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8/06/2008

Knowing Peace

Sometimes we human beings get caught in negative thoughts and that causes us much unhappiness. You might hear yourself say, "I can't do anything right." Or, with great anger, "How can he be so selfish?" You might even hear, "Why doesn't she understand that I'm right and she is wrong."

When we listen to these negative thoughts in meditation we observe that they can come in bursts of anger and streams of frustration. We observe that they can be directed outward toward others or inward toward the self.

Caught in illusion, many people assume that this negativity is their problem. And they assume they have to get rid of it to feel happy. Negativity isn't a thing can be owned. Instead it's an activity that comes and goes.

Developing clear awareness, we experience angry thoughts arise, do their dance and fade away; we watch disappointments arise, do their dance and fade away. At some point we realize there isn't any need to add to these thoughts. In fact we don't need to do anything - except to listen matter-of-factly, with equanimity. And then we know peace.
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The Psychotherapist's Corner

A meditation-inspired psychotherapy offers people a way of understanding their problems as well as a way of healing them... This full day retreat offers an opportunity to engage in learning mindfulness psychotherapy.

"The approach to working with others that I advocate is one in which spontaneity and humanness is extended to others."
---Chogyam Trungpa Rimposhe


Confusion, though uncomfortable, is a healthy state of mind. That's because it creates a great need for calm and clarity.


Psychotherapists can teach depressed people to become aware of their internal talk. This leads to the insight that thoughts are simply thoughts - nothing more. It also teaches that the person is bigger than his or her thoughts or the depression that comes with them. The result is a greater capacity to cope.


Meditation is a method for moving beyond the isolating tendency of the thinking mind.


Whether in a psychotherapy office or sitting on a cushion, we are practicing awareness. In the psychotherapy office our awareness is trained on the past and on the future. In meditation it is trained on the experience of awareness itself.

Narcissism is a double-edged sword; individuals suffering from narcissism either idealize or devalue themselves and others. Buddhist psychology blunts both sides of this sword by declaring that there is no solid and lasting self. Meditative exercises allow individuals to personally discover that they are ever changing, impermanent, and in the flow of life.


Meditation increases the psychotherapist's capacity for single pointed awareness. Relating in this way to a person who comes for help is an act of deep caring. It heals.


Strange how people come into our offices feeling guilty for trouble that is well beyond human control.


Letting go is a skill that can be taught.