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Articles from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond Rock | Selfgrowth.com
- How To Be A Hero - by Submitted on Dec 23, 2007 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWhat are those unique qualities we call bravery; those almost subconscious qualities that we can't readily put our fingers on whenever we see a hero in action but somehow recognize every time someone does something out of the ordinary? It's almost as if what they do is superhuman, yet their ...
Views: 808 - How to Beat Loneliness - by Submitted on Feb 17, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockYou know the feeling; a forlornness, a crushing despondency filled with despair and hopelessness; a desperate reaching out for anyone who might hear your apprehensive, silent cries of anguish. You will do most anything to relieve the terrible feelings of dejection, and begin looking for someone ...
Views: 1857 - How to Change the World - You and I - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWe are the world. You and I. How we treat each other; with respect or hatred, how we work things out together and compromise, this will determine the future of humankind. Can you see this? We are the world. Humankind so far hasn't been doing too well. *"huge numbers of Eastern Orthodox ...
Views: 773 - How To Find Yourself (How To Look Within) - by Submitted on Mar 21, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockUnderstanding oneself, one's drives, one's emotions, the way in which one's mind works, is the minimum requirement for successful relationships. Without this understanding of oneself, without taking the time to learn about oneself, relationships can be merely a tug of war between two independent ...
Views: 703 - How To Make A Mess Of Your Life - by Submitted on Aug 05, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockEveryone wants happiness. Happiness is the driving force behind almost all of our actions, and even when we are unhappy, we are involved with somehow changing that unhappiness into happiness for ourselves. When we are confronted with someone or something, we either have a compulsion to pull ...
Views: 1063 - How to Stop Worrying in Ten Minutes! - by Submitted on Dec 27, 2007 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond Rock1 st Minute: Define exactly what it is that is worrying you. Write it down. Worry is simmering fear. In the old days, we would just run like hell when we were scared, but nowadays, we bubble away in our little pots of worry. So, the first thing to do is face what it is that worries us, and ...
Views: 730 - How to Transform Ourselves - by Submitted on Jan 23, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockThe last time I looked, personal transformation was not on America’s top ten list of achievements. Success, family, happiness, friends, wealth, respect, health, religious beliefs or spirituality, satisfying work — these took priority. Our spiritual institutions follow suit with the most ...
Views: 1059 - How to Uncover the 5 Hidden Lies - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond Rock"Thou shalt not bear false witness" - the Ninth Commandment that is probably more abused than any other! Lying is one of the Buddhist precepts as well, the fourth to be exact. The problem with Buddhism, however, is that lying is not simply a matter of making an untrue statement, lying goes much ...
Views: 626 - How To Untangle Fishing Line — And Our Lives - by Submitted on Mar 28, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWhen I was just a little tyke, way before spin-cast type fishing reels, we had to put up with basket type reels. Instead of the line freely flowing from the end of the spining reel as it does now, it would unwind mechanically, a very inefficient method for bait casting though still used for ...
Views: 3524 - How to Untangle the Tangles - by Submitted on Nov 01, 2007 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockNo, this is not an article about dissolving a third marriage! This is about untying the knots that we make in our minds. Whenever we tie ourselves to someone or something, we make a knot. Over time, these knots accumulate, and our minds become nothing but large balls of tangled twine. A mind ...
Views: 1371 - How We Intimidate Each Other - by Submitted on Jan 02, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockA Thai farmer is in a ditch planting rice in the searing, Southeast Asian heat. He is old, uneducated, ill, toothless, and his body is small and frail, weathered from years of hard labor. Is this old, useless farmer less than you? You, who are educated, beautiful, healthy, relatively young, ...
Views: 1131 - How You Reincarnate - by Submitted on May 18, 2010 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockHuman beings go through an interesting process when reincarnating, a process that unless explained would probably go unnoticed. This article will explain the steps. All major religions recognize reincarnation. This especially true with Eastern religions. However Christianity, Islam, and ...
Views: 1774 - Hurt, Loneliness And Lies — What’s Behind Them? - by Submitted on Nov 01, 2007 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockHow many times have you lied in order to ward off loneliness? We can lie by pretending to really care for someone when all we want is a little company, i.e.; "I love you." And when we find someone more interesting, we lie again to end the old relationship, i.e.; "I just want to be friends now, ...
Views: 749 - I Am a Meditator - by Submitted on Dec 27, 2007 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockI am a meditator. When I am meditating, I feel no fear, no ambition, no cowardice. I read no books, I have no opinions. I am peaceful. I am a meditator. When I am meditating, I have no questions, no answers, no problems. I feel no anxiety. I am a meditator. When I am meditating, I feel no ...
Views: 740 - If Easter is a Pagan Holiday, Who was Jesus? - by Submitted on Mar 16, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockCAUTION: This article and the information it contains is not for Christians who simply believe and look forward to enjoying a peaceful Easter, which is such a beautiful, spiritual holiday. If this is you, please stop reading now. If you are still here, this article is for Christians and ...
Views: 1698 - If You Are Not Happy Now, You Never Will Be - by Submitted on Oct 02, 2007 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWe have all foolhardily said, at one time or another, that if we only had so and so, we would be happy forever. I remember saying it when I was a little tyke and wanted a two-wheeler, and later when I was a young man and wanted a house, three kids, and two cars! I think we set ourselves up when ...
Views: 642 - If You Are Not Happy Now, You Never Will Be - by Submitted on Mar 27, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWe have all foolhardily said, at one time or another, that if we only had so and so, we would be happy forever. I remember saying it when I was a little tyke and wanted a two-wheeler, and later when I was a young man and wanted a house, three kids, and two cars! I think we set ourselves up when ...
Views: 3570 - Immigration - The Cat is Out of the Bag - by Submitted on May 12, 2010 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWe in America are just beginning to understand what the phrase "Letting the cat out of the bag" is all about. This idiom means that a secret has been somehow accidentally disclosed, and in America's case, the secret has dire ramifications. The phrase has been traced back to around the middle ...
Views: 1360 - In Darkness There is Light - by Submitted on Feb 03, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockContemplative prayer, the deepest roots of the Christian faith, has remained hidden and secret in the hands of the contemplative saints these many years, and one may wonder why contemplative monks and nuns have practiced these mystical prayers in obscurity. Why do they close themselves off from ...
Views: 760 - Interdependant Origination - by Submitted on Jun 05, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockThe Buddha introduced a number of things that are unique to all religions and spirituality. Two of these are The Four Noble Truths and Interdependent Origination. The Buddha claimed that one could not attain enlightenment without understanding both of these intuitively, or with the heart, and ...
Views: 936 - Is Your Religion Working for You? Really? - by Submitted on May 13, 2010 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWhen you say to someone, not of your religion, that "because your good book says it is true, therefore it must be true," don't you ever notice that the person, instead of falling down in worship, rolls their eyes? Do you smugly continue to be a "work in progress," and proud of it, justifying ...
Views: 1541 - Is Your Spiritual Life Working? Seven Areas to Monitor . . . - by Submitted on Feb 16, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockThese seven areas are not necessarily the ones we think of or connect to when discussing the spiritual life. They are not only unusual, but authentic measuring sticks if we truly want to determine what progress we have made. Some of the terms may be unfamiliar, but their strangeness doesn't mean ...
Views: 933 - Judging Others - What's Behind It? - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockBeing judgmental is being angry. Fear, the basis of anger, is always connected with the past or future. If you can look deeply within and find what it is that you fear, whether it is God, living up to some kind of ideal, fearing ideas different from yours, or people that are different from you, ...
Views: 1040 - Let Them Eat Cake - by Submitted on Oct 22, 2009 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockIt seems to me that too many people are taking a big cut out of the health care pie for themselves. Instead of a middleman, we have numerous middlemen that come between the sick person and his or her care. And it has gotten too top heavy, way out of control. The medical schools reap huge ...
Views: 1652 - Life is a Ball! Or is it? - by Submitted on Dec 30, 2007 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockAsk anyone that's enjoying good luck and engaged in a full, rewarding life how they are doing, and they will more than likely reply that they are having a ball! Their glass is not only half-full, it is overflowing! Then, when I clumsily come along and say that the Buddha proclaimed that we must ...
Views: 714 - Looking for God's Face - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockIn a bubbling stream, And a lonely wind, That whispers Through an endless night. ************************* In the crying of a baby, And its anxious mother, That whispers 'Till it's light. ************************* At the end of a rainbow, And the start of the journey. And the end of ...
Views: 914 - Looking For The Only Happiness - by Submitted on May 20, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWhen a Buddhist monk or nun ordains, they give away everything. They give away their relationships, their families, their business career or job, house, car, clothes – everything. They trade it all for three simple robes and a begging bowl, and perhaps a chance to see the "Dhamma" -- a catalyst ...
Views: 645 - Love - What Are You? - by Submitted on Dec 27, 2007 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockLove. Stay! Do you understand? I want you. Stay! Are you my love? Will you make me happy? Please make me happy. Be my love. Stay! Will you always love me? Love me forever? Please love me forever. Be my love. Stay! Are you my love? Will you change? Please don’t change. Be my love, ...
Views: 677 - Loving And Hating - by Submitted on Sep 18, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockDo you love and hate? If you do, then you are very normal. If you just hated, or only loved, there would be consistency, but when you do both, the mind finds itself in conflict all the time, and this produces stress. So if you want to find the underlying cause of your stress, look no further ...
Views: 878 - Low Cost Health Insurance - by Submitted on Mar 09, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockIMPORTANT: Always check with your medical and mental health care professional before beginning any new regimen. 1. EXERCISE: Brisk walking: Three to five miles a day. Neck roll: Twice a day. (Do this exercise slowly and carefully until your neck and spine become loosened up). Touch your left ...
Views: 986 - Made In China - by Submitted on Feb 23, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockHere is a recipe for disaster: China and other Asian countries, being pressured at home by rising inflation, is forced to raise prices on all those goodies we buy at Wal-Mart, but not high enough to encourage us to compete again. This would be a formula for runaway inflation along with job ...
Views: 1144 - Make the World Better Place Because You are a Part of it - by Submitted on Jan 09, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockTo make sure that your future beyond this world is going to be the best it can be, make each day a little more meaningful than the last. That's it! Make each day just a little better, just an infinitesimal amount better than the last. "Better" doesn't mean what you do, but what you notice. ...
Views: 794 - Martial Arts Training - Balancing Mind and Body - by Submitted on Aug 13, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockA very special kind of training is critical in martial arts because martial arts is about life and death. In one split second, your life will be either spared or taken, and that outcome depends entirely upon your preparation. The adversary you face will be stronger, faster, better trained, ...
Views: 5273 - Measuring Each Other - by Submitted on Mar 29, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockOne of the first things a new Buddhist monk is told by older, more experienced monks is to stop "measuring." No matter how much the new monk thinks that he knows, it will not help him now. It will only prove a hindrance to his meditation and spiritual development. The new monk can either accept ...
Views: 727 - Meditating in 1997 Thailand - by Submitted on Jan 06, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockMeditating in 1997 Thailand Janet and I couldn’t stay at Bhavana as a married couple, so a kind nun at the Bhavana Society referred Janet to a friend of hers; a Buddhist nun living in Thailand, thinking that Janet might be interested in going back to Southeast Asia. When Janet got in touch ...
Views: 780 - Meditation -The Deeper Aspects - by Submitted on Jun 24, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWhen we begin meditation, we might begin with a mantra, or a word, or perhaps concentration on the breath. We do this to replace the never ending cycle of thoughts and emotions that circle round us day and night. We replace our everyday thoughts with one new thought so that we can break this ...
Views: 725 - Meditation Can Help Depression - by Submitted on Feb 17, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWASHINGTON (AP) People who tend to the elderly, change diapers, and serve up food and drinks have the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers. Overall, 7 percent of full-time workers battled depression in the past year, according to a government report . . . When we work with old people, ...
Views: 691 - Meditation Practice and the Chameleon - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond Rock"Becoming" is a word used to describe, among other things, striving to attain states of transcendence in meditation practice. We intellectually figure out a goal, and then imagine that we have somehow attained that goal. This is the trick of a clever ego; a chameleon in the ways in which it can ...
Views: 830 - Meditation Practice – Managing the Insights and Energy - by Submitted on Feb 12, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockA common mistake made by new and intermediate meditators is the frittering away of the insights and energy that result naturally from meditation practice. Unless a meditator knows how to manage this energy and insight, he or she will fall into the trap of a premature re-embracing of the world. ...
Views: 635 - Meditation – What’s In It For You? - by Submitted on Feb 27, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWhat can we expect to gain from meditation? Nothing, in the beginning, except for a somewhat annoying practice that always seems to get in the way of our doing something more important! If we are half-way serious about our practice, however, we will persevere, and eventually get to a point where ...
Views: 611 - Meditation — 11 Reasons Why People Begin - by Submitted on Dec 30, 2007 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockMen and women, seeking spiritual answers they can't seem to find in Western culture or traditional religious pathways, are trying meditation. A large (and growing) number of people are taking up the practice, including open-minded Christians and undocumented millions of seekers who are ...
Views: 631 - Meditation: Balancing Concentration and Mindfulness - by Submitted on Mar 18, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockIf you have ever tried to walk with only one leg, you have discovered, for yourself, the importance of two legs. Likewise, when we meditate, two aspects of meditation are necessary if our practice is to be balanced. Samadhi (concentration) and Vipassana (mindfulness) are the two aspects that ...
Views: 1341 - Meditation: The Interesting Quirks of Access Samadhi - by Submitted on Feb 04, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockAccess Samadhi is a stage of meditation where interesting things can happen. It is the active gateway to fixed Samadhi. The danger with access Samadhi is that a meditator can become so engrossed with the unusual aspects of access Samadhi that they lose interest in going further. The ...
Views: 863 - Metaphysics, Politics, and Religion - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockMetaphysical arguments go nowhere, no different from political or religious ones! What does make a difference, however, is how we treat each other. I may be a Buddhist and you may be a Christian, yet if we both treat each other with respect, how crazy can that be? When a monk asked the Buddha ...
Views: 1556 - Middle Age Muddle - by Submitted on Feb 17, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockWhen we hit middle age or thereabouts, it's not unusual to begin asking questions such as, "Is this it?" Before that, we are busy with kids, careers, and all the things that, as we become older, begin slipping through our fingers like water - without our even realizing it at times. Whatever we ...
Views: 722 - Middle-Aged Suicides - by Submitted on Feb 19, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockAccording to Patricia Cohen of the New York times, A new five-year analysis of the nation's death rates recently released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the suicide rate among 45-to-54-year-olds increased nearly 20 percent from 1999 to 2004, the latest year ...
Views: 707 - Mindfulness Meditation - Free Health Care - by Submitted on Jun 01, 2011 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockMindfulness meditation is free. There are no health insurance premiums, drug costs, or expensive therapies. And it works! But first you have to understand the authentic instructions, and secondly you must practice diligently. If you do this, mental and physical problems will melt away. Try it! ...
Views: 1585 - Mother Teresa May Have Gone Through These Seven Stages - by Submitted on Mar 09, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond Rock1. Christian: Orison (Introversion) – Christian meditation and prayer. Conversion: Here a practitioner converts from an external to an internal emphasis, as the search for Truth, or God begins. Practitioner has good intentions, and prays or meditates occasionally. Eastern: Practitioner begins ...
Views: 948 - Natural Cures For Constipation And Diarrhea (Don't Try These at Home!) - by Submitted on Apr 04, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond RockIt was 1981 and my wife and I were living at a monastery in the remote jungles of Northeast Thailand practicing as a Buddhist monk and nun . . . and Janet was having problems stomaching the coarse food. With only one meal in the morning and no further food permitted the rest of the day, she ...
Views: 663 - Needing Each Other - by Submitted on Mar 13, 2008 from E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond Rock"I need you," is not something we hear too often these days. When we do hear it, however, it touches a very deep chord in the depths of our being. To be needed, to be necessary and important means so much, because as human beings, we will always need each other. When we are not needed, when ...
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