My opinion is that SeattleInsight, being connected to the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center in Massachusetts, will provide you with excellent instruction at a reasonable price. The group in Mass. has an excellent reputation and surely has some quality controls in place regarding teacher training in allowing the Seattle group to link the name. Thich Nhat Hahn is excellent. I was also aware of Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Saltzberg and others when "Stu" (s2ness is a cool dude who shows up here on FFL once in a blue-moon) posted a link here on FFL to insightla.org.
You could learn it from a book such as one of Thich Nhat Hahn's, but there is great value in gaining instruction in a structured environment. There are countless techniques of Mindfullness and a formal class will ground you in a handful. Others are easily added later as you wish. Have you ever read about the bell that rings at random times at any of Hahn's centers such as Deer Park near San Diego? Powerful stuff. If you want all Buddhist flavor stripped away while getting exactly the same instruction you could look here: http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/home/index.aspx http://w3.umassmed.edu/MBSR/public/searchmember.aspx This is a very well known program begun by Jon Kabat-Zinn over 30 years ago. The standard MBSR program is 9 classes over 8 weeks. Each class about 3 hours. There is a full day class, about 7 hours long, after week 6 in which you practice a variety of techniques while spending an entire day in Mindfullness. Cost, I believe, is usually a sliding scale based on income, but maybe that is up to the teacher. You are given a lesson each week and you are asked, for the 8 weeks, to make a time commitment of about an hour toward developing your practice. After that, you are on your own. At the end of that class you could certainly attend one of the other InsightSeattle "sits" and not feel like awkward. The experience, I believe, is universal. Universal but subtle. Once attained, you can dial it up in enumerable ways any time you wish. Then, in time, you learn what the Insight part is. I value my TM practice also. I'm not obsessive about it. It feels good for me. I practice it when I choose. I find it impossible to recommend to others, currently, because of the nature and behavior of the organization that promulgates it. Bevan and his toadies have, IMO, ruined the spread of a nice simple relaxation technique. Life's demands always seem to get in the way, huh? I am recommending learning this meditation technique because you have often mentioned stress and PTSD. Go to the MBSR siteand read up on the benefits and then go do it with them or the Insight folks. The medical research cited by the U of Mass is, IMO, much more reliable than that promulgated by the TMO. I have an ulterior motive Emily. After you experience formal Mindfullness instruction you may very well see, as others such as Curtis and TurquoiseB have pointed out, how utterly and completely bullshit the criticisms of Vaj's knowledge of TM is. All he is doing is reframing the experience in different language. TM meditation is not Mindfullness meditation. Mindfullness meditation is not TM. But, there is most certainly Mindfullness used in TM. The demonizing you see here of Vaj is a result of not being able to see the forest for the trees. Oh, and maybe Vaj has learned, over the course of nearly 2 decades, just exactly which buttons he can push when ever he likes to see someone who holds great animosity toward him to dance like a monkey on a chain in a very predictable manner. Every time. Without fail. Go do it Emily. Don't let life get in the way. I believe you will feel better for it both physically and mentally. Please let us know how it goes. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Emily Reyn <emilymae.reyn@...> wrote: > > Azgrey, thank you for asking. Â I followed up far enough to look at their > schedule, because I wanted to take the class for beginners, but it conflicted > with my school schedule and then the holidays arrived and my daughter was > home for 6 weeks, precipitating another need for a family counselor. Â > > The next class also conflicts with my last quarter in school, so I may not be > able to pursue participation until the end of March. Â It's on the list > however; do you have an opinion? Â This post reminds me that I have a couple > of books by Thich Nhat Hanh that I could go search for. > > ________________________________ > From: azgrey <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Thursday, February 9, 2012 11:08 AM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Trend Analysis For Dummies > > > Â > > Emily, sometime back, perhaps in the Fall, you mentioned that you were going > to take instruction the following week at seattleinsight.org. > > Did you ever go and get instruction in Mindfullness meditation? > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Emily Reyn <emilymae.reyn@> wrote: > > > > "When you get to Nirvana, you find that thereÃÂ is no other side." > > > > This I like. ÃÂ I also started watching Rick's latest Batgap interview and > > ended up reading about the method of self-inquiry last night and the > > concept of "I", which I found very interesting. ÃÂ There was a picture of > > Sri Ramana Maharshi behind Eli Jaxon-Bear; Ramana was the "teacher" of his > > teacher, Papaji. ÃÂ I don't know if he put that up on purpose or if it was > > coincidence :)ÃÂ > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-enquiry > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: Richard J. Williams <richard@> > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > Sent: Thursday, February 9, 2012 8:01 AM > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Trend Analysis For Dummies > > > > > > ÃÂ > > > > > > Emily Reyn: > > > Barry! You responded to my post - maybe > > > I'm not on your DNRL after all - so good > > > for my ego to be acknowledged in the > > > world of virtual reality - thank you :) > > > > > Emily - Watch out, you've elected to dialog > > with two informants that have posted more > > disinformation on the internet than anyone > > I know - virtual reality. Turq believes in > > a 'self' - Vaj does not - both mixed up. :) > > > > Go figure. > > > > "In order to reach Nirvana, you must cross > > over to the other side. So, you use a boat > > to cross over. > > > > When you get to Nirvana, you find that there > > is no other side. So, you will look silly > > carrying a boat around on your head all the > > time." - Shakya the Muni > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana > > >
