Spirit Muse Sunday GETTING HOOKED and LOOKING DEEPER + A NEW GIVE AWAY

Spirit Muse

Two Wonderful Teachers

1.
PEMA CHODRON
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pema_Ch%C3%B6dr%C3%B6n

'Shenpa'

A central theme of Pema Chödrön's teachings is the Tibetan word shenpa, or how we get hooked.  Somebody says a mean word to you
and then something in you tightens — that's the shenpa.
Then it starts to spiral into low self-esteem, or blaming them,
or anger at them, denigrating yourself. And maybe if you have strong addictions, you just go right for your addiction to cover over the bad feeling that arose when that person said that mean word to you.
This is a mean word that gets you, hooks you.
Another mean word may not affect you
but we're talking about where it touches that sore place
that's a shenpa.
Someone criticizes you — they criticize your work, they criticize your appearance, they criticize your child
and, shenpa, almost co-arising, manifests

'Freedom'

Talk 3 from

The Doorway to Freedom

Berkeley, CA 2003.

By giving your full attention to what it feels like to be hooked

and to relax there-- with kindness and gentleness and wisdom --
you can train in interrupting the momentum of shenpa
and the reactivity which follows
 

Meditation

 Working with shenpa (getting hooked) in meditation practice,and relaxing with positive groundlessness

From

Choosing a Fresh Alternative
Rhinebeck, NY 2004

Her Tapes, Books and CD's

Here

www.pemachodrontapes.com.

This Is The Book
 where I first encountered her
When Things Fall Apart
Heart Advice for Difficult Times
Element Books, 1996
ISBN 1-570-62969-2

NEW GIVE AWAY

A copy of this book to be awarded to one of the respondents
who comments on this post.  It will be a random
(out of the hat) drawing of names,
announced in the Spirit Muse post of Sunday October 30th
in commemoration of the death of a dear friend of mine 

(kindly post by noon Saturday the 29th)

 
2.
ROBINA COURTIN 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robina_Courtin

Mind Matters

Google Tech Talks
October 3, 2008

'Be Your Own Therapist'

We spend our lives being seduced by the outside world,
believing without question that happiness and suffering
come from out there.
In reality, Buddhist teachings explain that they come
from the way we perceive and interpret things,
not the things themselves.
This deeply held misconception is at the root of our dissatisfaction, self-doubt, anger, depression, anxiety, and the rest.
But our minds can change.
By becoming deeply familiar with the workings of our own cognitive processes through introspection and learning to deconstruct them
We can loosen the grip of these neuroses and grow our marvelous potential for contentment, clarity, and courage,
which are at the core of our being.

Venerable Robina CourtinA Tibetan Buddhist nun for 30 years, beloved teacher and power-house personality is Executive Director of Liberation Prison Project,
based in San Francisco. (LiberationPrisonProject.org)
A lifeline for people with nothing and no one, since 1996
Liberation Prison Project has supported the spiritual practice of over 15,000 prisoners, mainly in the US and Australia.
These days, the project spends $50,000 every month,
nearly half of it on salaries and benefits for a fulltime staff of ten
(eight in the US and two in Australia, including three former prisoners), supported by a team of 150+ volunteers worldwide.
She travels the world, teaching and raising funds, touching countless hearts and minds with her down-to-earth, no-nonsense packaging of the Buddha's teachings, often filled with tasty stories from her own real-life struggles, attachments and relationships.
She is able to put across to her students in and out of prison
that change is possible; everyone can learn to develop their qualities,
to be joyful in the face of difficulties,
even on death row.

(Note from me-There is a fleeting reference to Sarah Palin, but it is not in a political cintext and does not, I think, represent anything but what it refers to -- 'being authentic' -- so, don't get stuck on it.  The whole of the teaching is valuable and true in my opinion.  She is a dynamic teacher)

61 MINUTES