Great meditators before us have laid out the path, but how can we be sure we’re following it genuinely? There are no guarantees, but Carolyn Rose Gimian has some tips for keeping it real. When Lion's Roar asked me to write an article about how to make meditation practice genuine and real, I wasn’t sure whether to be proud or insulted. Maybe they were asking me because they [...]
What is Monkey Mind?
We all recognize monkey mind—that wild mind going in more than one direction at a time, swinging from one branch of thought to the next. It wants the next banana, the next big thing, the next small thing. It wants to keep moving. Monkey mind likes texting and online gaming. It’s the mind that likes to be mindless. With our modern culture of distraction, you might think that [...]
Your Dissatisfaction is Good News
If we have the courage to look at ourselves honestly, we see both our flaws and our basic goodness, known in the Buddhist tradition as our buddhanature. This, says Carolyn Rose Gimian, is the ground for truly loving others. Dissatisfaction : Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote a song about it: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” What we want is just out of sight, just out of [...]
Lighten Up
An attitude of humor, says Carolyn Rose Gimian, cuts through seriousness and stress and makes life cheerful and light. Humor. Anyone who meditates knows about it. Natural funniness is the term that Chögyam Trungpa used. It’s not making fun or mocking. It’s natural cheerfulness, light touch, appreciation, and joy. Sometimes in the meditation hall, someone giggles, amazed by [...]
Are We Really Taking Refuge?
Carolyn Rose Gimian reflects on modern-day practitioners’ ambivalent commitment to the three jewels and considers what we might be losing out on. It struck me recently that something is happening in the West with the three jewels of the Buddha, dharma, and sangha that may never have happened before. It is possible for a contemporary practitioner to have allegiance to only [...]
I Want To Be… Genuine
Great meditators before us have laid out the path, but how can we be sure we’re following it genuinely? There are no guarantees, but CAROLYN ROSE GIMIAN has some tips for keeping it real. When the Shambhala Sun asked me to write an article about how to make meditation practice genuine and real, I wasn’t sure whether to be proud or insulted. Maybe they were asking me because [...]
Contemplating the Parinirvana of Chogyam Trungpa
Last year, Carolyn Rose Gimian took part in a pilgrimage with family and friends, and wrote about it in recognition of the passing of the Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa, who has meant so much to so many, Carolyn very much among them. April 4th is here. On this day in 1987 Chogyam Trungpa passed into nirvana. (For those not familiar with this expression, it is the day he [...]
The Upside of Money Troubles
Carolyn Rose Gimian reminds us that our difficulties with money are valuable opportunities for working with our mind and strengthening our practice. Working with money is a challenging and somewhat inescapable practice. Do you have enough to live on? Do you need more to buy a new (fill in the blank)? Should you give some money to charity? We all grapple with such questions [...]
Chögyam Trungpa documentary film, Touch and Go, premieres; Watch it online now, here
Carolyn Rose Gimian praises the new Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche documentary, Touch and Go. Chögyam Trungpa's first book, Born in Tibet, originally published in 1966, is a classic story of a great escape. It is an autobiographical account of Rinpoche's upbringing in Tibet and his forced departure from the country in 1959, leading a group of 300 refugees trying to reach India. Now, [...]
Discovering the Power of Basic Goodness
Through the practice of meditation, says Carolyn Rose Gimian, we stop wasting our energy on neuroses and discover windhorse, the never-ending power of basic goodness. The sitting practice of meditation is a tool we can use throughout life to connect with the heart and mind of warriorship beyond aggression, beyond violence toward ourselves or others. The dignified and [...]