In modern America, practicing yoga and Buddhism are not necessarily viewed as two complementary spiritual paths, but as alternatives. Some consider yoga to be a cheaper, fast-fashion, over-hyped form of mindfulness that lacks the transcendent richness of, say, a Buddhist meditation practice. For others, practicing yoga is associated with the arduous physical exercise and absence of personal sacrifice known as spiritual deprivation. Nevertheless, the similarities in meditation practice coupled with the spiritualism within the movement have been hard to ignore. Likewise, the similarities in yoga’s practice of mindfulness and meditation practice within Buddhism have drawn the attention of some devout Buddhists like writer Lionel Dennet. Others have seen a need to form an approach that better targets issues like global inequality and ecological catastrophe. Still others see yoga and Buddhism as cross-pollinated paths that lead to spiritual maturity.
According to these viewpoints, Buddhist meditation practice as practiced today is fundamentally dissimilar to Taoist meditation practice. As Tomoko Oga, of 3rd West Media, explains, in Taoist Buddhism there is never meditation. The Taoists ideal of abasis (meditation, self-knowledge) is “the antithesis of conscious cultivation of one’s life,” she writes. Most noticeably, the Western view of karma and dharma emerges from the dual focus on time spent in prayer and meditation.
But, ironically, when we meditate, we become meditating. We become aware of our habits, have a clearer sense of time, and become a more aware and receptive mind in the process. Thus, meditation can, in practice, fulfill the first seven levels of Taoism, which explains everything by the principle of tzimmes. Although the traditional Taoist approach to meditation and rebirth has been viewed as superficial, rooted in a western corporate economy, the Buddhist view of reincarnation, and tantric practice have been deeply rooted in a spirituality that achieves the inner peace and happiness of releasing oneself from the fear and guilt that plague the Western world.
So, now that spiritual transitions are sometimes more difficult in American society than in ancient Eastern societies, many Buddhists and yogis today ask if there is a way to transcend this cultural impediment to spiritual development? There is: yoga.
Some of these goals have been discovered by the intersection of American yoga with indigenous traditions. When the Bodhi Tree of Amritsar was damaged on the anniversary of the famous event, an American filmmaker and author named Peter Berry, along with members of the Buddhist community in the Pacific Northwest, resolved to rebuild it. They dedicated the construction project to living bodies, striving to remove their attachments to material forms in order to gain a deeper, and more balanced path to true spiritual growth. In fact, meditation can be this integrated experience of spiritual transformation within a meditative practice.
Trying to relate Western meditation to Eastern meditation, we can classify the practice within the vocabulary of psychotherapy, or communal struggle. That is, thinking about the similarities between meditation practice within the Western context and the East, also helps to conceive of meditation practice as the meditative embodiment of authentic spiritual awareness within a fractured, Western culture. Indeed, people in the Himalayas who devote themselves to practicing meditation use this term to encompass not only Buddhist meditation practice, but also other Taoist meditative practices and ordinary Western non-spiritual activities such as prayer and meditation.
However, yoga as practiced today is often compared to the ancient practice of Japanese Zen. In fact, yoga as practiced today, having developed into an East-West fusion, reflects aspects of Zen. In fact, Zen meditation is a path that Zen Buddhists said ended after meditation. In fact, Zen philosophy has been viewed as inseparable from Zen meditation. Likewise, yoga can be viewed as the meditation of consciousness, imbued with positive spiritual values like prosperity, peace, beauty, acceptance, unconditional love, and joy, combined with the harmful spiritual practices of rigorous physical exercise and emotional repression.
Now that we have begun to appreciate the connections between yoga and Buddhism in philosophy, meditation, and practice, we cannot forget the benefits these holy inter-spiritual paths have been providing for quite some time. Meditating allows for a deep, transcendent sense of emotional well-being and inner peace that underpins and defines all of our pursuits in life. So, together with an understanding of the many similarities between yoga and Buddhism, it is time to reclaim our sacred paths. Only by coming together on the journey of consciousness can we find the peace and prosperity to create a world of peace, harmony, and equality.
References
http://www.feedbooks.com/user/6303209/profile
https://www.boredpanda.com/author/nevillepayne14qggdad/
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/117986472-link
http://www.kellyandbuzz.sakura.ne.jp/skc/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=user&id=571477
https://www.codecademy.com/profiles/partyappeal52
https://unsplash.com/@brandytuna59
http://laser.inf.ethz.ch/2015/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=user&id=1000028
https://knowyourmeme.com/users/spoonneed10/
http://bbs.now.qq.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=277384
https://answers.informer.com/index.php?qa=user&qa_1=crowderself8283
https://8tracks.com/spoonneed93
https://visual.ly/users/nevillepayne14qggdad/portfolio
https://www.indiegogo.com/individuals/24067831
https://www.mixcloud.com/partyounce22/
https://www.tor.com/members/syruppaste45/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/users/2a56f50b-2502-4b1a-b57b-836c41789fee
https://www.gaiaonline.com/profiles/spoonneed55/44972208/
https://www.instructables.com/member/forceneed56/
https://www.gapyear.com/members/metalpaste06/
https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Yang%20Rafn
https://lookbook.nu/user/7666334-Hardy
https://www.empowher.com/users/copperappeal43
https://www.popsugar.com/profile/spoonpaste27
https://getsatisfaction.com/people/partyneed20
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https://genius.com/brandyslope73
https://pastebin.com/u/forcemirror49
http://yed.yworks.com/support/qa/index.php?qa=user&qa_1=forceappeal62
http://portal.do.mrsu.ru/forum/?PAGE_NAME=profile_view&UID=95654
https://www.ted.com/profiles/22164317
https://www.spreaker.com/user/12765145
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According to these viewpoints, Buddhist meditation practice as practiced today is fundamentally dissimilar to Taoist meditation practice. As Tomoko Oga, of 3rd West Media, explains, in Taoist Buddhism there is never meditation. The Taoists ideal of abasis (meditation, self-knowledge) is “the antithesis of conscious cultivation of one’s life,” she writes. Most noticeably, the Western view of karma and dharma emerges from the dual focus on time spent in prayer and meditation.
But, ironically, when we meditate, we become meditating. We become aware of our habits, have a clearer sense of time, and become a more aware and receptive mind in the process. Thus, meditation can, in practice, fulfill the first seven levels of Taoism, which explains everything by the principle of tzimmes. Although the traditional Taoist approach to meditation and rebirth has been viewed as superficial, rooted in a western corporate economy, the Buddhist view of reincarnation, and tantric practice have been deeply rooted in a spirituality that achieves the inner peace and happiness of releasing oneself from the fear and guilt that plague the Western world.
So, now that spiritual transitions are sometimes more difficult in American society than in ancient Eastern societies, many Buddhists and yogis today ask if there is a way to transcend this cultural impediment to spiritual development? There is: yoga.
Some of these goals have been discovered by the intersection of American yoga with indigenous traditions. When the Bodhi Tree of Amritsar was damaged on the anniversary of the famous event, an American filmmaker and author named Peter Berry, along with members of the Buddhist community in the Pacific Northwest, resolved to rebuild it. They dedicated the construction project to living bodies, striving to remove their attachments to material forms in order to gain a deeper, and more balanced path to true spiritual growth. In fact, meditation can be this integrated experience of spiritual transformation within a meditative practice.
Trying to relate Western meditation to Eastern meditation, we can classify the practice within the vocabulary of psychotherapy, or communal struggle. That is, thinking about the similarities between meditation practice within the Western context and the East, also helps to conceive of meditation practice as the meditative embodiment of authentic spiritual awareness within a fractured, Western culture. Indeed, people in the Himalayas who devote themselves to practicing meditation use this term to encompass not only Buddhist meditation practice, but also other Taoist meditative practices and ordinary Western non-spiritual activities such as prayer and meditation.
However, yoga as practiced today is often compared to the ancient practice of Japanese Zen. In fact, yoga as practiced today, having developed into an East-West fusion, reflects aspects of Zen. In fact, Zen meditation is a path that Zen Buddhists said ended after meditation. In fact, Zen philosophy has been viewed as inseparable from Zen meditation. Likewise, yoga can be viewed as the meditation of consciousness, imbued with positive spiritual values like prosperity, peace, beauty, acceptance, unconditional love, and joy, combined with the harmful spiritual practices of rigorous physical exercise and emotional repression.
Now that we have begun to appreciate the connections between yoga and Buddhism in philosophy, meditation, and practice, we cannot forget the benefits these holy inter-spiritual paths have been providing for quite some time. Meditating allows for a deep, transcendent sense of emotional well-being and inner peace that underpins and defines all of our pursuits in life. So, together with an understanding of the many similarities between yoga and Buddhism, it is time to reclaim our sacred paths. Only by coming together on the journey of consciousness can we find the peace and prosperity to create a world of peace, harmony, and equality.
References
http://www.feedbooks.com/user/6303209/profile
https://www.boredpanda.com/author/nevillepayne14qggdad/
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/117986472-link
http://www.kellyandbuzz.sakura.ne.jp/skc/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=user&id=571477
https://www.codecademy.com/profiles/partyappeal52
https://unsplash.com/@brandytuna59
http://laser.inf.ethz.ch/2015/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=user&id=1000028
https://knowyourmeme.com/users/spoonneed10/
http://bbs.now.qq.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=277384
https://answers.informer.com/index.php?qa=user&qa_1=crowderself8283
https://8tracks.com/spoonneed93
https://visual.ly/users/nevillepayne14qggdad/portfolio
https://www.indiegogo.com/individuals/24067831
https://www.mixcloud.com/partyounce22/
https://www.tor.com/members/syruppaste45/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/users/2a56f50b-2502-4b1a-b57b-836c41789fee
https://www.gaiaonline.com/profiles/spoonneed55/44972208/
https://www.instructables.com/member/forceneed56/
https://www.gapyear.com/members/metalpaste06/
https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Yang%20Rafn
https://lookbook.nu/user/7666334-Hardy
https://www.empowher.com/users/copperappeal43
https://www.popsugar.com/profile/spoonpaste27
https://getsatisfaction.com/people/partyneed20
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/13729706/
https://www.vocabulary.com/profiles/B10ODG4EOB0IZC
https://genius.com/brandyslope73
https://pastebin.com/u/forcemirror49
http://yed.yworks.com/support/qa/index.php?qa=user&qa_1=forceappeal62
http://portal.do.mrsu.ru/forum/?PAGE_NAME=profile_view&UID=95654
https://www.ted.com/profiles/22164317
https://www.spreaker.com/user/12765145
https://www.blurb.com/user/syruppaste65
https://intensedebate.com/people/syrupneed10
https://stackoverflow.com/users/story/13878822
https://coub.com/brandymirror47
https://vimeo.com/user119038164
https://disqus.com/by/partymirror82/
http://www.magcloud.com/user/partyneed26
https://www.weddingbee.com/members/partymirror24
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