Untitled

Meditation? My start and experiences.

Zengo California Meditation Hall Entrance (Photo credit: onemorebiteblog)

Today at Sarvodaya’s Early Morning meditation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Jain sadhvis meditating (in Brindavan) ‪Norsk (nynorsk)‬: Tre kvitkledde djain-nonner mediterer i Vrindavan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What has meditation done for me? Well, I can’t possibly imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t startedmeditating. I was in a dreadful mental state. I was leading a life full of drugs, alcohol, aggression and depression.
I started going to a weightlifting gym and this gave me some respite from my problems. I started doing martial arts and gained some more self discipline.  I found that you could enjoy yourself in good company without getting drunk or drugged.
A Karate instructor, Dennis Martin, took me to the LiverpoolBuddhist Society for a meditation class and I was hooked.
The Meditation instructors wereTibetan monks, refugees from the Chinese invaders ofTibet and teaching at Durham University (?) .  These were marvellous human beings that projected warmth, peace love in every atom of their body, their every word and every thought. They visited Liverpool once a week, they were extremely advanced teachers and we were very fortunate to be able to study with them.
They made such an impression that the Society decided to have a live in teacher. The Tibetan monks were all busy lecturing in Durham but we learned about Japanese Zen monkteaching in the London area. He had been the head instructor in the Mahatma Gandhi Ashram in India. He left his top position in India to bring Zen meditation to the Western World as a wandering teacher ( This is a Zen tradition ). He required no payment just a bed and food.  We rented a large flat and he started meditation classes.
The Tibetan monks had told us about one of their passing-out tests. On the coldest night of the year ( In icy Tibet ) they had to sit in the open wearing just a robe and a bucket of water was poured over them. They didn’t just sit there and ignore the wet, coldness. They had to use mental powers to generate heat in their bodies  and dry the robe out. This was done three times in the same night.
When Zengo  ( His priestly name  translates as go=strong and Zen=meditation ) arrived in Liverpool he brought with him one change of robe and one pair of flip-flop sandals. All of the the Society were impressed by this sign of simple living and the ability to ignore cold. Or so we thought.
One particularly cold day, we took him into town to buy him some food. As we walked through Marks & Spencers to the food department,  he was wearing just his flip flops on his bare feet and I noticed him glance at the socks counter. A thought struck me and I asked: “Are you cold, Sensei?”
I had  always called him Sensei since first meeting him. It is something that I had picked up in my martial arts training. It means Master and indicates respect for his position as my teacher. He said: “There is no need to call me Sensei” l
I realised that this was just him being polite. So I ignored him  and continued calling him Sensei. I could tell this pleased him. Particularly when all the other people called him Zengo. Which isn’t how Japanese students talk to their teachers. It is considered to be not showing respect.
Any how,  I asked: “Are you cold, Sensei?”
He replied “No! No!”
Knowing how polite he could be, I ignored this and bought him a pack of socks.  He thanked me.
So I bought him 2 sweaters. Again he thanked me
So I bought him a scarf and pair of gloves and immediately became his favourite student. LOL.
Because I had a business that could run without me, I became Zengo’s assistant. I looked after his everyday stuff and spent most of the day and evening meditating with him. This would be about four hours a day.
But here is the additional benefit that I was receiving.  Because I was spending so much time with him, we became close friends.
As the other students would be in a class of 12 to 15 people, they would have to wait their turn to ask questions or to have a Darshan (private, one-on-one sessions). I was spending lots of time with him and benefiting from having private sessions with him for hours on end. I was learning his wisdom while sharing tea, or taking him to the shops or strolling around Sefton Park.
If you would like to share the lessons and wisdoms that I learned from Zengo,  go to my blog at http://happinessguru.wordpress.com   

Love, Peace and Happiness,
Tommy
P.S The last time I heard of Zengo, he had five meditation centres in America. T

 

Untitled

Meditation? My start and experiences.

Zengo California Meditation Hall Entrance (Photo credit: onemorebiteblog)

Today at Sarvodaya’s Early Morning meditation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Jain sadhvis meditating (in Brindavan) ‪Norsk (nynorsk)‬: Tre kvitkledde djain-nonner mediterer i Vrindavan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What has meditation done for me? Well, I can’t possibly imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t startedmeditating. I was in a dreadful mental state. I was leading a life full of drugs, alcohol, aggression and depression.
I started going to a weightlifting gym and this gave me some respite from my problems. I started doing martial arts and gained some more self discipline.  I found that you could enjoy yourself in good company without getting drunk or drugged.
A Karate instructor, Dennis Martin, took me to the LiverpoolBuddhist Society for a meditation class and I was hooked.
The Meditation instructors wereTibetan monks, refugees from the Chinese invaders ofTibet and teaching at Durham University (?) .  These were marvellous human beings that projected warmth, peace love in every atom of their body, their every word and every thought. They visited Liverpool once a week, they were extremely advanced teachers and we were very fortunate to be able to study with them.
They made such an impression that the Society decided to have a live in teacher. The Tibetan monks were all busy lecturing in Durham but we learned about Japanese Zen monkteaching in the London area. He had been the head instructor in the Mahatma Gandhi Ashram in India. He left his top position in India to bring Zen meditation to the Western World as a wandering teacher ( This is a Zen tradition ). He required no payment just a bed and food.  We rented a large flat and he started meditation classes.
The Tibetan monks had told us about one of their passing-out tests. On the coldest night of the year ( In icy Tibet ) they had to sit in the open wearing just a robe and a bucket of water was poured over them. They didn’t just sit there and ignore the wet, coldness. They had to use mental powers to generate heat in their bodies  and dry the robe out. This was done three times in the same night.
When Zengo  ( His priestly name  translates as go=strong and Zen=meditation ) arrived in Liverpool he brought with him one change of robe and one pair of flip-flop sandals. All of the the Society were impressed by this sign of simple living and the ability to ignore cold. Or so we thought.
One particularly cold day, we took him into town to buy him some food. As we walked through Marks & Spencers to the food department,  he was wearing just his flip flops on his bare feet and I noticed him glance at the socks counter. A thought struck me and I asked: “Are you cold, Sensei?”
I had  always called him Sensei since first meeting him. It is something that I had picked up in my martial arts training. It means Master and indicates respect for his position as my teacher. He said: “There is no need to call me Sensei” l
I realised that this was just him being polite. So I ignored him  and continued calling him Sensei. I could tell this pleased him. Particularly when all the other people called him Zengo. Which isn’t how Japanese students talk to their teachers. It is considered to be not showing respect.
Any how,  I asked: “Are you cold, Sensei?”
He replied “No! No!”
Knowing how polite he could be, I ignored this and bought him a pack of socks.  He thanked me.
So I bought him 2 sweaters. Again he thanked me
So I bought him a scarf and pair of gloves and immediately became his favourite student. LOL.
Because I had a business that could run without me, I became Zengo’s assistant. I looked after his everyday stuff and spent most of the day and evening meditating with him. This would be about four hours a day.
But here is the additional benefit that I was receiving.  Because I was spending so much time with him, we became close friends.
As the other students would be in a class of 12 to 15 people, they would have to wait their turn to ask questions or to have a Darshan (private, one-on-one sessions). I was spending lots of time with him and benefiting from having private sessions with him for hours on end. I was learning his wisdom while sharing tea, or taking him to the shops or strolling around Sefton Park.
If you would like to share the lessons and wisdoms that I learned from Zengo,  go to my blog at http://happinessguru.wordpress.com   

Love, Peace and Happiness,
Tommy
P.S The last time I heard of Zengo, he had five meditation centres in America. T

 

What is Meditation good for? Multitasking!

Meditation will make you better at multitasking.
When you multitask, you’re often running in so many different directions, it’s hard to do one thing well. Here’s how to multitask with a clear mind.If you need to do some serious multitasking, some training in meditation beforehand could make the work smoother and less stressful, new research from the University of Washington shows. And who wouldn’t want that?

Research suggests that meditation training can help people working with information stay on tasks longer with fewer distractions and also improves memory and reduces stress. Here’s how to quickly focus your mind on the one thing you really need or want to do:

1. Stop. As soon as you realize you are multitasking, stop. In other words, learn to interrupt the interruptions.
2. Clear. Now take a moment to untask. To untask, try something silly, you can do a little dance, jump up and down, sing a song, or even scream. The important thing is to get in the habit (as soon as you catch yourself multitasking) of giving yourself a complete mental pause. Think of this as pressing the reset button on your brain.
3. Choose. Now that you have untasked, ask yourself, “What do I really want to do (or have to do) right now?” You might need to wait a few seconds before getting an answer. Or you might find that the answer pops into your mind immediately. Now that you have cleared your mind of other…………….

   Read the FULL great article at:http://veterinaryteam.dvm360.com/firstline/Veterinary+team/Multitask-more-efficiently-with-these-meditation-t/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/778056
   (I’ll bet you’re glad you didn’t have to type that URL out LOL)
   Why not join The Happy People. It’s FREE! Just follow the blog at   http://happinessguru.wordpress.com   and help spread our message of Love, Wealth and Happiness. Share the posts there with your friends.
   Tommy

What is Meditation good for? Multitasking!

Meditation will make you better at multitasking.
When you multitask, you’re often running in so many different directions, it’s hard to do one thing well. Here’s how to multitask with a clear mind.If you need to do some serious multitasking, some training in meditation beforehand could make the work smoother and less stressful, new research from the University of Washington shows. And who wouldn’t want that?

Research suggests that meditation training can help people working with information stay on tasks longer with fewer distractions and also improves memory and reduces stress. Here’s how to quickly focus your mind on the one thing you really need or want to do:

1. Stop. As soon as you realize you are multitasking, stop. In other words, learn to interrupt the interruptions.
2. Clear. Now take a moment to untask. To untask, try something silly, you can do a little dance, jump up and down, sing a song, or even scream. The important thing is to get in the habit (as soon as you catch yourself multitasking) of giving yourself a complete mental pause. Think of this as pressing the reset button on your brain.
3. Choose. Now that you have untasked, ask yourself, “What do I really want to do (or have to do) right now?” You might need to wait a few seconds before getting an answer. Or you might find that the answer pops into your mind immediately. Now that you have cleared your mind of other…………….

   Read the FULL great article at:http://veterinaryteam.dvm360.com/firstline/Veterinary+team/Multitask-more-efficiently-with-these-meditation-t/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/778056
   (I’ll bet you’re glad you didn’t have to type that URL out LOL)
   Why not join The Happy People. It’s FREE! Just follow the blog at   http://happinessguru.wordpress.com   and help spread our message of Love, Wealth and Happiness. Share the posts there with your friends.
   Tommy

If You REALLY want to be happy, get GOOD friends!

How to be Happy? Get good friends!

June 23, 2012

Happy, Loving Friends make you HAPPY.! Icon from Nuvola icon theme for KDE 3.x. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Clinical Depression (Photo credit: Alaina Abplanalp Photography)

If  You REALLY want to be happy, get GOOD friends
But they have to be  GOOD friends. They must be sensible, upbeat and most of all, have good intentions towards you. This last one is very important. Because if they hurt your feelings, or if they reject you, it will hurt you just as much as if  they had hit you with a punch. Emotional hurt is the same as physical hurt. They both effect the same areas of the brain. The cortex and the dorsal posterior insula, are two very powerful areas of your brain, They are both kicked into action by injury to your body or  injury to your emotions. And one is as bad as the other. You wouldn’t let a friend punch you in your  face and you mustn’t let them punch you in your feelings.
What should you do?
Friends are very important to your mental and emotional health. You should have as many of them as you can get. But they must be the right type! Loads of research has been done that show that the wrong type of friends can cause you a lot of mental harm. If you find that you are made to feel angry, depressed or upset by your friends, then get rid of them. Get different ones. That is the simple simple solution. It is very easy to say, understand and believe BUT not so easy to do in real life. You must have lots and lots of good friends. Ones that support you, ones that make you feel good and ones that you enjoy being in the company of. You must build up the number of them in your life.
And you must start cutting down on the other type. The ones that are always moaning, make you feel depressed or put you down. Start off with the worse one first. Start spending less time with them. And, if possible avoiding them altogether. This can be very difficult to do. Particularly if they live next door, are members of your family or you are married to them! LOL!
Some people you can’t avoid. You have to teach them how to become better friends. But that will be another another lesson, in an other article and on another day! LOL!
Following  the above plan will not only give you better relationships, it will also give you a strong feeling of having more control over your own life and you will develop more self-confidence. You will be happier in yourself  and with yourself.
Why will this plan work for me?
Many, many neuroscientist who have examined a large body of work called theFramingham data have found some amazing facts. They found that good behaviours — like quitting smoking or staying slender or being happy —is passed from friend to friend almost in the same way that the ‘flu does. Your health, happiness and even your lifestyle are all linked to your friends and people whom you mix with. If the people you associate  have positive attitudes, have healthy lifestyles and are happy, this will tend to rub off on you. You, too, will have positive attitudes, a healthy lifestyles and be happy. Which means that you could (drum roll) become more successful and healthier as well as happier.
The Bad News
The bad news from the Framingham Report is that it works in both directions.And the same was true of all behaviours. You will pick up all sorts of behaviours that are unhelpful, unwanted and even harmful. The Report shows that over and over again. That groups of friends  can “infect” each other with being overweight, unhappiness and smoking.

Just so you fully understand this POWERFUL, POWERFUL lesson: 

You Want To Be Healthy, Happy And Positive?
Then you must absorb the lessons above. This research is proving that what you achieve in your life, how healthy you are and how happy you feel is strongly linked to the type of people that you mix with. I believe in keeping things very, very simple. Then any message that I give is easy to understand. So here is a simple way to lift your life up to a higher level. Here, again, is how to use these findings.
The Simple Way
Think about all the friends and associates that you mix with.  Think about the affects that each of them has on you. Start to spend more time with the ones that have a positive influence on you.  Start to spend less time with the  people who have a negative influence on you. Keep making steady progress in both areas.
As I said above this is a very simple plan. BUT it can be very hard to follow.
So What Is The Secret Of Success?
Do a little but do it all the time, as and when you can. A very important presupposition of The Happy People is that a SMALL change can make a BIG difference. DO  NOT try to make big changes in your life overnight. Make small but steady changes and be determined. Make GENTLE progress. You want to EASE negative people out of your life. Not turn them into eneemies.
Or you could become one of The Happy People and associate yourself with other people who want to have lots of GOOD relationships, be successful and enjoy every moment of their lives. It’s totally FREE. Just follow this blog. Easier still follow it by email.

More soon, Love, Peace and Happiness.
Tommy

If You REALLY want to be happy, get GOOD friends!

How to be Happy? Get good friends!

June 23, 2012

Happy, Loving Friends make you HAPPY.! Icon from Nuvola icon theme for KDE 3.x. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Clinical Depression (Photo credit: Alaina Abplanalp Photography)

If  You REALLY want to be happy, get GOOD friends
But they have to be  GOOD friends. They must be sensible, upbeat and most of all, have good intentions towards you. This last one is very important. Because if they hurt your feelings, or if they reject you, it will hurt you just as much as if  they had hit you with a punch. Emotional hurt is the same as physical hurt. They both effect the same areas of the brain. The cortex and the dorsal posterior insula, are two very powerful areas of your brain, They are both kicked into action by injury to your body or  injury to your emotions. And one is as bad as the other. You wouldn’t let a friend punch you in your  face and you mustn’t let them punch you in your feelings.
What should you do?
Friends are very important to your mental and emotional health. You should have as many of them as you can get. But they must be the right type! Loads of research has been done that show that the wrong type of friends can cause you a lot of mental harm. If you find that you are made to feel angry, depressed or upset by your friends, then get rid of them. Get different ones. That is the simple simple solution. It is very easy to say, understand and believe BUT not so easy to do in real life. You must have lots and lots of good friends. Ones that support you, ones that make you feel good and ones that you enjoy being in the company of. You must build up the number of them in your life.
And you must start cutting down on the other type. The ones that are always moaning, make you feel depressed or put you down. Start off with the worse one first. Start spending less time with them. And, if possible avoiding them altogether. This can be very difficult to do. Particularly if they live next door, are members of your family or you are married to them! LOL!
Some people you can’t avoid. You have to teach them how to become better friends. But that will be another another lesson, in an other article and on another day! LOL!
Following  the above plan will not only give you better relationships, it will also give you a strong feeling of having more control over your own life and you will develop more self-confidence. You will be happier in yourself  and with yourself.
Why will this plan work for me?
Many, many neuroscientist who have examined a large body of work called theFramingham data have found some amazing facts. They found that good behaviours — like quitting smoking or staying slender or being happy —is passed from friend to friend almost in the same way that the ‘flu does. Your health, happiness and even your lifestyle are all linked to your friends and people whom you mix with. If the people you associate  have positive attitudes, have healthy lifestyles and are happy, this will tend to rub off on you. You, too, will have positive attitudes, a healthy lifestyles and be happy. Which means that you could (drum roll) become more successful and healthier as well as happier.
The Bad News
The bad news from the Framingham Report is that it works in both directions.And the same was true of all behaviours. You will pick up all sorts of behaviours that are unhelpful, unwanted and even harmful. The Report shows that over and over again. That groups of friends  can “infect” each other with being overweight, unhappiness and smoking.

Just so you fully understand this POWERFUL, POWERFUL lesson: 

You Want To Be Healthy, Happy And Positive?
Then you must absorb the lessons above. This research is proving that what you achieve in your life, how healthy you are and how happy you feel is strongly linked to the type of people that you mix with. I believe in keeping things very, very simple. Then any message that I give is easy to understand. So here is a simple way to lift your life up to a higher level. Here, again, is how to use these findings.
The Simple Way
Think about all the friends and associates that you mix with.  Think about the affects that each of them has on you. Start to spend more time with the ones that have a positive influence on you.  Start to spend less time with the  people who have a negative influence on you. Keep making steady progress in both areas.
As I said above this is a very simple plan. BUT it can be very hard to follow.
So What Is The Secret Of Success?
Do a little but do it all the time, as and when you can. A very important presupposition of The Happy People is that a SMALL change can make a BIG difference. DO  NOT try to make big changes in your life overnight. Make small but steady changes and be determined. Make GENTLE progress. You want to EASE negative people out of your life. Not turn them into eneemies.
Or you could become one of The Happy People and associate yourself with other people who want to have lots of GOOD relationships, be successful and enjoy every moment of their lives. It’s totally FREE. Just follow this blog. Easier still follow it by email.

More soon, Love, Peace and Happiness.
Tommy

Why Should You Be Happy?

Why Should You Be Happy? 
Do you think that wanting to be happy is a waste of time, foolish and unrealistic?
If so you are wrong!
Being a happy person will help you stop falling ill, help you recover from illness and help you to have a longer, fuller life. Yes, being happy will keep you healthy. Nobody wants to have a longer life if it is full of misery, aches and petty illnesses.
If You Want To Be Happy
Research keeps showing more and more evidence that having a happy outlook will help you to be  healthy AND happy.
Here is just one example. Two researchers, Thuston and Kubzansky and studied 6,000 men and women for 20 years.
They reported  that : ”….-a sense of enthusiasm, hopefulness, engagement of life, and the ability to face life’s stresses with emotional balance  reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”
Happiness Is Health Is Happiness
I’ve been writing about happiness bringing good health so far. Let’s look at the other side of the coin. Being healthy makes you feel happy.
That’s right! Being healthy makes you happy AND being happy makes you healthy, as we’ve seen above.
I have many articles on my blog that discuss the effects that  exercise and keeping fit have on your happiness level. You don’t have don’t have to become a fitness freak to get this bonus. Scientists who have studied the effect that exercise has on feelings of well being came up with this fact. If you are feeling low ten (yes, ten) minutes of exercise will change your mood. There is no need to kill yourself either. Brisk walking will  do the trick.
It will also lower your cholesterol level,  reduce emotional stress and improve your blood pressure. But let me add, although you need only light exercise to show big improvements  in  your life, the more you exercise the happier you will become.
What Should You Do?
Fitness and happiness obviously play a big part in what would be a perfect lifestyle. So start building them up until they are a part of your daily life. Become one of The Happy People! It’s FREE! Just follow this blog at:http://happinessguru.wordpress.com
And, PLEASE, share the ideas you find here with your friends. Be Happy!
Love, Wealth and Happiness,
Tommy

Why Should You Be Happy?

Why Should You Be Happy? 
Do you think that wanting to be happy is a waste of time, foolish and unrealistic?
If so you are wrong!
Being a happy person will help you stop falling ill, help you recover from illness and help you to have a longer, fuller life. Yes, being happy will keep you healthy. Nobody wants to have a longer life if it is full of misery, aches and petty illnesses.
If You Want To Be Happy
Research keeps showing more and more evidence that having a happy outlook will help you to be  healthy AND happy.
Here is just one example. Two researchers, Thuston and Kubzansky and studied 6,000 men and women for 20 years.
They reported  that : ”….-a sense of enthusiasm, hopefulness, engagement of life, and the ability to face life’s stresses with emotional balance  reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”
Happiness Is Health Is Happiness
I’ve been writing about happiness bringing good health so far. Let’s look at the other side of the coin. Being healthy makes you feel happy.
That’s right! Being healthy makes you happy AND being happy makes you healthy, as we’ve seen above.
I have many articles on my blog that discuss the effects that  exercise and keeping fit have on your happiness level. You don’t have don’t have to become a fitness freak to get this bonus. Scientists who have studied the effect that exercise has on feelings of well being came up with this fact. If you are feeling low ten (yes, ten) minutes of exercise will change your mood. There is no need to kill yourself either. Brisk walking will  do the trick.
It will also lower your cholesterol level,  reduce emotional stress and improve your blood pressure. But let me add, although you need only light exercise to show big improvements  in  your life, the more you exercise the happier you will become.
What Should You Do?
Fitness and happiness obviously play a big part in what would be a perfect lifestyle. So start building them up until they are a part of your daily life. Become one of The Happy People! It’s FREE! Just follow this blog at:http://happinessguru.wordpress.com
And, PLEASE, share the ideas you find here with your friends. Be Happy!
Love, Wealth and Happiness,
Tommy

What is Meditation good for? Multitasking!
Meditation will make you better at multitasking.
When you multitask, you’re often running in so many different directions, it’s hard to do one thing well. Here’s how to multitask with a clear mind.If you need to do some serious multitasking, some training in meditation beforehand could make the work smoother and less stressful, new research from the University of Washington shows. And who wouldn’t want that?
Research suggests that meditation training can help people working with information stay on tasks longer with fewer distractions and also improves memory and reduces stress. Here’s how to quickly focus your mind on the one thing you really need or want to do:
Stop. As soon as you realize you are multitasking, stop. In other words, learn to interrupt the interruptions.
Clear. Now take a moment to untask. To untask, try something silly, you can do a little dance, jump up and down, sing a song, or even scream. The important thing is to get in the habit (as soon as you catch yourself multitasking) of giving yourself a complete mental pause. Think of this as pressing the reset button on your brain.
Choose. Now that you have untasked, ask yourself, “What do I really want to do (or have to do) right now?” You might need to wait a few seconds before getting an answer. Or you might find that the answer pops into your mind immediately. Now that you have cleared your mind of other…………….
Read the FULL great article at:http://ping.fm/iMyIy
(I’ll bet you’re glad you didn’t have to type that URL out LOL)
Why not join The Happy People. It’s FREE! Just follow the blog at http://ping.fm/riN1j and help spread our message of Love, Wealth and Happiness. Share the posts there with your friends.
Tommy