A Christmas Story

By Don SalmonPosted on December 22, 2016March 31, 2017Cat SocietyLeave a comment

This story was read aloud on the US National Public Radio show, "This American Life." *********** Well, it all began at Christmas two years ago when my daughter was four-years-old. And it was the first time that she had ever asked about what did this holiday mean. And so I explained to her that this… Read More »

The start of the disciple’s journey

By DivyaPosted on December 21, 2016March 22, 2017Cat IPI, Psychology2 Comments

For the longest time I had always imagined that the only reason one goes to a Guru is because one is unable to deal any longer with the blows Life has meted out to you. The blows can be various: a deep existential crisis, a broken relation, a persisting physical pain, an emotional imbalance, the… Read More »

Where is Martin Neimoller?

By Don SalmonPosted on December 14, 2016March 31, 2017Cat SocietyLeave a comment

Televangelist Pat Robertson said Trump was a “harbinger of the Apocalypse” and the return of Jesus was imminent. “Now we have a man of God back in the White House, Jesus Christ will soon return,” said Robertson. “Sure, he’ll massacre all the atheists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, yoga practitioners, witches, psychologists, Scientologists and alien worshippers, but… Read More »

The art of communication – through the lens of Equanimity

By AditiPosted on December 7, 2016March 22, 2017Cat IPI, PsychologyLeave a comment

How much ever I wish and hope telepathy to be the official channel of communication, the role of language and active communication cannot be denied in today’s world. We all live together, grow together and it is human interactions that keep us alive. Exchange of ideas, sharing our happiness and sorrows, the feeling of being… Read More »

Neuroscience and Integral Yoga

By Don SalmonPosted on November 30, 2016November 30, 2016Cat Uncategorized3 Comments

John Yates, in his book, "The Mind Illuminated," presents a way of understanding the mind that many have found supportive of their efforts to concentrate in meditation. He’s describing two basic ways our brain has evolved to engage with the world. One is through “selective attention” (SA) – our brain selects out of an infinite… Read More »

Integral Yoga and the Buddhist Stages of the Path

By Don SalmonPosted on November 25, 2016November 25, 2016Cat UncategorizedLeave a comment

I was just studying John Yates’ (also known as Culadasa) marvelous book on the “stages of the path” in traditional Buddhism (the book is ‘The Mind Illuminated”). Jan and I have been looking at it, as it has a number of suggestions we will be incorporating into our meditation e-course that we're developing. I suddenly… Read More »

Some reflections on mindfulness

By Don SalmonPosted on November 21, 2016November 21, 2016Cat UncategorizedLeave a comment

(Jan and I just came back from a meditation retreat. On the retreat, someone we met asked for some links to websites that would provide information on scientific research on the benefits of mindfulness practice. I suppose, being on a retreat with a (relatively) clear mind, something was sparked in me and I ended up… Read More »

A taste in the mouth

By Navni GujralPosted on November 16, 2016February 17, 2017Cat IPI, PoetryLeave a comment

O unknowable land of familiar stories, your secrets concealed behind invisible masks for us to uncover. A teasing now and again, sparkles and glimpses that hide before they show. A taste in the mouth just enough to know there's nowhere else to be, nothing else to do. Lured by your mystery, holding in a wait… Read More »

Invitation

By DivyaPosted on November 9, 2016March 22, 2017Cat IPI, Poetry, PsychologyLeave a comment

By Sri Aurobindo With wind and the weather beating round me Up to the hill and the moorland I go. Who will come with me? Who will climb with me? Wade through the brook and tramp through the snow? Not in the petty circle of cities Cramped by your doors and your walls I dwell;… Read More »

Equanimity

By AditiPosted on November 2, 2016March 22, 2017Cat IPI, Psychology2 Comments

The word equanimity brings to my mind the image of a vast ocean in which different streams come from all sides and completely merge into it but the ocean remains unaffected and continues to ‘be’. There is a sense of calmness when you look at the ocean, no matter how rough the waves are, we… Read More »