Over the last two years I have struggled to bring together, in a practical and personal way, zen practice and the developmental education we seek to provide at TAS. Zen training is very demanding and true masters are few and far between. I have the great fortune to study under one, and to have experienced the teaching of another directly and profoundly.
  But one thing about any all consuming study is that one looks back and sees numerous times at which everything seemed clear and wide open, and that very moment now seems a modest, blinkered resting place, severely limited and self-satisfied.
  A strict daily practice has, for me, grounded my often diffuse efforts. I hope to use this blog to illustrate how powerful the school day can be when viewed as a daily practice for the young people who come to it  every day.

Dear Readers,

    There are a lot of blogs out there, and a lot of dead blogs. There are a log of blogs on mindfulness, and a lot of dead blogs on mindfulness. This has been a zombie blog since graduate school took over my extra time. But my degree is done and the school year is racing towards its conclusion.
    Thus, we begin again. News on the school year and on the way that this community develops its educational and mindfulness practices will be front and center.
   Please write me if you wish, or just offer comment. It is encouraging to receive feedback of any sort.

  

Three Meditations

Our school day begins and ends with meditation, and lunch is bracketed by first moment of silence and afterwards a brief meditation. Each has a very different quality. They have evolved.

Morning begins with a brief talk and a twenty minute sit, in which some students concentrate on their martial arts forms and others focus on a basic breathing meditation. Here they are invited to notice what moods, thoughts, sensations, and so on they are starting the school day with.

The afternoon meditation is quite different- they tend to rather tumble into the meditation room, noisy and relaxed. Here they are asked to master a change of state, from the bustle of lunch to some quiet and centered breathing for just a few minutes. It is a change to set the tone for the rest of the day.

At the end of the day, a student usually leads a 5 or ten minute sitting. Here students are left to their own ability to settle in and let the school day go.

Abstract of the Day

MATERIALISM AND DIMINISHED WELL-BEING: EXPERIENTIAL AVOIDANCE AS A MEDIATING MECHANISM

Todd B Kashdan, William E Breen. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.New York: May 2007. Vol. 26, Iss. 5; pg. 521, 19 pgs

Abstract (Summary)

Being preoccupied with the pursuit of money, wealth, and material possessions arguably fails as a strategy to increase pleasure and meaning in life. However, little is known about the mechanisms that explain the inverse relation between materialism and well-being. The current study tested the hypothesis that experiential avoidance mediates associations between materialistic values and diminished emotional well-being, meaning in life, self-determination, and gratitude. Results indicated that people with stronger materialistic values reported more negative emotions and less relatedness, autonomy, competence, gratitude, and meaning in life. As expected, experiential avoidance fully mediated associations between materialistic values and each dimension of well-being. Emotional disturbances such as social anxiety and depressive symptoms failed to account for these findings after accounting for shared variance with experiential avoidance. The results are discussed in the context of alternative, more fulfilling routes to well-being. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]