air. But the painful truth is that even when we recognize that we are drowning spiritually, most of us don’t care enough to struggle to keep our head above water.

“The challenges of authentic spiritual transformation are so great that most of us will choose to continue suffering in our smallness over feeling the pain of allowing that smallness to die forever.

“But how many of us would do the same if we realized that it wasn’t only our own suffering we were perpetuating, but the suffering of the entire human race?

“Now, you may be thinking to yourself, ‘That’s a nice thought experiment. Sure, it makes me realize I could be more earnest on my path, but what does it really have to do with me? I’m no megalomaniac. I know that my transformation alone isn’t enough to
liberate the human race.’

“And it is here that I would ask you to reconsider.

“Modern science has in recent decades been verifying what the ancient traditions intuited long ago: that, in both tangible and
mysterious ways, we are all interconnected, and any one of us can have a profound effect on the whole.

“And, if you accept the perennial mystical teaching that, at the level of consciousness, we are not only interconnected, but are actually one Self seeing through many eyes, then it should be clear that, like it or not, in the way we conduct our inner and outer lives, each of us is in fact always having an effect on the whole.

“Add to that the reality that we are evolving beings living in an evolving universe, that we are all part of a grand, cosmic evolutionary process, and the question of our obligation to the whole starts to cut close to the bone.

“To reframe my earlier question: What would you do if you realized that the entire human endeavor, the evolution of consciousness itself, depended on your willingness to evolve your own consciousness?

“How would it affect the choices you make every day if you knew that those choices were, in a very real sense, either contributing to the evolution of the whole or holding it back?

“At this time when it seems that our very future depends on our willingness to evolve as a species, would you have any choice but to act in alignment with the greatest evolutionary good?

“The point I’m trying to make is that when we take a closer look at what spiritual transformation is actually for, it quickly becomes clear that the path of awakening is not primarily about freeing ourselves from suffering and securing our own happiness.

“Sure, that’s a nice by-product. But, as long as that’s all we’re seeking, we probably won’t get very far.

“Where the spiritual path really begins to get interesting is when we recognize that transforming ourselves in the deepest possible way is in fact an evolutionary imperative with profound consequences far beyond ourselves.

“When we begin to embrace the fact that our lives really are not our own to do with as we please, that in everything we do, we are in fact accountable to the Whole, something truly miraculous begins to happen.

“Faced with the palpable responsibility to transform for a greater good, we find that we suddenly have access to a seemingly infinite source of energy, intention, passion and courage to confront whatever challenges present themselves on our path.

“What’s more, all of the personal issues and problems, all of the fears and doubts and resistances that once seemed so insurmountable begin to seem a lot less significant.

“Why? Because our attention is now captivated by something much bigger than ourselves.

Ignited by a noble calling to participate in the grand adventure of conscious evolution, we find we no longer have time to worry about ourselves. And in this freedom from self-concern, before long we discover that the deep inner peace and joy we were seeking all along has become the very ground we are walking on.

“To get a taste of the liberating context I’m pointing to, try the following experiments:

1) Before you meditate or engage in any spiritual practice, take 10 minutes to reflect on the profound significance of your practice. Ask yourself:

-Why do I need to awaken for myself?
-Why do other people need me to awaken?
-Why does God/evolution/humanity (your choice) need me to awaken?

“Allow yourself to feel deeply into the most authentic answer you can find. Then, invite that deeper answer to come forward as a clear and present intention to engage your spiritual practice wholeheartedly, as if the universe depended on it. And engage your practice from this deeper intention.

“Notice how this exercise impacts the quality of your spiritual practice.

2) When you encounter a challenging and emotionally charged situation in your life, before you respond, take a few minutes to ask yourself:

-What is the most enlightened or evolved response I could have in this situation?

-Why is it important for my own evolution for me to respond in the most enlightened, evolved way I can?

-Why does God/evolution/humanity (your choice) need me to respond in the most enlightened, evolved way I can?

“Allow yourself to feel into the larger significance of your response to this challenging moment. Ground yourself in an intention to show up as an exemplar of humanity’s potential. And then respond from this deeper intention.

“Notice how your perspective on the situation and your ability to show up changes when you approach it in this way.

“If the possibility of participating in conscious evolution inspires you, I invite you to join me for a 9-week journey into an evolutionary relationship to life.

“Our 9-week Telecourse starts on Tuesday. You can learn more and register at the link below:

Integral Enlightenment: Awakening to an Evolutionary Relationship to Life

To our evolution,

Craig Hamilton
Founder, Integral Enlightenment“

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