Exercise 12: Developing attention

Posted on Happy Minds!

From: Happiness - Matthieu Ricard

Sit quietly in your meditation posture and focus all
your attention upon a chosen object. It can be an object
in your room, your breath, or your own mind.
Inevitably as you do this, your mind will wander.
Each time it does, gently bring it back to the object of
concentration, like a butterfly that returns again and
again to the flower it feeds on. As you persevere, your
concentration will become more clear and stable. If
you feel sleepy, assume a straighter posture and lift
your gaze slightly upward to revive your awareness.
Conversely, if your mind becomes agitated, relax your
posture, direct your gaze slightly downward, and let
any inner tension dissolve.



Cultivating attention and mindfulness in this way is a
precious tool for all other kinds of meditation.

Exercise 11: Examining the causes of happiness

Posted on Happy Minds!

From: Happiness - Matthieu Ricard



Take a quiet moment alone and try to find out what
really makes you happy. Is your happiness derived
mainly from outer circumstances? How much of it is
due to your state of mind and the way you experience
the world? If happiness comes from outer circumstances,
check how stable or fragile they are. If it is due
to a state of mind, consider how you can further cultivate
it.

Happiness and Science

Posted on Happy Minds!

Can people increase their level of happiness—and experience associated benefits to health—by learning and practicing meditation as a skill? The answer appears to be yes, says Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison. Based on his research, Dr. Davidson likens meditation to certain other trainable skills that produce changes in the brain and body, such as playing a musical instrument or being proficient in a sport. His research group has studied meditation extensively in subjects ranging from Tibetan Buddhist monks who have meditated intensively for decades to college students with no previous meditation experience.

Read more...

Matthieu Ricard—a geneticist, Buddhist monk, author, and photographer—comes to Madison from Nepal to be studied by Dr. Davidson's team. Here, he has been fitted with a "net" of EEG electrodes.
© Waisman Brain Imaging Lab

Exercize five: just enjoy

Posted on Happy Minds!

This exercise is easy and if you enjoy it as much as I do, it will give you great happiness!

Just visit this site: http://www.photoby.fr/THE-PHOTOGRAPHERS-Matthieu-Ricard/c91_177/index.html

And watch the photos made by Matthieu Ricard. Just enjoy.
If possible, select one photo and buy it. It may give you great joy to own such a beautiful picture, and look at it every day. And the money is well spend; Matthieu donates most of his earnings to the charity organisation karuna shechen (http://karuna-shechen.org/), an organisation involved in charity projects all over Nepal.