True and Useful is continuing at a new address:

http://agrobinson.typepad.com/

Please visit soon!

As some of you may know, I announced on October 1st that I was reviving True and Useful and planning to post Monday-Friday on a regular basis (see October 1st post). Part of the process of regenerating True and Useful involves transitioning to TypePad Blogging Service from Eponym, the current host of True and Useful.  Even though the blog is still up and running, the management of Eponym shut down their operations in mid-2007.  Since I’m not sure how long my large archive of posts will continue to be available at the Eponym address, my plan is to gradually shift the archive over to the new TypePad address.

So, please visit the new location for True and Useful, where I'll continue to provide resources for self discovery that I hope you'll find true and useful for you.

- A.G.R

Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life

By Sylvia Boorstein

Hardcover: 176 pages

Publisher: Ballantine Books (December 4, 2007)

How can we stay engaged with life day after day? How can we continue to love–to keep our minds in a happy mood–when life is complex, difficult, and, often, disappointing? Bestselling author and beloved teacher Sylvia Boorstein asked herself these questions when she started to write this inspiring new book. The result is her best work to date, offering warm, wise, and helpful ways we can experience happiness even when the odds are against us.

As Boorstein has discovered in more than three decades of practice as a professional psychotherapist, the secret to happiness lies in actively cultivating our capacity to connect with kindness: with ourselves; with friends, family, colleagues; with those we may not know well; and even with those we may not like. She draws from the heart of Buddhist teachings to show how Wise Effort, Wise Mindfulness, and Wise Concentration can lead us away from anger, anxiety, and confusion, and into calmness, clarity, and the joy of living in the present. These qualities strengthen our ability to meet encounters of every kind with balance and intelligence, providing us with a grounded sense of true contentment.

Happiness Is an Inside Job resonates with the knowledge of a psychotherapist, the compassion of a spiritual teacher, and the wisdom of a grandmother. Boorstein’s vivid stories capture our minds and our hearts, and the simple exercises she suggests can be done while you read.

This beautiful book is comforting and reminds us that life is a shared journey, that our hearts truly do want to console and love our fellow sojourners, and that living happily is indeed the best way to live.

Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D., is a co-founding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, and a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. She writes a regular column for Shambhala Sun, lectures widely, and is the bestselling author of Pay Attention, for Goodness’ Sake; It’s Easier Than You Think; Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There; and That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist. A practicing psychotherapist, Boorstein is a frequent presenter at psychology conferences and training seminars. Sylvia and her husband, Seymour, divide their time between Sonoma County, California, and their home in France.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just don't give up trying to  do what you really want to do.  Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."

- Ella Fitzgerald

S-l-o-w Learner is a series based on the premise that I seem to require more time than most to learn basic life lessons.

Give all to love; 
Obey thy heart; 
Friends, kindred, days, 
Estate, good-fame, 
Plans, credit, and the Muse,— 
Nothing refuse.

'Tis a brave master; 
Let it have scope: 
Follow it utterly, 
Hope beyond hope: 
High and more high 
It dives into noon,

Best of True and Useful: This post first appeared on February 21, 2007. 

Visualization is a meditation technique that incorporates our ability to imagine a particular experience.  Here is a technique using the visualization of light:

As always, focusing on your breathing is a good way to start meditation.  To begin, direct your whole attention inward and concentrate on your breathing. 

• Become aware of the breath as it moves in and out 
• Feel the rhythm as you inhale and then exhale
• Allow yourself to relax into the easy movement of your breath in and out

Once you are settled into your breathing focus, you can begin a light visualization:

• Imagine a column of white light radiating from above your head, and as you breathe in, picture this column of white light gently radiating through a small opening at the top of your head.
• Breathe out, then on your next breath in, allow the white light to gently flow downward through your head and neck to the center of your chest.
• Breathe out, then on your next breath in, picture the white light swirling around the center of your chest, surrounding your heart with glowing white light.
• Breathe out, then on your next breath in, allow the white light to gently flow down toward your lower abdominal area.
• Breathe out, imagining the light radiating outward through the front of your lower abdominal area.
• Breathe in and picture the light gathering in your lower abdominal area.
• Breathe out and imagine the white light radiating down your legs to the soles of your feet and up and out your arms to the palms and fingertips.
• Breathe in and focus your awareness on any areas of your body that may feel tense or in pain.
• Breathe out and allow the white light to flow to those areas of your body, imagining that the light can release the tension or pain.
• Breathe in, then as you breathe out imagine your body releasing the white light, leaving you in a deeper state of relaxation.
• Continue with a few more deep breaths, and release any lingering tension or tightness with each out-breath.

-  A.G.R

 

___________________

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"To be prosperous without effort, we must first decide to make peace our ultimate goal. To be in peace, we must know that our only function in life is to heal ourselves and others through our expressions of love and forgiveness."

- Bijan Anjomi

S-l-o-w Learner is a series based on the premise that I seem to require more time than most to learn basic life lessons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves."

- Albert Einstein

Source: SFGate.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Practice creative abandonment of time consuming activities that are no longer of importance to you."

- Brian Tracy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"There is no man living who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can do."

- Henry Ford

There is no place quite like Sea Ranch on the Northern California Coast

It's a retreat from the hectic pace of modern life, a chance to reclaim your soul

This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun.  It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun."

- Napoleon Hill

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"To be upset over what you don't have is to waste what you do have."

- Ken Keyes

I'm nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!

They'd advertise -- you know!

How dreary to be somebody!

How public like a frog

To tell one's name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Only when your consciousness is totally focused  on the moment you are in can you receive whatever gift, lesson or delight that moment has to offer."

- Barbara De Angelis

The backlash to “The Secret” is an interesting phenomenon to observe.  One wouldn’t expect that so many would find fault with the notion of positive thinking.  It shows the level of cynicism that pervades the world and perhaps the pervasiveness of the victim mentality.

What’s wrong with the idea of taking responsibility for one’s thoughts and feelings?  Doesn’t tuning in to how we feel and what we are thinking seem like a worthwhile endeavor?  Or does it make more sense to let the mind rattle on incessantly with a repetitive pattern of thoughts, many of which are negative and fearful?

Our society is moving relentlessly toward greater stimulation and distraction with yet more clever technology all in the name of nonstop entertainment and diversion.  What would happen if more people took some time to get quiet and check in with how they are feeling?  And if in that process of checking in they were able to identify patterns of thinking that are contributing to those feelings, would more people develop the ability to change their thoughts and feelings into a more positive, loving, and self-enhancing viewpoint?

Critics who are focusing on the more dramatic aspects of the book – for example, the promise of riches just by thinking about it – are overlooking a deeper principle.  We have the power to create our experience of life, and if our current experience is largely negative, we can move it in a positive direction by developing greater awareness of our thoughts and feelings and learning to change them.

This is news you can use. 

-  A.G.R

 

Are you free to change? 
are you bound to daily cycles of enslavement 
are you tied to a cause or a position?
are you enslaved to ambition?
are you free to move on from being a well fed cog in the machine?
are you free to wake up daily without the layers of dissatisfaction running through your mind?
are you free to act unselfishly?
are you free to love much and want little?

Are you Free?

Source: Christopher Titmuss, a former Buddhist monk in Thailand and India, teaches Awakening and Insight Meditation around the world.

“During an intense inquiry with a person during a workshop in New York City, I kept coming back to the question of liberation here and now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven."

- Thomas Fuller

Pared down to its barest essence, wabi-sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature, of accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death. It's simple, slow, and uncluttered-and it reveres authenticity above all. Wabi-sabi is flea markets, not warehouse stores; aged wood, not Pergo; rice paper, not glass. It celebrates cracks and crevices and all the other marks that time, weather, and loving use leave behind. It reminds us that we are all but transient beings on this planet-that our bodies as well as the material world around us are in the process of returning to the dust from which we came. Through wabi-sabi, we learn to embrace liver spots, rust, and frayed edges, and the march of time they represent.

• Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete.
• It is a beauty of things modest and humble.
• It is a beauty of things unconventional.
• Wabi-sabi is a nature-based aesthetic paradigm that restores a measure of sanity and proportion to the art of living.
• Wabi-sabi — deep, multi-dimensional, elusive — is the perfect antidote to the pervasively slick, saccharine, corporate style of beauty.
• Get rid of all that is unnecessary. Wabi-sabi means treading lightly on the planet and knowing how to appreciate whatever is encountered, no matter how trifling, whenever it is encountered. "Material poverty, spiritual richness" are wabi-sabi bywords. In other words, wabi-sabi tells us to stop our preoccupation with success — wealth, status, power and luxury — and enjoy the unencumbered life.
• Obviously, leading the simple wabi-sabi life requires some effort and will and also some tough decisions. Wabi-sabi acknowledges that just as it is important to know when to make choices, it is also important to know when not to make choices: to let things be. Even at the most austere level of material existence, we still live in a world of things. Wabi-sabi is exactly about the delicate balance between the pleasure we get from things and the pleasure we get from freedom from things.

Source: Leonard Koren

Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.

(Do this immediately following a cup of very hot water)

Close your eyes and picture yourself next to a lovely waterfall flowing from the green-forested mountains around you. Picture the mist that is rising from the pool below.

The sun begins to rise from behind you. Its warmth spreads across your back. It feels so warm and good.

As the sun rises higher, its rays catch the mist, turning it into sparkling, moving, and glittering energy. It is absolutely beautiful.

Through your nose, inhale as much of this mist and revitalizing energy as slowly as you can, while mentally counting to 8.

Hold it inside for a few seconds. (Consider this to be universal love and hold on to this gift, intended just for you) This allows a more efficient oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange.

Exhale through pursed lips, as though you were blowing out birthday candles. Visualize yourself slowly blowing out black smoke, while mentally counting to 8. In the smoke put things you don’t want in your body, like frustration, anger, pain, sickness and stress.

Do 3 complete cycles of 3 breaths in and out.

Drink a cup of hot water and do this breathing exercise at least 3 times daily.

QiGong Interpretation: You breathe in glittering, revitalizing energy and blow out toxins, sickness and pain. The body becomes balanced, centered and connected to the Universe.

Western Interpretation: The hot water causes the blood vessels to dilate, and helps the muscles around your ribcage to relax, allowing you to breathe more deeply. Deep inhalation sends more oxygen to all parts of the body, improving circulation. Deep exhalation removes more carbon dioxide. A well-ventilated body simply works better.

©2005 Susan Lee-Smith RN, TCMN (China) Trainer, EFT-ADV  (925) 946-9193 www.EFTNeiGong.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Life is full of endings, but every ending is a new beginning."

1.
my flames rise to the gulf of you.
i am the orange parachute in your black and white dream.
as my brilliance flares, your leaden tent
begins to form as skin.
my light is too slow in reaching your constellation.

2.
depression takes over
in the two minutes since you have left.
you move over me like frost.
if one hundred seconds
have wrenched blood from my heart so fully,
how will hours pass?
this minute prays for childless seconds, the time filled like ashtrays.

3.
the evidence has mounted:
a hand held loosely, by you and my wrist.
you surround me fruit-like, the rind torn away.
the pulp without shelter flows unconsenting.
the moon hits and hits
again. i trim the hangnail moon and close the blinds.

4.
there is no action kind enough to express heartbreak.
I am left
shut,
the quietest of blossoms.

Bizarro.com